How Sarah Trop Turns Old Homes and Heirlooms into Sustainable Beauty

Send us a text

What if the most powerful design choice isn’t “new,” but “true”? We sit with HGTV’s Flea Market Flip champion and Funcycled founder, Sarah Trop, to explore how story, sustainability, and craft can elevate everyday spaces without erasing their past. From turning a roll-top desk into a showstopping bar to flipping arched cabinet doors for a shaker look, Sarah shows why preserving good bones often beats a full gut—and how a smart “kitchen facelift” can save serious money while keeping character intact.

We unpack her journey from nap-time furniture repaints to a full-service studio and storefront, fueled by a faith-rooted, trauma-informed approach. Sarah reveals how she sells bold visions to clients who can’t “see” the final room yet, using AI tools like Midjourney alongside SketchUp and CAD to quickly communicate mood, proportion, and flow. We dig into the materials that matter—low VOC, water-based lacquers for durability without toxicity—and the sourcing strategies that transform heirlooms into modern anchors. Expect candid stories from HGTV’s pressure cooker, the art of selling with narrative, and the craftsmanship behind upcycling that feels intentional, not improvised.

We also get real about building a business and a life. Sarah shares lessons from Entrepreneurs’ Organization on scaling, cash, and leadership—and the life-wheel exercise that prompted a radical health reset. Travel threads it all together, from Budapest rooftops to Parisian doors, inspiring palettes, patterns, and finishes that translate into timeless rooms. If you care about historic preservation, sustainable design, and client-first storytelling, this conversation will give you practical tactics and fresh courage to keep the soul in your spaces.

If this resonates, follow and subscribe for more thoughtful design talks. Share with a friend who’s deciding between gut and keep-the-bones, and leave a quick review to help others find the show.

Learn more at:
https://twinteriors.com/podcast/

https://scottwoolley.com

Episode Transcript

Voice Over (00:00):
This is iDesign Lab, a podcast where creativity and
curiosity meet style and design.
Curator of interiors,furnishings, and lifestyles.
Hosted by Tiffany Woolley, aninterior designer and a style
enthusiast, along with herserial entrepreneur husband
Scott.
iDesign Lab is your ultimatedesign podcast, where we explore

(00:20):
the rich and vibrant world ofdesign and its constant
evolution in style and trends.
Today, on the iDesign Lab,we're joined by Sarah Trop, an
award-winning interior designer,global travel blogger, and
HGTV's flea market flipchampion.
She's the founder of Funcycled,known for transforming historic
homes and upcycled pieces intosoulful, sustainable designs.

(00:43):
Featured in Country Living andHouse Beautiful, Sarah brings a
faith-rooted, trauma-informedapproach to design that helps
people uncover beauty in theold, bring peace to their
spaces, and live with greaterpurpose.

Tiffany Woolley (01:05):
What a fun name.
How did you come up with yourname?
But before that, tell us alittle bit about yourself.

Sarah Trop (01:12):
Well, thank you so much for having me on the
podcast.
I was so excited to be here.
Uh my name is Sarah Trop, yeah,of Fun Cycled.
And when I was thinking aboutstarting a business, I knew I
would want it to be somethingthat we had fun in as a family
and that we upcycled because wecared a lot about recycling even
before it was cool.
Wow.
Yeah, yeah.

(01:32):
My husband was the guy who we'dgo on family vacation and he
would bring home a bag ofrecycled things that needed to
be recycled in New York thatwouldn't be recycled in other
states.
So we were that family.
Um yeah, yeah.
So that's why I went with FunCycled because it would be
upcycling and having fun whilewe did it.
But a lot of times people askme if I redo bikes, and I'm

(01:55):
like, no, it's not a bike job.

Speaker 3 (01:57):
That's not what we do.

Tiffany Woolley (02:00):
Yeah.
So, like, obviously, fun cycledhas shifted or evolved into a
design business, and a designhas lots of design philosophies.
So tell us what defines funcycled.

Sarah Trop (02:17):
Yeah, so we started as a furniture repurposing
company actually in 2012.
And I would just redo oldfurniture and upcycle it and
then teach people how to redothings themselves on our
website, on our blog.
And over the years it hasevolved.
We started doing kitchencabinet painting and light feet

(02:37):
slifts because we found you canrepurpose so much and still give
yourself a brand new kitchen ata fraction of the price.
So it's upcycling and reuse,which was were it was important
to our core values.
And then as I was deliveringfurniture with my husband, uh,
we would people would say, Oh,Sarah, can you help me design
this space?
And I would always say, No, I'mnot really a designer.

(03:00):
I design things that I paintand create, but I'm not really a
designer.
And fast forward, we went on uhflea market flip, and and when
we were on that show, it itprompted us to get a storefront.
And when we had still Yeah,because we use we we use the
money from that show to get astorefront.
So when we were at we had ourown storefront, people kept

(03:22):
coming in and saying, Oh, whywon't you design my house?
And I decided I'm just gonnastop saying no.
I'm gonna start saying yes,even if I don't feel
comfortable.
Embrace it.
And yes.
And I went into the firstdesign client ever, and I said,
Ann, why did you pick me todesign?
Why are why couldn't you justhire any other designer?
And she said, Because I knowyou and I know your heart and

(03:44):
your brand, and I know thatyou'll take something old and
make it better, not just replaceit.
And I thought, oh, that reallyis what sets me apart from other
designers.
I really love to take oldhomes.
We have a lot of homes, oldhomes in upstate New York.
Mine is 1802 and Wow.
So, you know, kind of redoingand reuse without gutting

(04:07):
everything is really importantto us.
And it's important to me in thesense of the history of the
home, in the environment, and inthe storytelling of our
clients.
So that's just what I did withher.
I kept good bones in her house,and then I updated room by
room, and now I've redone, Ithink I'm done with every single
room.
I think I just finished, youknow, six years later, another

(04:29):
room four.
I think that's the last one.
Yeah.

Scott Woolley (04:32):
So so you started with furniture, correct?

Sarah Trop (04:35):
I did, yeah.

Scott Woolley (04:36):
So refurbishing furniture.
So did you actually physicallydo that work or did you have
other craftsmans do that work?

Sarah Trop (04:45):
Oh no, I did it all.
So I started in January of 2012and I had two little kids, a
two and a three-year-old, and Ijust worked every nap that they
had.
Um I worked every night,usually eight to twelve.
I am one of those people thatdoesn't require a lot of sleep,
so I could that's helpful.
Yeah, I could put push through,and within four months, so by

(05:08):
April of 2012, I was making thesame as my job.
And so I quit my job and didfun cycle repurposing full-time.
About a year and a half afterthat, my husband John joined me,
and that's when we could expandinto custom built furniture,
kitchen remodels, and uh, youknow, what more custom built

(05:28):
items.

Scott Woolley (05:28):
But so when you're taking a piece of
furniture, you're refinishingthe wood, you're reupholstering
it?

Sarah Trop (05:36):
Yeah, so we mostly paint, repair, paint, and alter.
So for instance, like we hadthis one project recently where
you know those old roll top oakdesks that are like orangey,
yellow, pretty ugly.
Yeah.
So we had a design client whowas working with them on
interior design, but they hadone of those, but it was in one
one of their family, it was afamily heirloom.

(05:57):
It was his I believe it was thehusband's grandmother's.
And they did not want to use itbecause it was so ugly.
And I said, Well, why don't werepurpose it?
We found this nook that theyhad in a sitting room that was
five feet wide and about threeor four feet deep.
We custom took we took the wetook the desk and custom built
it into that section where itbecame a bar.

