Blog - Page 63 of 81 - FunCycled - Interior Design, Kitchen Cabinet Painting, Furniture Repurposing in Upstate NY

Posted on July 22, 2014July 22, 2014 by Sarah

For Sale!! Shutter Cabinet – Tuesday’s Treasures

Hi Friends!

How’s it going? We’re enjoying such beautiful weather here in upstate NY! It’s been great to work in the sunshine and have very few rainy days causing paint dripping and long drying times. If you missed our mid week post last week, take a second to go see all the pretty pics from the Interior Design and Painting Project that we just finished for our church.

Want to know the highlight of my week?? Getting to meet my newest nephew Elijah. He’s already 7 weeks old. One quick look at him and I fell in love…

Soooo cute! Now no piece of furniture will compare. ;)

One of our friends, Beth, owns a demo company in Troy. She calls me when there is something that she has been asked to trash that she thinks may be FunCycle-able. When she sent me this pictures, I just loved it! I couldn’t wait to transform it, but it’s been waiting for months and months for us to get time to transform it.

Once we started prepping it, we started sanding the shutter doors and found all of this beautiful red scrolling popping through.

I just couldn’t paint over it!! I wanted to find a way to keep the detailing while giving it a new look and feel. We decided to make it into a wine cabinet, but it could also be used for extra storage anywhere. We can take the X out of the bottom as well.

I mixed a couple of different reds together that I had and repainted the outside. I cleaned the original shutter part well and clear coated the entire thing to seal and protect it.

If you want to see how we paint furniture, check out our How To Paint Furniture post.

If you’d like to buy this piece, see our Furniture For Sale page to see if it’s still available, check for pricing, and size info. Here’s more photos for you!

The after pictures are done by Chelsea Bos Photography. I hope you all have a great week! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Having fun upcycling!
Sarah ;)

If you like what you see, please like FunCycled’s Facebook page to keep up to date on the newest finds, vote on colors and give your input on our creativity. There is a box at the top right of this page to enter your email address in to receive notifications by email when I post something new on this blog.

Please sign up today! Last but not least, let us customize a furniture piece for you. We create custom furniture and will deliver for customers in upstate NY and will also ship throughout the US. Send us a note with what you would like using our contact page. Or buy something that we’ve already designed from our furniture for sale page.

Posted on July 17, 2014September 25, 2017 by Sarah

Interior Design, Interior Painting Project and Custom Furniture

Often when we go to clients’ homes to deliver furniture or when we meet new people, they will ask what our business is. When we tell them refinishing and painting furniture, color consults, design and interior painting. They are usually surprised, especially about the interior painting and design. Most people know about the furniture, but I don’t often get to share the “afters” of our interior painting projects.

Well, here is one of the interior painting and design projects that we did for our church a few months ago. I’m glad I finally took time to post about it because it was a fun project and shows how “funcycling” can be so much more than furniture makeovers! We worked with my friend Kim (who goes to my church and was given the design job) to pick out decor, paint colors, furniture finishes, and room design/layout. We also ordered furniture that we didn’t have – like couches and chairs, and rugs. It was sooo much fun to turn empty. lackluster rooms into beautiful, welcoming places for visitors and church members alike.

First we picked out the paint colors for the family room. It’s called a family room because it is a place for families to go sit with their kids and listen to the sermon. Sometimes when parents aren’t comfortable putting their toddlers/babies in nursery yet, or they have a talker or crier who might distract other people – it is a great room to retreat to. The sermon is played live in that room so people can hear the whole thing.

We wanted the seating to be comfortable but easy to clean. So we went with leather chairs and a couch from Overstock.com. Very cost effective and surprisingly comfortable. We painted the one large wall Benjamin Moore’s Majestic Blue and the other three walls Benjamin Moore’s Carlisle Cream.

We painted this cabinet with the same color Majestic Blue. When you paint furniture with the same paint that you use on the wall, it almost always looks one hue lighter which makes it blend well in the room without being too matchy matchy.

Continue reading Interior Design, Interior Painting Project and Custom Furniture

Posted on July 15, 2014November 11, 2014 by Sarah

My Porch Swing From an Old Bed – Tuesday’s Treasures

Hi Friends!

