How Sustainable Design Turns Old Homes and Heirlooms Into Modern Beauty and Meaning

The iDesign Lab Podcast | Where Design, Business, and Culture Shape How We Live and Build

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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.

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

https://scottwoolley.com

2025-10-30 63 min Transcript 14 chapters

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WEBVTT

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<v Voice Over>This is iDesign Lab, a podcast where creativity and curiosity meet style and design.

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<v Voice Over>Curator of interiors, furnishings, and lifestyles.

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<v Voice Over>Hosted by Tiffany Woolley, an interior designer and a style enthusiast, along with her serial entrepreneur husband Scott.

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<v Voice Over>iDesign Lab is your ultimate design podcast, where we explore the rich and vibrant world of design and its constant evolution in style and trends.

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<v Voice Over>Today, on the iDesign Lab, we're joined by Sarah Trop, an award-winning interior designer, global travel blogger, and HGTV's flea market flip champion.

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<v Voice Over>She's the founder of Funcycled, known for transforming historic homes and upcycled pieces into soulful, sustainable designs.

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<v Voice Over>Featured in Country Living and House Beautiful, Sarah brings a faith-rooted, trauma-informed approach to design that helps people uncover beauty in the old, bring peace to their spaces, and live with greater purpose.

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<v Tiffany Woolley>What a fun name.

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<v Tiffany Woolley>How did you come up with your name?

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<v Tiffany Woolley>But before that, tell us a little bit about yourself.

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<v Sarah Trop>Well, thank you so much for having me on the podcast.

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<v Sarah Trop>I was so excited to be here.

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<v Sarah Trop>Uh my name is Sarah Trop, yeah, of Fun Cycled.

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<v Sarah Trop>And when I was thinking about starting a business, I knew I would want it to be something that we had fun in as a family and that we upcycled because we cared a lot about recycling even before it was cool.

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<v Sarah Trop>Wow.

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<v Sarah Trop>Yeah, yeah.

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<v Sarah Trop>My husband was the guy who we'd go on family vacation and he would bring home a bag of recycled things that needed to be recycled in New York that wouldn't be recycled in other states.

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<v Sarah Trop>So we were that family.

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<v Sarah Trop>Um yeah, yeah.

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<v Sarah Trop>So that's why I went with Fun Cycled because it would be upcycling and having fun while we did it.

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<v Sarah Trop>But a lot of times people ask me if I redo bikes, and I'm like, no, it's not a bike job.

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<v Speaker 3>That's not what we do.

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<v Tiffany Woolley>Yeah.

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<v Tiffany Woolley>So, like, obviously, fun cycled has shifted or evolved into a design business, and a design has lots of design philosophies.

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<v Tiffany Woolley>So tell us what defines fun cycled.

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<v Sarah Trop>Yeah, so we started as a furniture repurposing company actually in 2012.

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<v Sarah Trop>And I would just redo old furniture and upcycle it and then teach people how to redo things themselves on our website, on our blog.

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<v Sarah Trop>And over the years it has evolved.

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<v Sarah Trop>We started doing kitchen cabinet painting and light feet slifts because we found you can repurpose so much and still give yourself a brand new kitchen at a fraction of the price.

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<v Sarah Trop>So it's upcycling and reuse, which was were it was important to our core values.

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<v Sarah Trop>And then as I was delivering furniture with my husband, uh, we would people would say, Oh, Sarah, can you help me design this space?

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<v Sarah Trop>And I would always say, No, I'm not really a designer.

00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:03.759
<v Sarah Trop>I design things that I paint and create, but I'm not really a designer.

00:03:03.759 --> 00:03:12.000
<v Sarah Trop>And fast forward, we went on uh flea market flip, and and when we were on that show, it it prompted us to get a storefront.

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<v Sarah Trop>And when we had still Yeah, because we use we we use the money from that show to get a storefront.

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<v Sarah Trop>So when we were at we had our own storefront, people kept coming in and saying, Oh, why won't you design my house?

00:03:24.639 --> 00:03:26.960
<v Sarah Trop>And I decided I'm just gonna stop saying no.

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<v Sarah Trop>I'm gonna start saying yes, even if I don't feel comfortable.

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<v Sarah Trop>Embrace it.

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<v Sarah Trop>And yes.

