Hi, friends!

I am so excited to share today’s Tuesday Treasure with you! Before I get to that, I want to give a shout out to my team and all they did for helping FunCycled host the 2024 Fall Festival a couple of weeks ago! It was a beautiful day, and I enjoyed spending time with old and new friends who stopped by! Check out some sweet photos from the event.

At the event, the 336 Food Truck really delivered on their latest offering…extra creamy hot cocoa with perfectly toasted marshmallow topping! I mean I had to try it! : )

Take a look at that crew, hard at work!

Today, I am featuring our latest furniture makeover story which was actually the winner of our most recent Broken to Beautiful free furniture makeover initiative. For all of the details on FunCycled’s Broken to Beautiful, please read our full blog post here: FunCycled’s Broken to Beautiful.

This heartwarming makeover story relays the tale of a china cabinet passed down from a beloved grandparent to her adoring granddaughter. In Jessica’s own words, “it is a treasured heirloom that carries deep emotional and familial significance. This elegant piece embodies not only the craftsmanship and style of its time but also the warmth and love of my grandmother’s home.” Jessica also shared that her hope would be to use a restored version of the cabinet to display the fine china collection that had been curated by her grandmother on her father’s side. Both of these women have passed, but Jessica wanted to honor the heritage and legacies of each through this one piece of furniture, sure to keep their history and memories alive in a new way. Exactly the heart of Broken to Beautiful!

Here are some pictures of the china cabinet before it was refreshed.

When we first spoke with Jessica to share with her that she had been selected as the recipient of the Summer Broken to Beautiful Initiative, she was beyond elated at the prospect of having this precious piece rejuvenated! I still recall her voice as it choked up with joy and overwhelm.

One really important component to the Broken to Beautiful initiative is that we desire to breathe new life into old or broken pieces of furniture in order to bring joy and hope into someone’s life! We are so glad that we got to do this for Jessica and her family.

Take a look at some after photos of the china cabinet redone.

Here are the photos of Jessica with her now refreshed china cabinet filled with the treasured china given to her! What a beautiful honor to both of her grandmother’s legacies!

And here are some additional details of the cabinet.

We painted the inside of the cabinet in Benjamin Moore Simply White and the whole exterior in Benjamin Moore Sweatshirt Gray. Those swatches are below, so you can see how these beautiful colors work together! Plus, as you see in the last photo above, we lightly distressed some of the edges around the door, the drawer, and molding of this item. When you take time to appropriately distress, it will emphasize and draw (well deserved) attention to all of the right details! And, we decided to keep the original hardware for this item. Keeping the same hardware is a way of preserving history and often is the only complement for an older piece like this cabinet.

Benjamin Moore Sweatshirt Gray

Benjamin Moore Simply White

A huge thank you to Jessica and family for entering the Broken to Beautiful Initiative and for allowing us the opportunity to refresh this cabinet that you may begin creating new memories that honor and cherish those from your youth!

Please keep an eye on our social channels for our next Broken to Beautiful campaign. We encourage our community to not only consider their own stories for submission but to also submit on behalf of a deserving individual who would be deserving of this furniture makeover. Again, full details for the Broken to Beautiful Initiative can be found in the link below.

If you’ve enjoyed this post, please like FunCycled on  Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest if you don’t already. Keep up to date on the newest finds, vote on colors and give your input on our creativity. We share fun tutorials, great before and after, and new design inspirations. 

We offer interior design, kitchen cabinet painting, and custom built tables, barn doors, and repurposed furniture. Thank you, again, for working with us and for taking the time to spread the word about what we do. 

Happy FunCycling Friends,
Sarah ;)

Note some of the the links provided are affiliate links, and as an Amazon Associate, I earn from any qualifying purchases.

Hi friends!

I hope you had a great weekend! Maybe you have been doing some traveling, or maybe you are currently on a little getaway! Every year, my family and I go away during 4th of July week to a local campground where we can just relax and get off the grid for a bit! I love the simplicity of it and being a little more intentional and quiet with our time!

At FunCycled, we love working with clients to help restore and breathe new life into old pieces of furniture. Whether it is a chair, a side table, or bedroom furniture, taking something that is tired and refreshing it truly brings life to me and my team!