(06:19):
So we took the roll tarpsection that normally slides
down, and we made that thebacksplash.
We painted it black.
We added a copper sink andrinse station and refrigerator.
We built in a mini fridge, um,a cooling station for food,
hanging wine racks from sectionsthat were taken from the top.
So we repurpose every part ofthe desk, and you wouldn't even

(06:40):
know.
I mean, it's just so beautiful.
So they get to keep that familyheirloom, but at the same time,
it doesn't look like an oldoutdated piece of furniture.

Scott Woolley (06:49):
But that's not the we what you're talking about
is a real craft.

Sarah Trop (06:52):
Yeah, that's right.

Scott Woolley (06:53):
I mean a real craftsmanship.
And the I mean here in Southand here in South Florida Trevor
Burrus We're not known forcraftsmanship.
No, and it's difficult to findtalented craftsmen that can do
those kind of things.
We're typically having to go toNorth Carolina or or California
to some companies and peoplethat we know.
I mean, what's your backgroundthat that taught you or gave you

(07:17):
those skills?
Because that's quiteinteresting and skills to have.

Sarah Trop (07:23):
Yeah, so from an artistic standpoint, I was
homeschooled from third gradetill the end.
And back then, you reallycouldn't be in a lot of things
that public school kids could bein, like we couldn't join
sports teams, uh at least in NewYork.
I don't know if that's all overthe nation, but in New York we
couldn't.
So my parents poured intowhatever art well, no, they let

(07:44):
us pick.
So we all had different thingsthat we loved.
I loved music, so I'm I'm apianist, but I also loved art.
So I actually went toprofessional painting classes
for years with an artist allthrough high school.
And so that's how I learnedcolor theory and how to do
artistic finishes.
And I could do that onfurniture pieces and the repair
work, I just Googled the heckout of it.

(08:05):
Wow.
Learned that as I went, butthen my husband joining me
helped a lot because he couldreally customize uh pieces in
ways that I could dream it upbecause I think in pictures, but
I don't know that I could doall the carpentry that he does.
But he he went to school to bea chef at Johnson and Wales
University.
Uh-huh.
But he paid his way throughcollege working for a master uh

(08:28):
craftsman.

Tiffany Woolley (08:29):
So he knows how to do the backgrounds just kind
of collided and created such aunique brand.
Yeah, I think.

Scott Woolley (08:37):
So you you ended up opening a storefront selling
pieces that you were, you know,repairing and restoring?

Sarah Trop (08:46):
Yes.
Yep.
So it was primarily furniture,some artwork, but primarily
furniture.
And we would just repurpose andalso do custom orders so people
would bring in their furniturepieces too.
But we had a lot that we woulddo artistic finishes on of our
own, you know, design, and thenwe would resell it.

Tiffany Woolley (09:04):
So where would you do your sourcing?
I mean, obviously upcycled, Iknow with your flea market flip
and everything like that,there's there's I mean that
group of sourcing.
But do you go to shops?
Do you travel?
Where do you get the bulk ofenough things to fill the shop
and keep your inventory?
So when I first started, Iprimarily bought on Craigslist.

Sarah Trop (09:28):
Do you remember Craigslist?
Oh.
Was that a thing?
Uh-huh.
Okay.
And then after that, FacebookMarket Flip.
Okay.
Yeah.
And I did that primarilybecause I knew the type of items
I could sell, and it wasn't,you know, sometimes when you go
to a flea market, you kind ofjust hope you run across
something.

Speaker 3 (09:48):
Right.

Sarah Trop (09:48):
And not that I don't love a good flea market, but if
I'm doing a store, I know Ionly have a wall this big to be
able to fit a piece, so I haveto have to be measurement
specific.
So a lot of that, that was inthe beginning days, right?
Now that I'm more well known inin the local market, people
come to me a lot to ask me ifthey could donate their
furniture, actually.

(10:09):
And so then we just startedtaking donations as they came
in, and we had a s uh storagespace, and it was always full.
We just always people careabout the story a lot, so I
would share the story of theirpiece as I redid it.
And they didn't want to justthrow out their grandmother's
table, even if they didn't havespace for it anymore.
Right.
They wanted to know it would goto somebody who could

(10:31):
appreciate it.
Exactly.
And they could say, Yeah, wemay make a hundred dollars on
Facebook Marketplace with this,but if you take it and redo it,
you we know it'll be loved foryears to come and cherish by a
new family, you know.
So that's kind of how we getour pieces now.

Tiffany Woolley (10:46):
What a special philosophy.
So are you still doing so muchof the craftsmanship yourself
with your husband, or do you nowhave a team that assists you?
Yeah, we have a team.

Sarah Trop (10:57):
I I I would say there was a distinct moment I
was delivering a hutch.
We know the kind of hutchesthat don't come apart.
Right.
All one piece.
Yeah.
The old fashioned story out theexterior staircase that was
metal in a in a freezing rainstorm in Saratoga.

(11:18):
And I was like, what am Idoing?
Like, I'm doing this businesswrong if I am still lugging
hutches up exterior stairs.
You know.
And I got in the car that dayand I said to John, I'm done
delivering.
Like I have to set this off togive this off to someone else.
And that became where westarted building a team.
John's very hands-on still asfar as the build process goes.

(11:42):
We do have a team with us aswell.
I'm more on the design side.
Right.
So I'll more I'll pick out whatwe want it to look like and
how.
And a lot of it now weincorporate within design.
So I primarily repurposefurniture if they're working
with me on design.

Tiffany Woolley (11:58):
So do you feel like now your main focus is
design with in including thesespecial heirloom pieces?

Sarah Trop (12:07):
Yes.
I would say design is more myfocus, even though we remodel
about one kitchen a week and wedo furniture in addition to
that.
My focus on this side isrunning the business and doing
the leading the design.
And I have two people that workunder me as well that do
different parts of the design orthe marketing for me.

Tiffany Woolley (12:26):
So what a beautiful organic story of the
American dream.
I I mean, truly.
So how did you land on theHGTV?

unknown (12:41):
Okay.

Scott Woolley (12:41):
Flea market flipping.
And you were champion of theshow?

Sarah Trop (12:45):
We were, yeah.
Yeah, so tell us about it.
Yeah, sure.
The episode's called HappyFlipping Anniversary because the
final day was on our actualanniversary.
Um But it was it was funnybecause back in those days,
remember how I said I really gotno free time because you know,
anytime my kids are asleep, I'mworking.
So I'd have these special likelate night movie time or show

(13:09):
times with my friend Marcy, wholived nearby.
We would put our kids to bed.
We would eat brownies and icecream and watch flea market
flip.
And she said to me, You need toapply to be on the show.
You are so talented.
And I said, No, number one, youdon't get on a TV show unless
you know someone.
And number two, if I losenationally, this is my
livelihood.
Like you can't go on TV andlose for what I do for a living.

(13:32):
Most of the people on that showjust do it for fun, you know.
And uh she's like, just try.
You it's a no if you don't try.
So it's another example ofpeople kind of pushing me into a
yes and me being so gratefulfor them, seeing a potential in
me that I didn't see it myself.
So I find and then I didn'thear anything.

(13:53):
And then I six months laterthey selected me and we went on.

Tiffany Woolley (13:58):
So tell us more about that experience.
So you get selected and what'sthat whole process look like?

Sarah Trop (14:04):
Yeah, so I knew it was a 30-minute show.
I didn't know a lot about howit was gonna happen or be
recorded, but it ended up beingthree full days of recording for
a 30-minute show.
The first day you go in and youbuy at a flea market, and the
hard part about that is they'rerecording multiple couples,
spirit you partners for thecompetition.