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<v Sarah Trop>And I went into the first design client ever, and I said, Ann, why did you pick me to design?

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<v Sarah Trop>Why are why couldn't you just hire any other designer?

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<v Sarah Trop>And she said, Because I know you and I know your heart and your brand, and I know that you'll take something old and make it better, not just replace it.

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<v Sarah Trop>And I thought, oh, that really is what sets me apart from other designers.

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<v Sarah Trop>I really love to take old homes.

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<v Sarah Trop>We have a lot of homes, old homes in upstate New York.

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<v Sarah Trop>Mine is 1802 and Wow.

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<v Sarah Trop>So, you know, kind of redoing and reuse without gutting everything is really important to us.

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<v Sarah Trop>And it's important to me in the sense of the history of the home, in the environment, and in the storytelling of our clients.

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<v Sarah Trop>So that's just what I did with her.

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<v Sarah Trop>I kept good bones in her house, and then I updated room by room, and now I've redone, I think I'm done with every single room.

00:04:26.720 --> 00:04:29.839
<v Sarah Trop>I think I just finished, you know, six years later, another room four.

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<v Sarah Trop>I think that's the last one.

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<v Sarah Trop>Yeah.

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<v Scott Woolley>So so you started with furniture, correct?

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<v Sarah Trop>I did, yeah.

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<v Scott Woolley>So refurbishing furniture.

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<v Scott Woolley>So did you actually physically do that work or did you have other craftsmans do that work?

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<v Sarah Trop>Oh no, I did it all.

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<v Sarah Trop>So I started in January of 2012 and I had two little kids, a two and a three-year-old, and I just worked every nap that they had.

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<v Sarah Trop>Um I worked every night, usually eight to twelve.

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<v Sarah Trop>I am one of those people that doesn't require a lot of sleep, so I could that's helpful.

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<v Sarah Trop>Yeah, I could put push through, and within four months, so by April of 2012, I was making the same as my job.

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<v Sarah Trop>And so I quit my job and did fun cycle repurposing full-time.

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<v Sarah Trop>About a year and a half after that, my husband John joined me, and that's when we could expand into custom built furniture, kitchen remodels, and uh, you know, what more custom built items.

00:05:28.800 --> 00:05:35.360
<v Scott Woolley>But so when you're taking a piece of furniture, you're refinishing the wood, you're reupholstering it?

00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:39.759
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah, so we mostly paint, repair, paint, and alter.

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<v Sarah Trop>So for instance, like we had this one project recently where you know those old roll top oak desks that are like orangey, yellow, pretty ugly.

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<v Sarah Trop>Yeah.

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<v Sarah Trop>So we had a design client who was working with them on interior design, but they had one of those, but it was in one one of their family, it was a family heirloom.

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<v Sarah Trop>It was his I believe it was the husband's grandmother's.

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<v Sarah Trop>And they did not want to use it because it was so ugly.

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<v Sarah Trop>And I said, Well, why don't we repurpose it?

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<v Sarah Trop>We found this nook that they had in a sitting room that was five feet wide and about three or four feet deep.

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<v Sarah Trop>We custom took we took the we took the desk and custom built it into that section where it became a bar.

00:06:19.519 --> 00:06:25.360
<v Sarah Trop>So we took the roll tarp section that normally slides down, and we made that the backsplash.

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<v Sarah Trop>We painted it black.

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<v Sarah Trop>We added a copper sink and rinse station and refrigerator.

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<v Sarah Trop>We built in a mini fridge, um, a cooling station for food, hanging wine racks from sections that were taken from the top.

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<v Sarah Trop>So we repurpose every part of the desk, and you wouldn't even know.

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<v Sarah Trop>I mean, it's just so beautiful.

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<v Sarah Trop>So they get to keep that family heirloom, but at the same time, it doesn't look like an old outdated piece of furniture.

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<v Scott Woolley>But that's not the we what you're talking about is a real craft.

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<v Sarah Trop>Yeah, that's right.

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<v Scott Woolley>I mean a real craftsmanship.

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<v Scott Woolley>And the I mean here in South and here in South Florida Trevor Burrus We're not known for craftsmanship.

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<v Scott Woolley>No, and it's difficult to find talented craftsmen that can do those kind of things.