If you’ve been on Pinterest or googled “porch swing images”, you’ve probably seen beds turned into a porch swing. I saw one years ago and fell in love. I wanted a porch swing made from an old bed soooo badly!! I found a bed on craigslist TWO winters ago and actually paid the guy to bring it to me in the middle of a snow storm because I knew it was exactly what I wanted. You know how they say the shoe makers kids have no shoes… well, this has been one of those projects we just didn’t make time for. John finally decided enough was enough and he set aside an hour here and there for a couple of weeks to make me the porch swing of my dreams.

John was speaking a girls love languages over here… a place for quality time, acts of service, gift. Overall, I’m feeling the love from John and want to give him a public thanks because I’m impressed by how he made it, too! :)

Sadly I don’t have ANY before pictures. Just picture an old headboard and foot board. John took the headboard and made it the back of the swing, took the footboard and made it the front of the swing. Then added side boards and wooded slats for the seat. We painted the swing with Benjamin Moore’s Advanced paint in Atrium White.
Continue reading My Porch Swing From an Old Bed – Tuesday’s Treasures

Posted on July 8, 2014July 24, 2014 by Sarah

Red, White and Blue, Take 2- Tuesday’s Treasures

Hi Friends!!

Around this time last year, I did a post about Red, White and Blue Furniture. So I thought today might be a good day to do another Red, White and Blue post – take 2! It’s fun looking back to see similar pieces that we’ve done and also notice how things have changed a bit. First off, my pictures are now done by Chelsea Bos Photography and man you can see the difference. Secondly, I love vintage, rustic and chic but I also have part of me that craves modern designs. I think you’ve all seen that more this year with our West Elm Inspired Patchwork Dresser and our Aqua and Ombre Mid Century Desk.

I hope you all had a great 4th!! We had a super busy day with deliveries, pick ups, and customers stopping by because they had the day off with no parties to go to until the evening. Then we hosted a party at our house with about 25 of our closest friends and family. Usually when I have a party at my house, I feel this pressure to make sure everyone is having a good time and end the day totally bummed that I talked to everyone for 30 seconds and had no good conversation. Do you ever feel that way? Well, not this year. This year was marvelous. I chilled, let everyone chat naturally. It was so relaxing and I left the house that night feeling so thankful for all of the friends and family God has blessed us with and for the many freedoms we enjoy as American’s.

John decided that he wanted to do a smoked turkey on the grill for the 4th. I was on the front porch trying to make everything look pretty for our soon to be arriving guests. John came out front with a look of fear in his eyes and says “the turkey is on fire”. To which I laughed and said sarcastically, “isn’t is suppose to be? it’s on the grill”. “Yeah, but I can’t get the fire out”. Oh man! A grease fire and all the meat for our large party was now destroyed 2 1/2 hours before party time. I actually laughed. What can you do in those moments?? Off to the store I went to make pulled chicken then all was right with the world. lol

Onto furniture! Before I start the before and afters, remember if you’d like to see how we paint furniture, check out our How to Paint Furniture post.

A red hutch for Susan from Troy. I loved working with Susan because she has a good eye for design and totally gets upcycling. She’s upcycled most of her downtown Troy home. Coming from someone who had a downtown Troy home and loved it’s historic charm and beauty, I appreciate so much when people bring the original beauty back to a home that really needs it. Oh, and she has a cool doorbell ring. I know that’s random, but I like it.

Here’s the hutch before:

After with a custom paint color from Sherman Williams, hardware from Home Depot and glazing with Vaspar’s Antiquing glaze from Lowes… Here is the label for the color of this hutch from Sherman Williams so you can ask them to duplicate it if you’d like.

White… This is Hannah’s dresser that she bought at an auction. I know there will be some that say don’t paint this wood. It did have veneer damage that you can’t see well in the picture and the style just didn’t fit the look that Hannah wanted. What I love about Hannah, she was raised on a dairy farm like my mom. She has this hard working, genuine heart and she understands and appreciates what it takes to own a small business and work hard to make ends meet. Not to mention… she trusted me with the design. Thank you, Hannah!

Before:

We painted the bottom using Benjamin Moore’s Navajo white and distressed it. Kept all the original hardware because it was so pretty. No need to change it out if it’s as beautiful as these were… we just cleaned them up.