(14:24):
I don't know if you've everseen the show, but I think there
were six of us today, we sixdifferent partners, and we were
all recording the same daybecause that makes sense.
They want to get it all therecording done at once.
Yeah, yeah.
But when we did that, we werechosen to be the first team to
be recorded.
And I had no TV experienceother than the Rachel Ray show,

(14:46):
which was you know just a quickblurb, but um being on an actual
TV show, I was like, what am Idoing?
And you have to make decisions,you know, you have what the one
hour to shop, and it's aliteral hour hour.
And if you're in recording fora TV show show, you know how
much is cut, and so it feelslike 10 minutes of shopping

(15:07):
because you have to be like, hi,thank you, I'll buy it.
Hi, thank you, I'll buy it fromdifferent angles, and it's just
a really weird experience.
And all the other teams, sowithin that six, the first hour,
the team team two is has anhour to shop and figure out what
they want before they startrecording, but we've had no time

(15:28):
to pre-look at anything.
So what was your piece?
Uh it was three.
We did Modern Americana, um,which we took an old um ironing
board and a tractor gear, and wewelded the gear to stand up on
its own and had the ironingboard go out with mid-century
modern legs to make a coffeetable.

Tiffany Woolley (15:49):
Like a statistic coffee table.

Sarah Trop (15:52):
Yeah.

Tiffany Woolley (15:53):
And you had all this vision like on the fly
like that.

Sarah Trop (15:56):
It's amazing.
I had to just do it on a fly.
I didn't have it pre you don'tyou can't pre-planned because
you don't know what you're gonnafind, right?
I just knew our market was NewYork City, so it had to be small
enough to fit a smallapartment, and it had to be
multi-functioning as much as itcould be.
So one of the challenges was amulti-function piece.
And so everybody takes a trunkand makes it a coffee table, but

(16:20):
we we did a a trunk where itwas flipped on its side and it
was a coffee table, but then wealso had a base for it and it
turned into a secretary's desk.
So it could either be a coffeetable if you have company, or
you pop it up and then the frontflips down and you can write
with on it so it could be twothings in one in a small New
York City apartment, you know.
And then what was the last one?

(16:42):
Uh oh, we took uh an old umelectric telephone pole base for
the subway system, and weadded, have you ever seen the
small cable spools, vintagecable spools?
Yes, where they would wrapcable inside it.
We attached that to the top ofit, drilled holes all the way

(17:03):
around, and had like winebottles that went in by the neck
and hung wine glasses betweenit.
And so it was a stand-up winebar slash place for people to
eat at a, you know, if they hada party or whatever.
And so I was so nervous.
Like redoing it, I we we werein our wheelhouse.
We actually told the c ourcompetition that they could have

(17:24):
some of our guys during itbecause we could tell they were
kind of like in over their headson some of it.
And we're like, this is we gotthis, we got this.
So we were felt good aboutthat.
But then Cell Day, I waspanicking.
I'm like, I can't lose onnational television.
Like, this is so embarrassing.
And I called my brother, who'sbeen one of my biggest fans, and
uh, I said, Jesse, like, wecan't lose on national TV.

(17:45):
And he goes, Sarah, you are astoryteller, and every single
piece that you bought tells astory.
You're gonna go on and you'regonna tell all the buyers the
stories, and the story will sellwhat you're doing.
I'm like, You're right, you'reright, it is what I am, yeah.
And yeah, and then we sold, uhsold out and won by a landslide,
so it was really fun.

(18:06):
What a fun memory and a funprocess.
Yeah, it really was.
It felt like once in a lifetimeuntil we were on another one.
It was great.

Tiffany Woolley (18:19):
So you went on another one of the same the flip
show?
No, we were on BYU survivalist.
So you definitely are hands-onand have that DIY effect.
Yes.
Which is probably prettyhelpful in the mus in the movie
business, you know, the magic oftelevision, right?

(18:41):
They're kind of like your twovibes emerging together.
So you mentioned about beingthe storyteller, and I know like
as we were doing our researchon you for today, that that's
something that you try to, youknow, define.
Are you an interior designer ora storyteller?
But you're both.
So tell us where that came intoplay.

Sarah Trop (19:04):
So, you know, in the land of a lot of knowledge that
we've live in and it's gettingeven more and more with AI,
right?
Knowledge is great.
I'm really grateful for it, butunderstanding the heartbeat of
something and the story behindit to me makes it matter.
Um and so every dresser Ibought that had a story, uh,

(19:26):
whether it was a family heirloomor like I found it, there's
this one where everything wasdecayed out the back.
It should have been burned,right?
But we brought it really shouldhave been but we brought it
completely back to life.
You wouldn't even know it wasthe same thing.
You you wouldn't even imagine.
And to me, there's somethingsoul self, there's soul filling
when you can see something sobroken and made so beautiful,

(19:48):
you know?
And so yeah, whether it's apiece of furniture or it's a
home or it's just a corner ofyour home that you can tell a
story about.
And the reason why that'simportant is because knowing
yourself and sharing enoughabout the things around you that
it has a story, to me, that'swhat life's about.

Tiffany Woolley (20:10):
I couldn't agree more.
I mean, as an interior designermyself, you know, I definitely
also like the whole process ofcurating and, you know, having a
story to tell with everything,not a cookie-cutter mentality at
all.
So I definitely appreciatethat.
I wish I had more of the theDIY type of training myself

(20:33):
because sometimes I feel like Ican't get my words out to
explain exactly what I'menvisioning.
Does that ever happen to you?
It's like it's in my head, butall the time.
Because I don't know, do youthink in pictures?
I feel like I do.
I heard you say it like that,and I've I do think of life
sometime as a catalog ofsnippets of pictures, and I

(20:56):
realize I do.
I I am very visual.
Yeah.

Sarah Trop (21:00):
So same with me.
If I walk into a space, I canpicture how it's gonna look at
the end.
So the biggest challenge that Icome into with clients is
trying to get them to trust thatI can see it and it'll be good.
Right.
When when they don't think inpictures.
Uh, I mean AI has helped thatbecause it's a little easier to
be able to give them a quickrendering that's a little bit
more similar to what I'mpicturing, even though it's

(21:21):
never exact, right?
Right.
But um that has helped over theyears versus trying to pull
Pinterest pictures that aresimilar but they're not quite.
Right.
Or trying to just look up otherdesigns and say, hey, that's
kind of like this, but notquite.
You can actually just take apicture of their room and add a
certain style that you'reenvisioning.
And it won't it won't be exact,but it'll give them a good like

(21:41):
I had um a client recently thatwanted all bamboo cabinets with
wood floors and like tones thatthere's it's too much of the
same thing, you know?
And when I thought about it,I'm like, oh, it's just gonna
look so bad.
But you don't you don't want tosay that.
Oh, she's not listening.
Um but instead I said, Wouldyou mind if I pull up a

(22:03):
rendering with what you'repicturing versus what I think
would look better?
And she's like, Yeah, that'sgreat.
So I did two, I did it.
And the once she could see whatI was saying about adding
different tones and not wood onwood, um, she was like, Oh my
gosh, yes, I have to go thatway.
So I think when you don't thinkwhen you do think in pictures
and your clients don't,utilizing tools like that could

(22:25):
be really helpful.

Scott Woolley (22:26):
So are you drawing it or are you using
SketchUp or are you using AI tocreate those those images?

Sarah Trop (22:34):
Yeah, I just use AI.

Scott Woolley (22:36):
Really?

Sarah Trop (22:37):
Like Chat GPT or Oh, so you can do a couple
different things because AI isgetting so much better.
Gemini or ChatGPT.
Well, actually, Gemini, Ithink, just stopped their photo
rendering.
They for a while you could say,like, here's a picture of a
room, here's a picture of thedesign board that I created for
the room, as far as justproducts.

