Don’t Throw It, FunCycle It! A Great Marriage: Professionally, Personally & For You

by Rona Mann

away old “stuff” because she didn’t want to throw away history, and she also didn’t want to throw away time with her kids, Josh and Harmony, while they were young.

This is a story about interior design, kitchen cabinet finishing and painting, custom furniture painting, and repurposing.

But mostly, it is a story about love. About a great marriage, although there are no perfect ones; but these folks are into repurposing and refreshing, so they know how to make love work...for their business, for their children, and for others.

This is FunCycled, and no, it’s not a bike shop nor an amusement park. It’s a small business created with talent and purpose, and one at which you should take a long look, because it’s very, very special in so very many ways.

Eleven years ago, Sarah Trop, who was working in the IT field took a look, a long look. She had always loved art since she was a child and was “really passionate about recycling before it was cool,” she laughed. Sarah had always taken painting classes and hated the idea of throwing

So Sarah started painting, primarily furniture painting. Then Sarah started repurposing, and before long, she put the two together and saw what a wonderful business this could be, helping people to save their memories, treasure their history, and still have beautiful things come from it. She took the leap and started FunCycled because she knew what was about to happen would be a lot of fun...for her and for like-minded clients. It became more than fun. It became a deep passion and a very viable business. “A year and a half later, my husband John quit his job and joined me. He loves to build, I love to paint and design.” Voila! A perfect marriage, a “marriage of true minds,” according to Shakespeare.

You can hardly look at the FunCycled website without seeing references to their children, Harmony and Josh, because although they are individuals, this family works and plays and moves as a unit. Josh, who could build a city of Legos has aspirations of being an engineer, and Harmony, like her mother, loves art and design. “She designed her bedroom and did a terrific job,” brags Sarah, so these little apples did not at all fall far from the family tree.

So what exactly can this FunCy cled marriage do? To begin, their mission statement according to Sarah is, “We don’t want to throw away the old. We want to appreciate history and not throw it away,” and that is precisely what they do for their very varied client base which is growing all the time. They specialize in kitchens. Knowing that kitchen remodels can be wildly expensive and out of range for many people who are just seeking a fresh approach, the Trops can change the entire look of a kitchen by painting and fine finishing the cabinets. “Most kitchen cabinets are oak, maple, cherry and well-built,” says Sarah, “so why get rid of them? We freshen them to look brand new. We don’t throw them out; it’s what sets us apart from other interior designers.”

Not only does FunCycled paint, but they can provide solutions for the whole house, just one room, or just one piece of furniture. Over the last 11 years the company has grown to where John and Sarah now have a staff of five and carpentry services are also available. Everything is custom designed by the piece, the room, and the wishes of the client. “We don’t want to fill the land mines, we want to fill rooms with beautifully designed and repurposed looks, Sarah asserts.”

It’s important to understand what repurposing is. It is not reusing something, but finding a new use for an idea, prod uct, or object. It is to reuse the ma terial in its original state, but to a different purpose, and Sarah and John and their staff are masters at this. That means not only saving your cabinets or furniture, but saving you money, time, and not having your house torn apart for a major remodel.

FunCycled is nothing if not organized. “We have an organized schedule system so the customer knows when we’re coming and knows when we’ll be out. In the case of a kitchen, it’s usually just one week for a small cabinet job and two for a larger one, but are clients are told right from the beginning what the proposed schedule is, and if there should be any changes, they are included immediately.”

While their work is primarily kitchens and design, a look at the FunCycled website shows the scope of their broad knowledge and all-encompassing talent. Sarah adds, “We are not just painters, but problem solvers. We can make suggestions and give solutions for a whole room or the entire house.”

Prospective clients may enjoy the fact that they can custom-order repurposed furniture and do it quickly and easily sim ply by sending a picture to John and Sarah. They then will get back a quote, and if it’s agreeable, let the games – or perhaps we should say “fun” – begin! The process of doing the same for kitchens works the same way. The client sends a picture, they hear back from FunCycled, and an estimate is given. So there are no games played, no time wasted. Sarah and John respect and appreciate their clients’ time as much as they do their possessions and rooms.

Based in the Troy area, the folks at FunCycled will travel anywhere within an hour’s radius. Some people even drop off doors, the team paints and fin ishes them, and voila! A whole new look for rooms or the face of the home.

And what is the Trop home like? “Four years ago we bought a home circa 1802,” says Sarah. “It was not in good shape, but working on it steadily we have re stored it to its original look. Every couple of months we invite our clients to the house for appetizers, drinks, and a ‘tour.’ It’s a Client Appreciation Night.”

FunCycled and the Trops are no strangers to TV. Sarah was on Rachael Ray celebrating her 30th birthday showing her 30 Acts of Kindness. Check it out, not only will it warm your heart and let you know what kind of person you’ll deal with at FunCycled, but it might just give you some ideas of your own for spreading kindness. In 2017, the couple competed on HGTV’s Flea Market Flip...and they won! Ask John and Sarah about that. And i n a few months, you can see them compete on Survivalists. It’s already been taped, but the Trops are sworn to secrecy by the producers.

There you have it, not just a company but two very real, very passionate, and honest human beings who love each other, love their kids, and absolutely love what they do...and always, always, always, it’s so much fun!

So what did old William Shakespeare mean by a “marriage of true minds?” It means mixing up two people or entities heartily for the life long, not throwing some one or something away because of impediments. Sounds like FunCycled, doesn’t it?

Sound like you?

Want more information? You should!

Visit: www.funcycle.com or find them on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest (518) 629-FUN (5386)

Paula McCormick Interiors specializes in all phases of interior design. She will be able to assist you in every step of the design process. Whether you are remodeling your current residence or building a new home Paula and her team will guide you every step of the way.

Paula McCormick Interiors was the recipient of over a dozen Interior Design awards in 2022.

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