On to the blue… I love how this one came out, but to be honest, it wasn’t worth the work it took to make it this beautiful. We got it on garbage day in a pile along side the road. It needed a lot of veneer repair. John built most of the back up and repaired the top. Then he primed it and when he did all the veneer bubbled. That means somehow the moisture was getting to the under side of the veneer so we had to rip more veneer off and more off and more off. It took John hours and hours to redo this. So, to the novice or even semi experienced DIYer, let me say steer clear of furniture with veneer damage. It can be tricky! Unless your up for an adventure, then go right ahead. ;)

Here it is before.

We painted the outside Benjamin Moore’s Silver Fox, the 1st drawer is Spirit in the Sky by BM, 2nd drawer is Meridian Blue by BM and 3rd drawer is Navy.

Thanks so much for stopping by and thanks to all those who serve our country or support those who do!

Having fun upcycling!
Sarah ;)

Posted on July 1, 2014 by Sarah

Modern Cedar Trunk For Sale and Katie’s Cream Dresser- Tuesday’s Treasures

Hi Friends!

Summer colds… that’s the banner that we’re raising this week and it may not be a banner… it may be the red flag of defeat. Why does it seem like summer colds never end? That being said, a quick recap of two furniture makeover is in order and I promise that I’ll write a much more exciting Tuesday’s Treasures next week.

Oh, except to say we went strawberry picking. The first time of the season here in upstate NY! Fun times. :)

This old cedar trunk is really unique in my book. I’ve never come across one quite like it with modern legs and a bottom drawer that opens. One thing to know when working with old cedar trunks is that you have to remove the lock part of the trunk otherwise it locks automatically and that’s not safe if a little one climbs in and it closes behind them. Not to mention, legally you have to. :)

Here’s the trunk before:

We spray painted the base with Rustoleum silver spray paint and painted the box with black enamel paint from Benjamin Moore. If you want to see how to paint furniture yourself, check out our How To Paint Furniture post.

This piece is for sale!!! Check out our Furniture For Sale page for pricing and size info. Plus we added quite a few new pieces this week to the For Sale Page.

I also have to sneak in one more makeover… all my friends say they like what I do, but one friend is such a FunCycled supporter. She’s always telling people about us and sending business our way. Even though I wish I could do more to repay her, a quick furniture makeover for her is all I have to offer. Thank you for your encouraging words, excitement and genuine interest in every little detail of our upcycling. (This dresser is painted with Benjamin Moore’s Navajo White and lightly distressed. We used all the original hardware and spray painted it oil rubbed bronze.

You always bring a smile to my face, Katie! Here’s your before and after:

The after pictures are done by this lovely lady at Chelsea Bos Photography. I hope you all have a great week! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Having fun upcycling!
Sarah ;)

Posted on June 24, 2014February 27, 2015 by Sarah

Aqua and Ombre Mid Century Desk – Tuesday’s Treasures

Hi Friends!

How’s it going? It’s been quite the week over here! We’ve survived our first week of no school for my kids and still running a business full time. Last year at this time FunCycled was just part time so it’s been… interesting. I love having the kids around, but boy oh boy did we forget how many times mom or dad could be said in 30 seconds. One time I didn’t reply on purpose just so I could count how many times they would say mom without an answer. I gave up… it was that many times. lol

We were able to squeeze some fun and relaxation in by some miracle. We enjoyed a fun day with our friends Sarah and Jeremy with a historic cruise of Lake George. I don’t know why we haven’t spent more time in Lake George especially since I grew up in this area. It’s so beautiful! Not to mention spending time with them was so relaxing and fun.

After wayyy to long of a wait, I finally got to go visit my sister in Maine. John had never been to Maine and Portland is right up our alley. All the unique downtown shops inspire and make me want to spend all the money I have. I am so excited about anyone who’s passionate about what they do. It uplifts the soul.

My brother-in-law Jess is in the coast guard and he gave us a tour of the boat he works on. My kids looooved it! I can’t say thank you enough for all the people who serve and protect our country. I see through my sister what’s it’s like to be a mom without a dad more than half a year and moving all of the time. It’s not easy, but they sacrifice and give for our safety.