00:07:05.759 --> 00:07:12.160
<v Scott Woolley>We're typically having to go to North Carolina or or California to some companies and people that we know.

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<v Scott Woolley>I mean, what's your background that that taught you or gave you those skills?

00:07:17.759 --> 00:07:22.399
<v Scott Woolley>Because that's quite interesting and skills to have.

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<v Sarah Trop>Yeah, so from an artistic standpoint, I was homeschooled from third grade till the end.

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<v Sarah Trop>And back then, you really couldn't be in a lot of things that public school kids could be in, like we couldn't join sports teams, uh at least in New York.

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<v Sarah Trop>I don't know if that's all over the nation, but in New York we couldn't.

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<v Sarah Trop>So my parents poured into whatever art well, no, they let us pick.

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<v Sarah Trop>So we all had different things that we loved.

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<v Sarah Trop>I loved music, so I'm I'm a pianist, but I also loved art.

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<v Sarah Trop>So I actually went to professional painting classes for years with an artist all through high school.

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<v Sarah Trop>And so that's how I learned color theory and how to do artistic finishes.

00:08:00.720 --> 00:08:05.680
<v Sarah Trop>And I could do that on furniture pieces and the repair work, I just Googled the heck out of it.

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<v Sarah Trop>Wow.

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<v Sarah Trop>Learned that as I went, but then my husband joining me helped a lot because he could really customize uh pieces in ways that I could dream it up because I think in pictures, but I don't know that I could do all the carpentry that he does.

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<v Sarah Trop>But he he went to school to be a chef at Johnson and Wales University.

00:08:24.639 --> 00:08:25.120
<v Sarah Trop>Uh-huh.

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<v Sarah Trop>But he paid his way through college working for a master uh craftsman.

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<v Tiffany Woolley>So he knows how to do the backgrounds just kind of collided and created such a unique brand.

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<v Tiffany Woolley>Yeah, I think.

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<v Scott Woolley>So you you ended up opening a storefront selling pieces that you were, you know, repairing and restoring?

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<v Sarah Trop>Yes.

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<v Sarah Trop>Yep.

00:08:47.840 --> 00:08:51.840
<v Sarah Trop>So it was primarily furniture, some artwork, but primarily furniture.

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<v Sarah Trop>And we would just repurpose and also do custom orders so people would bring in their furniture pieces too.

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<v Sarah Trop>But we had a lot that we would do artistic finishes on of our own, you know, design, and then we would resell it.

00:09:04.879 --> 00:09:06.879
<v Tiffany Woolley>So where would you do your sourcing?

00:09:06.879 --> 00:09:15.600
<v Tiffany Woolley>I mean, obviously upcycled, I know with your flea market flip and everything like that, there's there's I mean that group of sourcing.

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<v Tiffany Woolley>But do you go to shops?

00:09:17.759 --> 00:09:18.879
<v Tiffany Woolley>Do you travel?

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<v Tiffany Woolley>Where do you get the bulk of enough things to fill the shop and keep your inventory?

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<v Tiffany Woolley>So when I first started, I primarily bought on Craigslist.

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<v Sarah Trop>Do you remember Craigslist?

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<v Sarah Trop>Oh.

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<v Sarah Trop>Was that a thing?

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<v Sarah Trop>Uh-huh.

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<v Sarah Trop>Okay.

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<v Sarah Trop>And then after that, Facebook Market Flip.

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<v Sarah Trop>Okay.

00:09:36.960 --> 00:09:37.679
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah.

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<v Sarah Trop>And I did that primarily because 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 of just hope you run across something.

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<v Speaker 3>Right.

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<v Sarah Trop>And not that I don't love a good flea market, but if I'm doing a store, I know I only have a wall this big to be able to fit a piece, so I have to have to be measurement specific.

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<v Sarah Trop>So a lot of that, that was in the beginning days, right?

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<v Sarah Trop>Now that I'm more well known in in the local market, people come to me a lot to ask me if they could donate their furniture, actually.

00:10:09.759 --> 00:10:18.240
<v Sarah Trop>And so then we just started taking donations as they came in, and we had a s uh storage space, and it was always full.

00:10:18.240 --> 00:10:24.159
<v Sarah Trop>We just always people care about the story a lot, so I would share the story of their piece as I redid it.