(22:58):
Right.
And then you could say, hey,ChatGPT, merge those two onto
the onto the room, and then itwould apply those items to it.
So that's one way.
But I also use um Mid Journey.
Are you familiar withMidjourney?
No.
It's a stronger visual toolthan ChatGPT.

(23:19):
And it does have a monthlysubscription.
It does take like I had to takea training on how to do it.
It's not as user-friendly aslike ChatGPT would be.
But it prompts well.
So like if I if I want tosearch for if I want to create
it with certain renderings, likeI want a 9x12 kitchen that's
farmhouse with navy cabinets,wood butcher block founders,

(23:40):
white walls, and subway tile,it'll give you pretty close to
that.
And there are some wonkymoments, but you can or wonky
renderings, but you can renderit.
Um do slight render changes andadvanced render changes as
well.

Tiffany Woolley (23:54):
That is so interesting because you know, in
a lot of what I listen to anddo research, especially for i
design and even my own business,you know, this is one of the
industries where they're saying,you know, I uh AI won't attack,
you know, won't hinder so muchbecause it is still so hands-on.

(24:15):
It is still so in the fieldthat you still need these tools
to, you know, bring a fullvision to life.
So we tried using a little bitof AI here and there in the
office, but we still kind ofrely on SketchUp.

Scott Woolley (24:35):
Sketchup and CA and CAD, you know, the tools
that everyone's been using foryears.

Sarah Trop (24:41):
Yeah, and those are gonna be more technical and
realistic expressions of youknow whatever your design is,
and that's great, right?
That's what you want is thepolished finished product.
But it's and people get scaredof AI, right?
But what I say is we would havejust Googled the pictures
before.
Yeah.
It's no different.
It's just a more advancedGoogle.
So it's not gonna it's notgonna source the products for

(25:02):
you, although one day it might,honestly.
I think AI will get there oneday.
But for for now, at least, it'snot gonna do that.
But when if I can say, give mea living room with a white
shiplop wall and or acolor-drenched room with crown
molding that's this color uh orthis this height with this color
room, a leather sofa, blah,blah, blah, and type it all in

(25:25):
like that.
If I can show a client that,instead of having to look at
five or six images on Google andsay, imagine all these things
together while we're sitting andmeeting.
Well, why wouldn't we wantthose tools to help them
visualize?
I I agree.

Tiffany Woolley (25:37):
I think it's a wonderful explanation of it
being a tool, not a replacement.

Scott Woolley (25:43):
Absolutely.
You mentioned earlier aboutyour husband and recycling, and
I know that sustainability is uhkind of a big focus and core to
your business.
Tell us a little about thataspect of your business with the
system.
Yeah, so sustainability.

Sarah Trop (25:59):
Right.
From the beginning, we've triedto use products that are as
green-friendly while mixingquality.
You know, so that's a littletricky in the paint world
because some people say, oh,everything should be lacquer,
but we're like, oh, it'soil-based, it's so toxic.
We're not gonna go oil.
Um, and then you'll have somepeople say, well, it should all
just be mud paint or chalkpaint.
We we can do that.

(26:19):
You know, we have some clientswho really want that, but the
durability we we don't find tobe as good as some of the other
products, you know.
But when we're redoingfurniture, we use a uh, or at
least kitchen cabinets, we use alow VOC lacquer that's
water-based.
And so it's like the in ouropinion, the best of both
worlds.
So that's what I kind of say.
I I have a very balancedapproach, both in design and in

(26:42):
life.
Like I try not to go to tooextreme, but I really want
sustainability to be important.
Why would we buy something newthat's not made as well in the
furniture or any other thingwhen we could buy something old
that can be given a second life,have a unique character, and
save things from going into thelandfill.
To me, that is reallyimportant, you know?

Tiffany Woolley (27:03):
Agreed.
Yeah, and I feel like so manythings were made so much better
years ago.
We're just paying more for lessin this, you know, consumption
economy.
I think it's really, reallyspecial your approach.
So when you tackle designprojects, do you start with the
piece sometimes?
Or do you start with the wholevision?

Sarah Trop (27:28):
I think it depends on the customer and what they
have.
So some clients don't have anypieces that they care about, and
so then I can really source insomething old or s or say, let's
find this one piece in yourhouse, and how about we salvage
it into this?
You know, sometimes it's that.
Um, and then other times wework around like, hey, the you

(27:49):
don't need to gut all of thisjust because everybody thinks
let everything has to be new ina remodel.
I was just listening to, andmaybe you'd have some in insight
on this as well, but I was justlistening to some real estate
specialists saying that they'refinding that clients actually
don't like when houses aregutted of their original
character and put all new.

(28:10):
They're finding buyers wantthings that have history.
Yeah.
So I think that is somethingthat sometimes we have shop in
and we actually devalue thehomes because we don't
appreciate the history and keepthat, you know?
I agree.
We had one client reach out andsay, Hey, we want you to buy
our parents' home.

(28:31):
They started redoing it.
It's an old, old brick colonialis beautiful.
I mean, I wanted it so badly.
If I could have money come fromthe sky, I would have bought
this.
It was and I should have at thetime.
Yeah, I should have.
It was uh they said, We'll giveit to you for $175,000.
It's over 3,000 square feet onalmost three acres of small
house.
We've salvaged, I know, theyhad these pocket doors and and

(28:54):
fireplaces that they salvagedall the mantles and the thick um
trim work and mouldings.
And I tried with all I had, butI didn't have enough money to
buy it for cash and have cash toalso do the work.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I asked friends, like, hey,can I just borrow this from you?
I'll get it back.
Like we we'll do this housejustice.

(29:14):
And that's what the peoplesaid.
We know if you buy it, you'lldo this house justice.
And we don't want it just to goto anyone.
So we tried, but we couldn'tget the cash, someone else
bought it.
Well, they put all new tile anddidn't put the old molding back
in.
And made it like shipwop overthe fireplace versus like the
beautiful fireplace.
I know.
Why?
And it went back on the marketfor $900,000 a year later.

(29:39):
Um, and I just thought thecharacter's gone.
Like, yeah, you you might makesome money, but that's not how I
would have done it.

Tiffany Woolley (29:46):
Right.
I know.
I I couldn't agree more.

Scott Woolley (29:49):
Like, so you you mentioned also that you're doing
a fair amount of kitchens andthe kitchens that you're doing,
you know, from our standpoint inDel Rey and in South Florida,
even homes that we're Doingoutside of Florida.
Most people are redoing akitchen.
They want to gut everything.
Let's put a whole brand newkitchen.
We're actually redoing ourkitchen right now in our own

(30:11):
home.
And Tiffany didn't want to dothat.
She wanted to keep what wasthere, and she's kind of like
what you do.
She's refurbishing, changing,but we're keeping the
aesthetics, but bringing it kindof up to date.
In the kitchens that you'redoing, how are you tackling
tackling those?

Sarah Trop (30:29):
Yeah, we we specialize in repurposing
kitchen cabinets, so we almostalways keep the majority of
cabinets.
Sometimes we have to add a fewextra in if it doesn't, yeah, if
the sizing doesn't work.
But uh people are alwaysshocked.
They always say to me, Oh no,it won't look good if I keep the
old.
And I'm like, just wait tillwe're done.
You will say, Why did I why didI do why did I want to gut this

(30:52):
out?
Right.
And we I don't think we'veanyone who've been who've been
regretful of that decision.
Um so for instance, I do designof new kitchens where it's not
repurposed, right?
Like I I can't exclusively sayno, I won't repurpose for you.
But I'm doing a kitchen remodelright now, and it's gonna be
anywhere from 250 to 300,000 forthis moderate-sized kitchen.