Just like the downtown Portland shop owners, I’m beyond excited to share this thing that I’m passionate about… furniture designs. Continue reading Aqua and Ombre Mid Century Desk – Tuesday’s Treasures

Posted on June 17, 2014 by Sarah

French Provincial Desk For Sale – Tuesday’s Treasures

It’s graduation season for everyone, right? From college graduations (congrats John Kersey) to high school graduation (congrats Kailah Hill) to kindergarten graduations; it seems like everyone knows someone who’s celebrating. We have quite a bit to celebrate here in the Trop home. :) Both of our little ones graduated this week. K-4 and Kindergarten graduations. They melted our hearts with their little smiles and waves and made us more than proud by our little man becoming student of the month for May! When John and I prayed and searched for a school this year, we knew right away that this was the one. We are so thankful for God’s provision, allowing them to go to it.

I’m so excited to share this week’s furniture makeover with you!! This desk was part of a french provincial bedroom set. I couldn’t wait to redo the desk. I actually started with the fabric and worked my way from there. I knew wanted it grey and I love grey and orange together but I didn’t know if I would be able to find fabric that would combine those colors with a design that I liked. Thankfully Hobby Lobby didn’t let me down as usual! ;) I bought this fabric and had to run through the knob aisle on the way to the check out (of course I do! it’s like an addiction… lol). These knobs were just too perfect to pass up. I was going to keep the original hardware, but I called John on my way home and told him to fill the holes because I changed up the design. I’m sure he loves those calls! ;)

If you want to know how to paint furniture, check out our How to Paint Furniture post. The paint color is Pewter by Benjamin Moore.

Here’s the before pictures for you:

REMEMBER this piece is currently for sale. Check our Furniture For Sale page to see if it’s still available. Drum roll please….

The after pictures are done by Chelsea Bos Photography. I hope you all have a great week! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Having fun upcycling!
Sarah ;)

Posted on June 10, 2014August 4, 2014 by Sarah — 4 Comments

We’ll be on HGTV! And a Rustic Desk For Sale – Tuesday’s Treasures

Hi Friends!

It’s been such an awesome week here! We were just given the a-ok to fill you in on a little bit of the excitement around here.

Back in the spring, we were selected to be on the HGTV show Flea Market Flip. I have been watching FMF for years. I don’t have cable, but my friend Marcie does. She would DVR all of the episodes and we would sit up late watching the show while eating ice cream, brownies and drinking coffee. Marcie told me I should try to get on the show because I love it so much and I laughed and thought… are you kidding me?? No one normal actually gets to be on TV. Well, I guess I was wrong because this normal girl was on TV!!! Woot Woot!! :) I can’t share the details or anything about the results until it airs (which won’t be for a while). I’ll keep you all posted once I know when it will air so stay tuned. :)

One of the many highlights of this experience was meeting Lara Spencer. I’ve had her book I Brake For Yard Sales for years. Her book helped me understand so many different design styles and it was really an honor just meeting her. She even signed my book!!! Ahhh!! God’s blessings have humbled us every step of this FunCycled way. Truly more than I ever dreamed.
Sooooo exciting!!! Also this weekend John and I celebrated our 11th anniversary NYC style. I lalalove NYC if you haven’t already noticed that about me by now. We went to Chelsea Market and tried all different types of food. From Fig and Ricotta caramel candy to vegan sushi… it all made me want to convert into a food snob. John had never been to Chelsea Market which seems like an injustice for sure given his culinary degree. ;) He loved it! Then we headed up to Central Park for a walk through the park. The weather was beautiful and the walk was perfect!! We rented a row boat and rowed on the little lake in the park. Then had dinner on the water.

You’re not here to see a furniture makeover are you? Ok, ok… on to that. We’ve had this oak desk and I’ve had a certain look in mind for it, but had to get time to work the magic on this piece! :) Here it is before.

We sanded and painted this piece using Benjamin Moore’s Silver Fox on the outside and Current Red on the drawer fronts. The hardware is from Lowes and we glazed it using Valspar’s Antiquing Glaze. If you want to see how we redo furniture, please check out our How To Paint Furniture post.

Here are the after pictures… and best of all THIS PIECE IS FOR SALE! Check it out on our Furniture For Sale page.

The after pictures are done by Chelsea Bos Photography. I hope you all have a great week! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Having fun upcycling!
Sarah ;)

Posted on June 3, 2014June 3, 2014 by Sarah

Mitchell Gold Inspired Modern Dresser – Tuesday’s Treasures

Hi Friends!