For one of my clients, Darcy, she and her husband were in the midst of selling one house and making the move to a new location in the Capital Region. As part of their plans, Darcy and her husband wanted to find a way to incorporate a special piece of furniture into the design of their new kitchen. When we met with Darcy to talk through her ideas, Darcy shared some photos of the total the kitchen renovation taking place in her new home and talked about how she was hoping to make her oversized secretary hutch to work with the design. Take a look at some before photos below. The photo in the middle is from our studio as we began prepping to paint!

What I love the most about this type of project is seeing the true craftsmanship of furniture! For Darcy’s piece, there is something extra about it though. I love the scale of it and the fact that it has shelves above enclosed behind detailed glass and ample closed in storage below–all surrounding the desk & accompanying compartments which live at the very center of the piece! To me, it could boast a million uses, but I guess its intent is to remain for exactly its purpose in Darcy’s new home! If you want to know more about the history and origin of secretary desks (sometimes I just have to scratch that curiosity itch!), I found this really cool article: What Exactly is a Secretary Desk and What is it Used for?

For this project, we used Benjamin Moore’s White Dove on the whole piece. I love the warmth of this beautiful white!

And here are some after photos, including some close ups of the detail work on this hutch. See what I mean about the craftsmanship? It is so stunning! You will see that Darcy decided to keep the original hardware for this

And some additional close ups of the beautiful detials!

Bonus: How FunCycled Does Hutches Secretary Desks

I have pulled together some of our hutch and secretary desk upcycled projects over the years! Take a look and be inspired!

Below I have pulled together 3 inspiration photos to share with you in case you are looking to have a beautifully painted hutch or secretary for your home and you would like to see some other offerings that maybe we have not shown above! I would love to take on any of these inspirations for you!

Pinterest

Pinterest

Pinterest

A huge thanks to Darcy or hiring us to do take on this furniture project. We loved breathing new life into this special piece for your new home!

If you have a hutch or secretary desk (or plan to get one soon!) and would like us to restore life back into it, contact me today by visiting our Contact Us page! You can also learn more about our process on our Custom Furniture Painting Page.

Thank you all for following along! If you’d like to get this blog in your email once a week, please sign up for our weekly newsletter by adding your email in the little box below my picture. 

If you’ve enjoyed this post, please like FunCycled on  Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest if you don’t already. Keep up to date on the newest finds, vote on colors and give your input on our creativity. We share fun tutorials, great before and after, and new design inspirations. 

We offer interior design, kitchen cabinet painting, and custom built tables, barn doors, and repurposed furniture. Thank you, again, for working with us and for taking the time to spread the word about what we do. 

Happy FunCycling Friends,

Sarah ; )

Hi Friends!

I hope you had a great weekend! Mine was fantastic both personally and professionally! We hosted our Earth Day Upcycling Contest this past Saturday. It was such a great event, and I am so grateful for those who participated. My hope is that perhaps it served to inspire others to think creatively and to consider repurposing and upcycling! Congratulations to Tami, our Grand Prize Winner and to Ryan, our Staff Pick Winner!

If you are having trouble viewing the photos, click here.

At FunCycled, we love working with clients to help restore and breathe new life into old pieces of furniture. Whether it is a chair, a side table, or bedroom furniture, taking something that is tired and refreshing it truly brings life to me and my team!

My friend and past client Brielle reached out to me to see if I could help her find a hutch for her dining room. She had a large, empty wall so we knew we had to find something large and tall. She gave me her budget and I got to work! In less than a day, I found this beauty and picked it up for her. It’s over 85″ long, and so full of character!! Take a look at the before photo:

We painted the whole piece (inside and out) in Benjamin Moore’s White Sand (image below). White Sand is a beautiful neutral color which met the goal of brightening up this hutch and yet keeping it warm.

And just check out this lovely transformation! With a lighter color paint, you are now able to appreciate the details of the molding at the top and edges of this hutch. Plus, the lighter color helps highlight the window lattice on the glass doors. Put simply, it is beautiful!