(31:14):
Um all new.
Now, granted, we want somefunky features like arched
cabinetry and things like that.
Lighting.
Right.
But our kitchens, when werepurpose, we call it a kitchen
facelift.
And so when we facelift akitchen, we keep the cabinets
and we just do tile and newcounters, it ends up being
around 20,000.
And so it's just such a goodmoney saver, and it's good for

(31:40):
the con it's good for theenvironment.
So to us it's a win-win, but Iknow it's not a fit for every
client, you know.
Right.

Scott Woolley (31:48):
And I'm one of those people that said to
Tiffany, you want it what?
We want it what?
No, why don't we just put allnew in?

Tiffany Woolley (31:54):
And she Well the the other thing is I find I
still like so much and andappreciate, as do you, so much
of the old style and thecharacter.
And I feel so strongly thatthat all of that should tie to
the architecture of the house,just like that story you
mentioned about the, you know,beautiful home that you wish you

(32:15):
had.
Like people just go in and tryto put the latest, greatest,
newest that they think is gonna,you know, appeal to everyone
under the sun, versus reallycherishing and it, you know,
elevating what's there.

Sarah Trop (32:31):
Absolutely.
And you know, there's some waystoo, for instance, uh on our
Facebook page, the very topvideo we had is a kitchen that
we remodeled where the front hadthose outdated arch doors.
You know what I mean when I saythat?
Yeah, like the typical.
But if you flip them insideout, the backsides were shaker.
So our I said, we can savemoney if you are fine with the

(32:55):
arch being on the inside, younever see it, right?
Unless the doors get left open.
And she's like, game, let'srepurpose, let's do it.
And you would never guess it'seven the same kitchen.
And we just flip the doorsinside out.

Tiffany Woolley (33:06):
It's really crazy, the options.
Yeah.
And that's another thing.
I feel like you know, we dothis every day, and it is we do
it with passion.
You you are so much more awareof the opportunities that most
people just really don't thinkof.
And I feel like, you know, whenyou get those wins in client
meetings, like, oh, like, youknow, I I see it, you know.

(33:27):
It's very gratifying.
I couldn't agree with thatmore.
So during your journey, what isthe most exciting piece that
like you can't like that yourepurpose?
Like, what would be the mostmemorable spectacular couple?

Sarah Trop (33:46):
I really like the secretary's desk that we turned
into a wine bar because it wasso different.
You know, it's just like whenyou have we had soak stone on
top for cutting topper sink anduh a rinse section for cups and
the a retro mini fridge insidebetween where you would sit.
Uh so for me that one was likesomething I've never seen done.

(34:08):
I'd never, you know, I don'tthink anyone would think, uh,
and I really enjoyed working onthat project.
So that one probably takes thecake of my favorite.

Scott Woolley (34:18):
Are there any projects that stand out that
were extremely challenging whenyou first came about or came
upon it?

Sarah Trop (34:25):
Uh the the broken down buffet where the back legs
were totally rotted out, and itwas for a customer who said,
like, this is our families.
And I'm thinking, then whydidn't you leave it outside?
Um But they're like, we want tokeep it in the family, but it's
been outside for 10 years.
So uh the whole top was theveneer was all buckled, the
drawers didn't even open.

(34:46):
Um it was just I was literallylike, how are we gonna do this?
That one probably was thehardest that we've done as from
uh there's been hard ones from acustom built perspective, but
when you repurpose somethingold, you just don't know what
you're gonna have to do untilyou're in it.

Tiffany Woolley (35:02):
You know, it's kind of like actually home
remodeling.
I always say to clients, younever know what you're gonna
open up.
I guess furniture remodeling isthe same thing.
Like you really get into it,what it's what it all entails.
So do you have to rely on, youknow, different sources too for
different hardware and you know,just certain tools for crafting

(35:26):
and saving and adding orpreserving these pieces?

Sarah Trop (35:31):
Yeah, so there is antique hardware companies if we
want to keep it periodappropriate.
I would say a lot of ours arenot like people don't want us to
have antique hardware put backon.
They want something more modernand updated.
So it could be something assimple as going to a hobby lobby
and getting some funky knobsall the way to like restoration
hardware where they want it tobe more high feel more high-end.

Tiffany Woolley (35:54):
Right.
Okay.

Sarah Trop (35:55):
That's an interesting thought.
Yeah.
And there's even things likescrapers that you wouldn't think
that they're they're called umcarpenter sanders, but they're
these metal scrapers, and that'show you distress furniture.
But you can only get themonline.
There's not you can't you can'teven find those locally, but
it's a weird tool that we haveto use, we use a lot, but you

(36:16):
would never even know it was atool.

Scott Woolley (36:17):
Do you do you handle any like wicker
furniture?
Because I know here, wickerfurniture, it's very
specialized.
You know, in South Florida,there's one per place that
handles that.

Sarah Trop (36:29):
Yeah, we don't do wicker.
There is one person that weknow locally that does wicker.
We'll add wicker to the frontof pieces.
So for instance, we had anentertainment center where they
wanted every single door to beshaker and custom built with
wicker on the front.
So we can custom build that,but we don't typically replace
wicker on vintage.
Right.
There's a whole different art.

Tiffany Woolley (36:49):
So you also mentioned in the beginning that
your husband and you, you know,do this together.
Are your kids involved now?
But yeah, they are actually.

Sarah Trop (36:59):
They're both on payroll.
They both uh Josh, he's our17-year-old.
He will he worked yesterday, orhe worked Tuesday because
school hadn't started yet, buthe goes along and he'll when
he's not at school, he'll docabinet door installation or
paint with my husband ordelivery of the furniture with
him.
And so yeah, he's he's a bighelp as he has time.

(37:22):
And then my daughter, she doesum, she's actually has a really
good design eye.

Tiffany Woolley (37:27):
Right.

Sarah Trop (37:27):
I was wondering if one of them would follow in your
footsteps.
She doesn't want to follow yet.
But um, I read years ago thatto help get your kids involved
in whatever you do, a funexercise is like we'll get the
newest magazine in and I'll sitdown and say, Hey, let's go page

(37:47):
by page.
You tell me the best part ofthe design and what you would
change.
I love that.
Every single time, yeah, it'sso fun.
And every single time she picksexactly what I would say.

Tiffany Woolley (37:58):
Aw, so she's a trained eye.
Crazy.
Yeah.
Without even realizing it.

Scott Woolley (38:03):
Is there any person in the past or now that
inspires you that you, you know,follow or really impressed by?

Sarah Trop (38:10):
Or yeah, I really like Jean Stoffer.
Do you know who she is?
No.

Scott Woolley (38:14):
No.

Tiffany Woolley (38:15):
But it does sound familiar though, because
sometimes because I'm so visual,I'll know people's work before
I really realize their name andput two and two together.

Sarah Trop (38:24):
Yeah, she's a designer that is um on the show
The Established Home on theMagnolia Network.
Okay.
And she's based in GrandRapids, Michigan.
And I just really like her,she's written a book called The
Established Home.
I like her home value.
Like she works with her familyand she prioritizes family time.
And she actually didn't becomefamous until she was older.

(38:47):
And she talks about why thatwas okay with her.
Like different seasons of lifeallowed for scaling up and down,
and now she's her kids are allgrown and she's ready to pour
into it, like she didn't want todo when they were younger.
Right.
And her daughter, Grace, sheworks with her as well.
And so I've been to GrandRapids, I've met them, I've been

(39:08):
to their home tours.
I'm gonna actually be going outuh in two weeks again for their
final mansion tour of a housethat they ri have redone.
And I just I like a lot herstyle.
She has a kind of Europeanflair mixed with traditional,
and but she thinks outside ofthe boxes.
Like I don't know if you'veseen from a design side where

(39:29):
they take in a countertop andthey'll split it and then put
like a gold piece, a brasspiece.
That's basically I've I saw itfrom her first.
Oh, wow.
And I thought that's thinkingoutside of the box, same thing.
Like I just love when shethinks outside of the box and
she brings in traditional, youknow, classic design, but with a
little bit of a flair, youknow.