It’s warm, it’s warm here!!! We’re thrilled that the warm air came home from Florida with us! You can thank us if you want. Or not. It may really have nothing to do with us. :)

Our friends’ Stephanie and Norm have only lived in this area a couple of years, but they always go on the coolest outdoor adventures. They’ve been to places I’ve never even heard of and I’ve lived here my whole life. It’s impressive… and this past weekend they invited us to go along on one of their adventures. I felt privileged. :) It was just a few minutes drive from my house and it was an amazing hike. There was a pond, waterfall, and old water turbine. So beautiful! We skipped rocks and sang silly songs; my kids got drenched on purpose and their kids did by accident. It just made me realize how much there is to do right in our own town. I want to encourage all of you to get outside with your kids, take a hike and find things that are in your town, too. Every time we drive places we visited all of those family memories will come back into my kids’ minds. Here are some pics just in case you don’t believe me that beautiful wilderness can be found in Troy, NY. :)

This week’s makeover was inspired by Mitch Gold and Bob Williams designs that are much more modern. I love modern designs and was excited when our customer Holly wanted a modern piece in her home. Here’s the dresser before!

Thankfully I had some matching hardware from another modern piece so I could make them almost all original. We spray painted just the legs and the hardware a matching silver. Here’s the after for you!!

The after pictures are done by Chelsea Bos Photography. I hope you all have a great week! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Oh, and stop by our Upcoming Projects page today! We added a ton of new amazing furniture pieces this week.

Having fun upcycling!
Sarah ;)

Posted on May 27, 2014 by Sarah

White and Weathered Grey Armoire – Tuesday’s Treasures

Hi Friends!

How was your holiday weekend? I hope you were able to relax with your family! The last two weeks here have been loads of fun and new adventures. Some I can share and some I have to keep a secret… it’s killing me to not share it! Either way, down right awesome things are happening here!

We took our first family vacation since John joined me to work at Funcycled full time. That’s a different adjustment – needing to plan ahead with both the work schedule and income, but it was so worth every minute and penny. I read an article a while back that said to keep your family healthy while running a home business, you have to plan to go away quite a bit. Work never stops when you’re home so even if it’s camping for almost no money or visiting family, just leaving the work zone helps keep the family focused on each other. We’ve found that to be true!

Thanks to the kindness of our friends the Fischer’s for providing an inexpensive place for us to stay, and to my husband’s ridiculous addiction to hiding $20 dollars here and there for the last 5 years for his dream vacation, we were able to take the kids to Disney. We had so much fun going with our awesome friends and visiting more friends and family while we were there. I never went as a kid, but John and I went for our anniversary pre-kids. Going with kids is a totally different experience. I found myself not trying to enjoy what was going on around me as much as wanting to look at their tiny faces and watch them soak it up, drink in the magic and live in what seems like the best dream they’ve ever had.

My favorite moment with our little Sweetie was when she met her favorite princess. I may have teared up. ;)

Our Little Man’s favorite moment? Jedi training!!!

I really want to do a “dos and don’ts at Disney post” because we learned so much on this trip. One day soon perhaps. ;)

And I can’t leave this post without saying a huge thank you to our customer turned friend, Jamie, for surprising us with 4 passes to Legoland the day before we left. Jamie, you are one of the kindest, giving, thoughtful souls I know. I am beyond blessed and humbled by your kindness to our family and belief in this dream called FunCycled. You are one of the first people that made me believe this could be our full time work and dream come true. Love you lady.

This week’s furniture makeover is one that I didn’t want to give up! I actually never put it on our UpComing Projects page because I wanted to do something special with it. Sometimes when I put it on our Upcoming Projects page someone will order a piece in a way that I don’t like. I know that may sound funny but sometimes I just want to save a piece to make it as beautiful as I know it can be.

Sheryl stopped by to look at a different armoire that ended up being a little too small for what she needed. She saw this armoire and asked if it was available. I gulped and said, “it’s available, but I had something in mind for it.” She asked what I had in mind and let me do it almost exactly like I wanted it!

Here’s the before!

I loved the top and the legs of this piece. Just so elegant! I wanted to remove the doors, add a new wood back and add some shelving. We did just that. The wood in the back is actually wood flooring from Lowes that you can stain any color. I stained it using Rustoleum’s Weathered Grey stain. If you want to see how we paint furniture, check out our How to Paint Furniture post.

John built shelves and we painted it all white. Sheryl wanted the legs left brass and brass knobs on the piece. That’s one of the small things I would have probably done a little different if I had my druthers. But over all I Lalalove it!

Here are the after pictures.