Here’s a closer look at the details! We also changed the hardware for our client to bring a more modern touch to the finished look!

A huge thanks to Brielle for hiring us to do take on this furniture project. We are so glad you love the outcome! We do, too : )

Thank you all for following along! If you’d like to get this blog in your email once a week, please sign up for our weekly newsletter by adding your email in the little box below my picture. 

If you’ve enjoyed this post, please like FunCycled on  Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest if you don’t already. Keep up to date on the newest finds, vote on colors and give your input on our creativity. We share fun tutorials, great before and after, and new design inspirations. 

We offer interior design, kitchen cabinet painting, and custom built tables, barn doors, and repurposed furniture. Thank you, again, for working with us and for taking the time to spread the word about what we do. 

Happy FunCycling Friends,

Sarah ; )

Hi Friends!

Happy first day of Spring! Sometimes we are tempted to think it will never come, especially after a cold and snow-filled Winter (which we have not had), but here it is! Spring has arrived!

In today’s Tuesday’s Treasure, I want to share some inspiration for all of us as we transition from Winter to Spring.

If you are having trouble viewing images, click here.

Colors for Spring

At this point in the year, most of us are ready for something a little brighter in our homes. Check out these Spring inspired pieces of furniture we have been able to complete over the years!

Choosing the Right Color

With so many choices, it can be hard to know the how to make the right selection. To add a touch of Spring, I suggest choosing colors that are light and bright and remind you of what is happening outside as Spring arrives. Because the full bloom of colors doesn’t typically arrive until May and June in Upstate New York, I like to introduce greens and blues along with shades of white and gray. But you can also select other pastel colors to add a touch of color while still feeling bright and airy! Here are a few tips for making the selection for you:

• Keep in mind the style of the piece of furniture and what type of hardware it has or will have if you plan to change it.
• Consider what other colors you have in your space. Remember, they don’t have to be an exact match, but they should coordinate.
• If this is a new color you would like to introduce to your home, make sure to add a few other touches of that same color around the room.
• Take note of a bigger vision you have for the space, keeping in mind this might be a first step toward that vision!

Find these inspirational color pallets for your next project!

(photos credit to M4 Designs FL care of Etsy)

Ways to Style

This is where you get to have a lot of fun! A “go to” item for me is styling with books! They add height, texture, and interest. Or grab a vase or pretty glass bottle in a bright or complementary color and add fresh greens. Depending upon your style and what you love, use the surface to display a special heirloom or antique, like this vintage camera atop the beautiful teal and gray-washed credenza.

If you want to buy one of our repurposed pieces of furniture, visit our Shop page.

If you have a piece in your home and you want it custom painted, we can help! We work with clients all the time to bring new life to their old, tired pieces of furniture. Reach out to me on our Contact Us page.

To learn more about custom painting and tips to do the job right, visit our Custom Furniture Painting page.

REMEMBER, FUNCYCLED IS SPONSORING OUR UPCYCLING CONTEST! (Click the image below for more details.)

Thank you all for following along! If you’d like to get this blog in your email once a week, please sign up for our weekly newsletter by adding your email in the little box below my picture. 

If you’ve enjoyed this post, please like FunCycled on  Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest if you don’t already. Keep up to date on the newest finds, vote on colors and give your input on our creativity. We share fun tutorials, great before and after, and new design inspirations. 

We offer interior design, kitchen cabinet painting, and custom built tables, barn doors, and repurposed furniture. Thank you, again, for working with us and for taking the time to spread the word about what we do. 

Happy FunCycling Friends,

Sarah ; )

Hi Friends!

How was your weekend? We enjoyed so many holiday festivities over the weekend! From a Christmas Jazz concert in Saratoga to lights in Washington County Fairgrounds. It was so nice to celebrate and enjoy with my family!

If you have trouble seeing the photos in this post, click here.

For this week’s makeover, I wanted to share a china cabinet makeover that we just finished and added to our online shop! You can purchase it today and have it delivered by Christmas!

Here’s the china cabinet when I bought it to rescue it:

We painted this piece with Magnolia’s paint line with their color Demo Day, installed wallpaper to the back panel on the inside, and added new hardware. This piece still has the glass on the front door, we just removed it for photos so you can see the inside better.