00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:28.480
<v Sarah Trop>And they didn't want to just throw out their grandmother's table, even if they didn't have space for it anymore.

00:10:28.480 --> 00:10:28.960
<v Sarah Trop>Right.

00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:32.799
<v Sarah Trop>They wanted to know it would go to somebody who could appreciate it.

00:10:32.799 --> 00:10:33.840
<v Sarah Trop>Exactly.

00:10:33.840 --> 00:10:43.440
<v Sarah Trop>And they could say, Yeah, we may make a hundred dollars on Facebook Marketplace with this, but if you take it and redo it, you we know it'll be loved for years to come and cherish by a new family, you know.

00:10:43.440 --> 00:10:46.480
<v Sarah Trop>So that's kind of how we get our pieces now.

00:10:46.879 --> 00:10:48.559
<v Tiffany Woolley>What a special philosophy.

00:10:48.559 --> 00:10:56.159
<v Tiffany Woolley>So are you still doing so much of the craftsmanship yourself with your husband, or do you now have a team that assists you?

00:10:56.159 --> 00:10:57.679
<v Tiffany Woolley>Yeah, we have a team.

00:10:57.759 --> 00:11:02.879
<v Sarah Trop>I I I would say there was a distinct moment I was delivering a hutch.

00:11:02.879 --> 00:11:04.879
<v Sarah Trop>We know the kind of hutches that don't come apart.

00:11:04.879 --> 00:11:05.200
<v Sarah Trop>Right.

00:11:05.200 --> 00:11:06.240
<v Sarah Trop>All one piece.

00:11:06.240 --> 00:11:06.720
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah.

00:11:06.720 --> 00:11:18.399
<v Sarah Trop>The old fashioned story out the exterior staircase that was metal in a in a freezing rain storm in Saratoga.

00:11:18.399 --> 00:11:20.639
<v Sarah Trop>And I was like, what am I doing?

00:11:20.639 --> 00:11:26.399
<v Sarah Trop>Like, I'm doing this business wrong if I am still lugging hutches up exterior stairs.

00:11:26.399 --> 00:11:28.559
<v Sarah Trop>You know.

00:11:28.559 --> 00:11:32.320
<v Sarah Trop>And I got in the car that day and I said to John, I'm done delivering.

00:11:32.320 --> 00:11:35.279
<v Sarah Trop>Like I have to set this off to give this off to someone else.

00:11:35.279 --> 00:11:37.279
<v Sarah Trop>And that became where we started building a team.

00:11:37.279 --> 00:11:42.159
<v Sarah Trop>John's very hands-on still as far as the build process goes.

00:11:42.159 --> 00:11:44.399
<v Sarah Trop>We do have a team with us as well.

00:11:44.399 --> 00:11:46.000
<v Sarah Trop>I'm more on the design side.

00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:46.240
<v Sarah Trop>Right.

00:11:46.240 --> 00:11:50.000
<v Sarah Trop>So I'll more I'll pick out what we want it to look like and how.

00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:52.960
<v Sarah Trop>And a lot of it now we incorporate within design.

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<v Sarah Trop>So I primarily repurpose furniture if they're working with me on design.

00:11:58.159 --> 00:12:06.639
<v Tiffany Woolley>So do you feel like now your main focus is design with in including these special heirloom pieces?

00:12:07.360 --> 00:12:07.679
<v Sarah Trop>Yes.

00:12:07.679 --> 00:12:14.559
<v Sarah Trop>I would say design is more my focus, even though we remodel about one kitchen a week and we do furniture in addition to that.

00:12:14.559 --> 00:12:19.840
<v Sarah Trop>My focus on this side is running the business and doing the leading the design.

00:12:19.840 --> 00:12:26.559
<v Sarah Trop>And I have two people that work under me as well that do different parts of the design or the marketing for me.

00:12:26.639 --> 00:12:31.279
<v Tiffany Woolley>So what a beautiful organic story of the American dream.

00:12:31.279 --> 00:12:33.440
<v Tiffany Woolley>I I mean, truly.

00:12:33.440 --> 00:12:40.720
<v Tiffany Woolley>So how did you land on the HGTV?

00:12:41.120 --> 00:12:41.279
<v unknown>Okay.

00:12:41.679 --> 00:12:42.559
<v Scott Woolley>Flea market flipping.