(39:50):
Right.

Tiffany Woolley (39:51):
And that's what keeps it timeless, too.
I feel like I see that story sooften.
Like the last thing you want todo is be like, oh, that was
done in you know, 2000, or no,this was done in 1990.
You know, you want somethingthat can evolve and collect and
you know, transform and continuethrough time.

Sarah Trop (40:12):
Exactly.
And when you go to her hometours, all her family's there,
like her sons, her daughter,like it just feels like they
love to be together.
And I was and I've gotten toknow her daughter, Grace, a
little bit.
And my daughter has met Grace,and she really looks up to her.
And so I think over the yearswe've we've really kind of
respected and admired how theywork together and how their

(40:35):
faith is integrated into theirwork and how they've grown their
business as well.
It's just been a realinspiration for me.

Tiffany Woolley (40:41):
That's a beautiful.
I'm actually I'm from GrandRapids, so I'm gonna check them
out.
I definitely am gonna check herout.
So you would say that she'slike a big design influence for
you.

Sarah Trop (40:54):
Yeah, I would say, I mean, originally uh before I
ever knew about her, JoannaGaines, of course, because I
know, what a story, right?
Right, and we have a lot ofsimilarities.
Like we were we were got intodesign sort of similar timing.
We were married the same time,we honeymooned in the same space
at the same time.

(41:14):
Um like Mr.
Visionary, who will just say,Oh, we're just we're gonna do
this without thinking about howwe're gonna do this.
Right.
And I feel like that's her aswell.
And so for years I've said, ifI could ever meet Joanna Gaines,
I feel like we'd be bestfriends.
I feel like we have a lot incommon.
And uh so I would say her too.
She probably would have more ofan influence in the beginning

(41:35):
years because I thought, oh, shedoesn't have a design, and look
at what she's done, you know, adesign degree and look at what
she's done.

Tiffany Woolley (41:40):
Well, I often say you can't teach this.
You can't I could not agreewith you more.
Yeah, I'm like I've hiredinterior design helpers through
the years and everything likethat, and some of them can be
the most hardworking, greatpeople and great additions to
the team, but not necessarilywho I could turn design trust

(42:02):
over to.
It's really something you knowyou're born with.

Scott Woolley (42:05):
So what do you do to stay creatively fresh?
Are you on Instagram?
Are you going to shows,reading?
What's what's the Go to Go to?

Sarah Trop (42:16):
Yeah, so I do a couple things.
I actually travel a lot.
I blog about our travels, but Itry to go places that inspire
me from a design perspective.
So last this year we went toBudapest, Vienna, Prague, I
can't imagine.

Scott Woolley (42:33):
So you're so you're going there looking
probably at antiques andarchitecture.

Sarah Trop (42:41):
I mean the way that they decorate even the exterior
of buildings can translate tohow a furniture design piece is
painted or the finish that weuse.
We did a whole uh the year twoyears before that I went to
Paris and London and I did awhole furniture um I did
furniture pieces based on doorsthat I photographed in Paris.

(43:03):
So I would say, like, here'sthe door and here's how it
translates on furniture, andthen we would do a custom
painting of the door that camewith it.
And yeah, to me that that'swhat inspires me the most is
travel and seeing new spaces.
Um but I do like uh one thing Ilike is say I have to work at
night or something.

(43:23):
Sometimes I'll have a designshow on in the back because you
don't really have to watch it.
Right.
Because it's there, and then atthe final review, or if I hear
some doing something I've neverdone before, I'll look up and be
like, oh, that's interesting.
Um so I try to stay relevant bylike always listening, always
reading, always watching, but Idon't have a lot of time to
watch TV.
I don't have a lot of time toread.

(43:44):
And I don't want to.
Like I my life is full withpeople and and creating spaces
that I love, so it's okay withme.

Tiffany Woolley (43:50):
But so where does your process begin when you
bring on when a new designclient comes into play?
I mean, do you start with Iknow we mentioned briefly like
the room, it depends, or if it'sthe piece of furniture, but I
tend to like have to immediatelystart with like furniture
layouts.
Like I want to see how space isused.

(44:11):
What's your go-to to begin yourprocess?

Sarah Trop (44:16):
Yeah, we scale up and down.
That's something that's alittle different for with us
versus some of at least ourlocal competitors.
Sometimes people just hire mefor a one-hour design consult,
and it could be virtual or itcould be in person, where I
literally say, Are you a DIYer?
Like I had a design client justthis this week, and they wanted
to DIY everything themselves.
They're very hands-on.

(44:37):
They and I said, That's fine.
Then this design consult looksdifferent.
I'm just gonna tell you layout.
I'm gonna tell you.
And she had all these historicpieces from her family, like
literally a Queen Anne's dresserthat came over on a boat from
England that was hergreat-grandmother's.

Tiffany Woolley (44:55):
Wow.

Sarah Trop (44:55):
And so she doesn't want to touch any of those, but
we have to make it feel updatedin the space.
So it's more, yes, like yousaid, layout, it's color, it's
how does color work with vintageto make it feel updated.
Um, and so I created a designboard for her from that one
hour.
And it wasn't really like orderthis piece of furniture, it was
hey, custom build this in here,and here's why and how, and

(45:18):
close up this wall, and then putthese vintage pieces here.
So everyone's a little bitdifferent, but I would say I
always start with a one hour andjust see, do we need to scale
up or are you a DIYer?
And it's just you need sometips.
And I'm happy to do either.
It doesn't, you know, it I'mhappy because I I was a DIYer
most of my life.
So I don't want to close thedoor for DIYers and say, like,

(45:40):
oh, you don't your budget's not20,000, so I won't work with
you, you know.

Tiffany Woolley (45:44):
Right, right, right.
So where do you, when you'renot necessarily sourcing, you
know, heirloom pieces orrepurposed pieces, where do you
go to mix in the, you know,upholstery pieces or lighting or
what what are some of yourfavorite places that you source
from?

Sarah Trop (46:03):
I mean, I don't it's not the what I find is I do a
lot of different styles.
So there's not a one go-to thatI always pick, you know.
I love mid-century modern, so Ilove joy bird couches, I love
uh Westel furniture.
I have a lot of customers whoreally only want me to use
pottery barns, so I go withthat, you know.
So it just kind of depends onthe client.

(46:26):
I don't know that I have aone-go-to-I like Ballard design.
Like one of the clients thisweek wanted Ballard Design for
some of their hutches and andthings like that.
So, but I don't there's notreally one that I selectively
use.

Tiffany Woolley (46:41):
Do you ever go to the trade shows like High
Point or anything like that?
I have, yeah.
I've been to High Point um onetime only.
I need to, I want to go back.

Sarah Trop (46:51):
It's just I haven't had time.
I know.

Tiffany Woolley (46:53):
Time is like so crazy.
I was like, when you saidyou're blogging, I'm like, where
do you find the time for that?
I've been wanting to do thatfor many years, Scott, and I've
you know talked about doing it.
How do you find the time toeven do that?

Sarah Trop (47:08):
Yeah, so I just heard a quote from Elon Musk
that said, you have enough timeto you give yourself enough time
to do I'm quoting him wrong.

Tiffany Woolley (47:17):
Nobody saw the same quote.
I know where you're going withit.