If you want to see how we paint furniture, check out our How to Paint Furniture post. 
Here are the after photos for you:

This piece is available to purchase, but be sure to visit our SHOP page to check out what other pieces we have available for purchase or custom order. 

Or contact us to get a quote to let us redo your furniture for you! 

Thank you all for following along! If you’d like to get this blog in your email once a week, please sign up for our weekly newsletter by adding your email in the little box below my picture. 

If you’ve enjoyed this post, please like FunCycled on  Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest if you don’t already. Keep up to date on the newest finds, vote on colors and give your input on our creativity. We share fun tutorials, great before and after, and new design inspirations. 

We offer interior design, kitchen cabinet painting, and custom built tables, barn doors, and repurposed furniture. Thank you, again, for working with us and for taking the time to spread the word about what we do. 

Happy FunCycling Friends,
Sarah ;)

Hi Friends!

We have very exciting news!! Our Trolley House Flip is finished!! We will be having open house tours this Saturday, October 28th. It goes on the market soon, but we wanted to give our FunCycled fans a chance to come take a look at it in person first or purchase it ahead of the general public! If you’re in the market to buy a small home or if you just love historic homes and designs, we’d love for you to join us. Reserve your free ticket here!

If you’re having trouble viewing the photos on this post, click here.

I’ll be sharing more photos and details on our Facebook and Instagram pages this week so follow us there for more details!

This week’s makeover is of a hutch that was left in our trolley house that we knew we wanted to keep with the house so we redid it (it was a mess) and installed it in the laundry room at the trolley house!

The base was in the main part of the photo, but if you look to the left past the electric panel, the top is sitting on it’s side. Haha! What a disaster!

Here it is before:

After a lot of repair work, we painted the whole piece with Benjamin Moore’s BM Roxberry Caramel HC-42. We also distressed it and added new hardware.

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

Here are the after photos for you:

Contact us to get a quote to let us redo your furniture for you! 

Thank you all for following along! If you’d like to get this blog in your email once a week, please sign up for our weekly newsletter by adding your email in the little box below my picture. 

If you’ve enjoyed this post, please like FunCycled on  Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest if you don’t already. Keep up to date on the newest finds, vote on colors and give your input on our creativity. We share fun tutorials, great before and after, and new design inspirations. 

We offer interior design, kitchen cabinet painting, and custom built tables, barn doors, and repurposed furniture. Thank you, again, for working with us and for taking the time to spread the word about what we do. 

Happy FunCycling Friends,
Sarah ;)

Hi Friends!

I hope you all enjoyed the holiday weekend! We went out of town to visit friends, and had a nice time unplugging from how busy life has felt lately. I think it’s the spring cleaning and yard work mixed with baseball and normal work, but I’ve felt like we’ve been non stop for a while.

For this week’s makeover, we had an old oak hutch that our client wanted to update. So we altered the base to remove the curvature, installed all new shaker doors, and new hardware.

Here’s the hutch before:

After making all the alterations, we painted the box with BM Black.

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

Here’s a couple photos of the afters:

This hutch isn’t available to purchase on our shop page because it was done as a custom order. Be sure to visit our SHOP page to check out what other pieces we have available for purchase or custom order. 

Or contact us to get a quote to let us redo your furniture for you! 

Thank you all for following along! If you’d like to get this blog in your email once a week, please sign up for our weekly newsletter by adding your email in the little box below my picture. 

If you’ve enjoyed this post, please like FunCycled on  Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest if you don’t already. Keep up to date on the newest finds, vote on colors and give your input on our creativity. We share fun tutorials, great before and after, and new design inspirations. 

We offer interior design, kitchen cabinet painting, and custom built tables, barn doors, and repurposed furniture. Thank you, again, for working with us and for taking the time to spread the word about what we do. 

Happy FunCycling Friends,
Sarah ;)

Hi Friends!

How are you? I hope you enjoyed the last peak weekend in Upstate Ny! We had a beautiful weekend opening our home for the first time for tours at our Repurposed Idea House. We had such a blast! Thank you to everyone who came out to see us!