Sarah Trop (47:20):
Yeah, like whatever time you give to yourself,
that's how long it's gonna takeyou.
So for instance, like I do afall festival at our home where
we do open house tours and wehave vendors that sell things.
I don't sell things reallytypically at that at that event,
but I decided I felt called topaint again.
I don't know why, but I justdid I could see how you could

(47:43):
miss that.
Yeah.
And I haven't picked up a brushmuch.
I mean I've done it here andthere, but not much.
And um and so I started and Idid a gallery of I said I'm
gonna have a gallery debut with10 paintings that that month,
and I started last month and I'malmost done.
I have two left.
And if but if I had said I'mgonna do a gallery of paintings

(48:04):
over the next two years, itwould have taken me two years.

Tiffany Woolley (48:06):
Year round.

Sarah Trop (48:07):
Because that's just how we work, right?
Right.
So yeah.
I'm a big time managementperson, and then I've also
learned a lot about businessthis year and what you can hand
off and how you should behanding off as much as you
possibly can.
So I have an assistant who nowwrites most of my blogs, and
then I just proof and tweakbecause yeah, you've learned how

(48:28):
to delegate.

Tiffany Woolley (48:29):
Who do you rely on for the business resource,
like you know, advice?
Is there certain podcasts orbooks you've read that you've
integrated?
How does that inspire?

Sarah Trop (48:39):
Yeah, so the most helpful thing that I've done
with um business so far is Ijoined this group called EO,
it's entrepreneurialorganization, and they have
chapters that are global.
And basically they havequarterly training and it's all
about different things cashmanagement, um understanding
your core values, things likethat.

(49:00):
And then they bring in globalspeakers that talk about
everything, and it can be fromAI to breath work.
I mean, it really covers somuch, but I've gotten to be on a
Zoom call and ask MarthaStewart questions.
I've gotten to you know connectwith global leaders that I
would never have even been ableto get a response from.
Um is it a virtual kind ofcourse or so no most of it's in

(49:25):
person, and there are virtualcourses you can do as well, but
almost everything I've done isin person.
Um I met the owner of Uggsboots.
Um and he was fascinating.
I don't know if you've everheard him, but it's an
Australian action, and his storyis like phenomenal, selling
boots out of the back of his carin California trying to become
successful.
And I also didn't know Bug Uggsboots were made for surfers.

(49:48):
Did you know that?

Tiffany Woolley (49:49):
Yeah, I did because they got popular in
Malibu is when I first heard ofthem in 2003.
I two it was you know, and theywere saying it was like the
popular because it's cold therein the morning.
So when they come out of the Iknow, but I've everybody has

(50:09):
such great stories, so I canimagine where the inspiration
came with him.

Sarah Trop (50:14):
Yeah, he was really inspiring.
And even this guy, his name isJack Daly, he had does
hyper-sales growth training andalso another book about how you
manage your life, and that waskind of life-changing for me uh
because he talked about theythey had these charts that look
like a pie, right?
Okay.
And every sliver is a portionof your life.

(50:34):
So it could be everything fromromance to time with your kids
to spirituality to time in yourhealth.
And then zero is the center ofthe circle, ten is the edge, and
you put how much like wherewhere how much time you spend on
each of those slices, right?
All the way around.
And then you connect the dots,and then you can see like what

(50:55):
in your life is not balancedbecause everything's gonna be a
little more, a little less,right?
But when there's one that'sgetting no time at all, you you
know, as a leader, this is whereI need to work on.
And my sliver that was a zerocompared to everything else,
which was pretty balanced, wasmy health.
And Jack Delhi spoke and said,How dare you not care enough

(51:16):
about your children to take careof your health for them one
day?
And uh that hit me like a rockin the face.
Um and I started working out,eating healthier.
I've lost 92 pounds and ithasn't even been a year.
Yeah.
Gotcha.
And it was just thanks.
It was such a game changer inmy life.
And so EO really has been sohelpful from uh learning how to

(51:39):
scale to answering questions,like having people answer
questions because you're in aroom of people who are very
successful, so you usually canget your questions answered
because to be in it, they havethree programs.
One you grow from they'reteaching how to go from a
hundred thousand.
You have to make a I think it'sa hundred thousand in sales.
The other category is twofifty, and they'll scale you to
a million, and then there's oneif you make a million or more on

(52:02):
gross.
So it's teaching a lot of.

Scott Woolley (52:05):
What's the name of the organization?
Executive.

Sarah Trop (52:07):
Um, it's called EO, so entrepreneurial organization.
And they have differentchapters.
I think they have many inFlorida, but I'm in the Albany
chapter in New York.

Scott Woolley (52:17):
Hmm.
Sounds very interesting.

Sarah Trop (52:19):
Yeah, it is.
It's really neat.
It's really neat.

Scott Woolley (52:22):
So let me ask let me ask a question.
If there was a dream project,home client space, what would it
be in the come in the future?
What would you love?

Sarah Trop (52:33):
So I would love I would love to probably uh well I
can tell you because No, Ican't tell that yet.
Um Yeah.
I I have a dream for like Iwould love to take spaces where
you have This is gonna soundcrazy, I haven't told anyone

(52:54):
this.
But little like a motel whereit has a lot of different little
motel spaces, and you have thecost effective enough that local
people could rent it at areasonable rate but still make
enough money to cover it, andhave like a miniature village of
shops that are all locallysourced, like not just little
niche things that you can orderwholesale.

(53:16):
I get the place of those, butmore repurposing and reuse and
creative and artsy and um Iwould love something like that.
I mean that's like a dreamproject.
Uh, but I also would love toget another historic home and
salvage it because if forinstance a couple of years ago
we bought an 1895 electrictrolley station that was so bad.
Yeah, my husband fell throughthe kitchen floor um the day we

(53:40):
closed it.
And everybody said, you know,you should burn it and just
build a module or you'll nevermake money.
Um but we really wanted to keepthe history of that space, and
so yeah, we flipped it over ayear and sold it.
And uh I love taking historicspaces that most people would
say, What are you doing?

(54:01):
Why would you fix that?
We were driving around and it'sso cute.
My daughter uh recently was wesaw a broken down house.
She's like, Mom, that should beyours.
This is what we do.
We make the community better byfixing old houses.
I was like, Yeah, I everyone Isee broken down, I want.
Right?
Ring them all.

Tiffany Woolley (54:18):
Those are kind of my dream jobs, yeah.
So do you so you do some ofyour own projects as well?

Sarah Trop (54:24):
Oh, tons.
We bought a 1802 farmhouse uhsix years ago.
We had a five-year goal to redothe whole thing, and uh we have
every single room, every singlespace.
And our we call it therepurposed idea house on our
blog because we tried torepurpose and reuse as much as
we can throughout the spaces aswe redid.
And we show tutorials about howto redo them.

(54:46):
And um and that's what we do inour fall festival.
We do historic tours of thatrepurposed idea house.
Um so I have to make sure Iclean my house that week, you
know.

Scott Woolley (54:56):
So So being in Albany, New York, how is it deal
dealing with the like here inDelray and in South Florida,
we're dealing with you knowhistoric societies, you know,
controlled by the this each ofthe different cities, which
you're going through thebuilding department, but then
you're also going through thehistoric department that's
basically in many casesdictating how and what we can do

(55:20):
or can't do.
How's that been with you?

Sarah Trop (55:24):
Yeah, in New York it's it's it's okay, so it
depends.
So we've looked at projects inthe past where if you want to
get historic funds for it,there's much more stipulations
in what you can do.
But if you do it yourself,unless it's on the national
registry, I believe is astipulation, doesn't matter if
it's old, because we have a lotof old buildings here.

(55:45):
So we can even the trolleyhouse um that we flipped, we
they wanted us to gut and removealmost everything.
So basically the rule is ifit's 50% or more of renovations,
they want everything to newcode.
Well, in a historic home, it'sbasically impossible to get
everything to up to new code.
And that house was more than50% of a remodel.

(56:08):
So even things as simple as wehad a two-foot-wide staircase
that went up to a little loft,right?
So crazy.
Yeah.
Yeah.
To me, that was my favoritepart about the house.
You walk in the front door, andstraight ahead are these
adorable little stairs.
There's a kitchen, there's amud room, and then straight
ahead are these tiny littlestairs, right?

(56:28):
And so I was so bummed becausecode came back saying, like,
nope, you have to rip those out,and you have GLS.
And I went back and said, Iwell, actually, I said, Oh
shoot, how are we gonna do this?
And then I was talking to afriend who worked in code for a
different county, and he said,You have to push back and say,
This is a historic home.
Yeah, we're keeping an electrictrolley station preserved.

(56:52):
It was falling apart.
Like literally, animals wereliving inside.
There weren't windows on halfof it.
Like, what do we do with this?
Like, you know, and so therewere some things they wouldn't
give on.
For instance, like I wanted tokeep the large windows where
there was windows, which was notthat many, but they were
beautiful.
And they said absolutely notbecause you have to have, I
think it's 18 inches from thefloor um to have new code for

(57:13):
window height, at least in thisin this space.
And so I had to make the windowsmaller, which kind of killed
me as a designer a little bit.
Like huge, beautiful openwindows.
But um, but in other spacesthey did end up working with us
and saying, okay, yeah, we seelike this porch has been here
for uh over a hundred years.

(57:33):
It's fine that we don't have itbe trek stacking or you know,
something new that doesn't workwith the history and the
property.

Scott Woolley (57:42):
That's some of the some of it here is very
tough because there's been anumber of projects Tiffany goes
in front of the board or andgoes to City Council and fights
for that particular issue thatit gets it stays or remains, and
she's been very successful withthat.
Trevor Burrus, Jr.

Tiffany Woolley (57:57):
Well, because I think my go back is kind of
like what you said.
I mean, we're trying topreserve it and make it
beautiful.
We're not changing it.
We're just you know updatingit.
So work with us.

Sarah Trop (58:10):
And that definitely happens.
So for instance, I'm working ona historic home in Saratoga.
I don't know if you knowSaratoga, but it's a beautiful
area.
Yeah.
It's beautiful.
Well, one part of the house,one side of the house, lands in
the historic district.
The side of the house, thatroad is not.
So when my client bought thehouse, he thought, okay, we're

(58:31):
gonna turn it into a twoapartments from a single family.
We're gonna extend out the backum and make it two apartments.
Well, the historic society, uhhistoric district did not like
that.
And he fought for over twoyears to get them to approve a
design that he could move aheadwith, and the not the interior

(58:52):
design, but like thearchitectural design.
And um that is a huge budgetlaw.
I mean, you're paying on ahouse for two years that you
can't do any remodels for.
You know, I feel like there'sgot to be a way we can expedite
that a bit.
And they finally came to acompromise, but there are so
many stipulations like thewindow style, the window sizing,

(59:12):
housing are built, you know.
Um so yeah, we do run into it,and certain counties are more
sticklers.
I I live in a county that's notas as much, but there are
counties that are definitelyvery, very complicated to deal
with.

Scott Woolley (59:26):
Yeah.
So if you could raid any fleamarket or vintage store, where
would it be in the world?
Oh.

Sarah Trop (59:35):
That is a topic.

Scott Woolley (59:37):
And you've seen sort of travel to a lot of very
unique places from what you'vesaid, that architecture and
design and you know, is that thesame thing.

Sarah Trop (59:46):
So if it's a flea market, I've never been to the
elephant's trunk, isn't that inTexas?

Speaker 3 (59:51):
I think so.

Sarah Trop (59:52):
Scott, I know.
And um I think from a fleamarket perspective, I'd love to
go there.
It's one of those things thatis so far from me that I'm like,
uh How would I get anythingback?
It would just be a little bitmore.
Back home.
I know.

Tiffany Woolley (01:00:02):
That's what we end up doing things like that
too.

Sarah Trop (01:00:06):
Yeah, yeah.
Exactly.
If I'm talking about myfavorite, you know, structure
that I've seen that I'd love tolike tour and soak up pieces.
Um, there's a m I think it'sMatthias Church in Budapest in
the um in in the in the castledistrict area.
It is so beautiful.
Even the roof has so manydifferent styles, styles.

(01:00:27):
It's not just one style oftiling.
It has a hundred, I think it's149,000 tiles on the roof.
And they're all differentcolors, and they're my favorite
types of colors, like a darkteal and a mustard, and a like
all those autumn-y beautifulcolors.
Beautiful.
Yeah.
So I think that's my favoritefrom a design inspiration.
I if you walk in that church,there's there are patterns all

(01:00:51):
throughout the church interiorthat are all completely
different.
And yet somehow they all worktogether.
Like every wall you look at,you're like, oh, that's
herringbone.
Oh no, and now they mixed itwith a floral.
Now, you know, this is exactpattern.
And I go, how do they match allof these things?
And it still look amazing.
Uh it will take your breathaway.
That's probably one.
But if I were to pick somewherelocal, I know I'm giving you

(01:01:13):
lots of answers, but I lovedesign.
No, I love them.
If I pick somewhere local,there's this mansion called
Olana in Hudson, New York.
Okay.
And there's a famous painter,Frederick Church, who was in the
1800s, and he did mostlylandscapes with gilded gold
frames.
And it's probably my favoritetype of artwork.

(01:01:36):
Like that's the kind of artworkI love to do, is like
landscaping with gold gildedframes.
And um he bought this mansionso that he could paint things
all around the I think it wasover 200 acres he bought with
it.
And the thing I love about itis he is well traveled.
So he, the interior, when yougo tour it, he has like design

(01:02:01):
from all different countries.
Like part of it you go, oh,this feels like Prague, part of
it feels like London, part of itfeels like Budapest.
Yeah, he blends all of thosestyles so beautifully.
Beautifully together.
Yeah.
It's just phenomenal.
So that's my favorite localspot to go look at.

Tiffany Woolley (01:02:16):
Well, I love the way you blend in all of your
conversation today.
You know, blend all thisdifferent beauty and
timelessness together.
And we thank you so much forjoining us on the iDesign Lab
podcast.

Scott Woolley (01:02:30):
But before we jump off, for everyone, anyone
listening and watching, and theywant to learn more about you,
where should they go?
Which your website or Instagramthat's would be.
And your blog.
Yes.

Sarah Trop (01:02:40):
Yeah.
So I my website'sfuncycled.com.
So it's f-n-c-y-c-l-e-d.com.
And my blog is on there.
And there's tutorials on theblog.
There's all I also created acustom web page for the this
podcast.
It's funcycled.com forwardslash free, where I do tips on
design features that can beeasily changed out and update

(01:03:03):
your home.
So that they can go there ifthey want.
But Instagram and Facebook andPinterest that you can find me
at Funcycled.

Scott Woolley (01:03:11):
So great.

Tiffany Woolley (01:03:13):
Well, thank you so much for joining us.
Oh, thank you.
And we love you follow along onyour FunCycled journey.
And if you're in South Florida,please pop over.
Okay, I would love to.
I'll take you up on that.
I would love that.
Have a great day.

Voice Over (01:03:28):
You too.
Thanks.

Tiffany Woolley (01:03:29):
Bye bye.
Thank you.

Voice Over (01:03:32):
iDesign Labs Podcast is an SW group production in
association with the five starand TW Interiors.
To learn more about iDesign Labor TW Interiors, please visit
TWInteriors.com.