Here are some highlights from the day:

This week’s makeover shows how paint and new hardware can dramatically change a hutch. Hutches are one of my favorite furniture pieces to redo because the transformation is huge!

Here’s the hutch before:

We painted it with Benjamin Moore Cloud Nine 2144-60 and added new hardware.

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

Ready for the afters?

This was done as a custom order so it’s not for sale, but I still wanted to share the transformation. 

Thank you all for following along! If you’d like to get this blog in your email once a week, please sign up for our weekly newsletter by adding your email in the little box below my picture. 

If you’ve enjoyed this post, please like FunCycled on  Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest if you don’t already. Keep up to date on the newest finds, vote on colors and give your input on our creativity. We share fun tutorials, great before and after, and new design inspirations. 

We offer interior design, kitchen cabinet painting, and custom built tables, barn doors, and repurposed furniture. Thank you, again, for working with us and for taking the time to spread the word about what we do. 

Happy FunCycling Friends,
Sarah ;)

Hi Friends!

I hope you all had a great weekend! We enjoyed a weekend with some church and fall festivities and, of course, enjoyed our new puppy, June!

For this week’s makeover, I wanted to share a dining room design that I did for a whole house remodel recently. Our clients, Jen and Mike, were so wonderful to work with. They bought a house, but didn’t love how outdated it was. Jen loves a farmhouse feel and wanted the house to feel brand new.

The section that used to be a dining room was going to be converted into a larger kitchen so we wanted to convert the sitting room into a dining room.

This is the first room you see as you walk into the house so we wanted to keep it clean, simple, and beautiful.

Here’s the room before:

I started by creating a design board for the space so Jen could see how everything worked together in the room:

If you hire me for a design consult, these boards come with a link to click on and oder each project.

Then I worked with her contractor to go over the finishes. In this room, we also custom built their farmhouse table and repurposed their china cabinet.

Porch.com just recently asked us for some tips on redoing furniture. You can check that post out here.

Ready for the after photos?

Isn’t it so beautiful?!? 

Would you like help redesigning your home? Let me help you with the design! Check out more details about our Interior Design Services. 

Thank you all for following along! If you’d like to get this blog in your email once a week, please sign up for our weekly newsletter by adding your email in the little box below my picture. 

If you’ve enjoyed this post, please like FunCycled on  Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest if you don’t already. Keep up to date on the newest finds, vote on colors and give your input on our creativity. We share fun tutorials, great before and after, and new design inspirations. 

We offer interior design, kitchen cabinet painting, and custom built tables, barn doors, and repurposed furniture. Thank you, again, for working with us and for taking the time to spread the word about what we do. 

Happy FunCycling Friends,
Sarah ;)

Hi Friends!

I hope you had a wonderful week! We spent some time in Ocean City, NJ on our annual family trip. The weather was wonderful and it was so nice to hear the waves and relax in the sun. I also started reading a really good book called Live Love Now. If you have teens or know teens that you want to connect with better, I highly recommend it! I’ve learned so much from it already and wish I had read it years ago.

This week’s makeover is from a dear client/friend. She was moving and couldn’t fit this armoire into her new house so she reached out to see if we’d be interested in it. It’s an Ethan Allen china cabinet so it was well made, but didn’t quite have the look I liked. Here it is before:

We painted the box with Benjamin Moore black, but my favorite part about the makeover was that we sanded and stained the drawers and doors to show the beautiful grain that was hiding behind the dark stain color.

Check it out:

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

Ready for the afters?

This china cabinet was snatched up by a design client so it’s not for sale, but I still wanted to share the transformation.

Thank you all for following along! If you’d like to get this blog in your email once a week, please sign up for our weekly newsletter by adding your email in the little box below my picture. 

If you’ve enjoyed this post, please like FunCycled on  Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest if you don’t already. Keep up to date on the newest finds, vote on colors and give your input on our creativity. We share fun tutorials, great before and after, and new design inspirations. 

We offer interior design, kitchen cabinet painting, and custom built tables, barn doors, and repurposed furniture. Thank you, again, for working with us and for taking the time to spread the word about what we do. 

Happy FunCycling Friends,
Sarah ;)