00:12:42.559 --> 00:12:44.799
<v Scott Woolley>And you were champion of the show?

00:12:45.279 --> 00:12:45.679
<v Sarah Trop>We were, yeah.

00:12:45.679 --> 00:12:46.799
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah, so tell us about it.

00:12:46.799 --> 00:12:48.879
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah, sure.

00:12:48.879 --> 00:12:53.840
<v Sarah Trop>The episode's called Happy Flipping Anniversary because the final day was on our actual anniversary.

00:12:53.840 --> 00:13:04.480
<v Sarah Trop>Um But it was it was funny because back in those days, remember how I said I really got no free time because you know, anytime my kids are asleep, I'm working.

00:13:04.480 --> 00:13:11.919
<v Sarah Trop>So I'd have these special like late night movie time or show times with my friend Marcy, who lived nearby.

00:13:11.919 --> 00:13:13.440
<v Sarah Trop>We would put our kids to bed.

00:13:13.440 --> 00:13:17.919
<v Sarah Trop>We would eat brownies and ice cream and watch flea market flip.

00:13:17.919 --> 00:13:21.360
<v Sarah Trop>And she said to me, You need to apply to be on the show.

00:13:21.360 --> 00:13:22.480
<v Sarah Trop>You are so talented.

00:13:22.480 --> 00:13:26.159
<v Sarah Trop>And I said, No, number one, you don't get on a TV show unless you know someone.

00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:29.759
<v Sarah Trop>And number two, if I lose nationally, this is my livelihood.

00:13:29.759 --> 00:13:32.879
<v Sarah Trop>Like you can't go on TV and lose for what I do for a living.

00:13:32.879 --> 00:13:35.679
<v Sarah Trop>Most of the people on that show just do it for fun, you know.

00:13:35.679 --> 00:13:38.320
<v Sarah Trop>And uh she's like, just try.

00:13:38.320 --> 00:13:40.399
<v Sarah Trop>You it's a no if you don't try.

00:13:40.399 --> 00:13:49.919
<v Sarah Trop>So it's another example of people kind of pushing me into a yes and me being so grateful for them, seeing a potential in me that I didn't see it myself.

00:13:49.919 --> 00:13:53.519
<v Sarah Trop>So I find and then I didn't hear anything.

00:13:53.519 --> 00:13:57.679
<v Sarah Trop>And then I six months later they selected me and we went on.

00:13:58.080 --> 00:14:00.000
<v Tiffany Woolley>So tell us more about that experience.

00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:04.000
<v Tiffany Woolley>So you get selected and what's that whole process look like?

00:14:04.559 --> 00:14:06.480
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah, so I knew it was a 30-minute show.

00:14:06.480 --> 00:14:13.679
<v Sarah Trop>I didn't know a lot about how it was gonna happen or be recorded, but it ended up being three full days of recording for a 30-minute show.

00:14:13.679 --> 00:14:24.879
<v Sarah Trop>The first day you go in and you buy at a flea market, and the hard part about that is they're recording multiple couples, spirit you partners for the competition.

00:14:24.879 --> 00:14:34.240
<v Sarah Trop>I don't know if you've ever seen the show, but I think there were six of us today, we six different partners, and we were all recording the same day because that makes sense.

00:14:34.240 --> 00:14:36.240
<v Sarah Trop>They want to get it all the recording done at once.

00:14:36.240 --> 00:14:37.679
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah, yeah.

00:14:37.679 --> 00:14:41.600
<v Sarah Trop>But when we did that, we were chosen to be the first team to be recorded.

00:14:41.600 --> 00:14:53.519
<v Sarah Trop>And I had no TV experience other than the Rachel Ray show, which was you know just a quick blurb, but um being on an actual TV show, I was like, what am I doing?

00:14:53.519 --> 00:15:00.480
<v Sarah Trop>And you have to make decisions, you know, you have what the one hour to shop, and it's a literal hour hour.

00:15:00.480 --> 00:15:10.559
<v Sarah Trop>And if you're in recording for a TV show show, you know how much is cut, and so it feels like 10 minutes of shopping because you have to be like, hi, thank you, I'll buy it.

00:15:10.559 --> 00:15:17.200
<v Sarah Trop>Hi, thank you, I'll buy it from different angles, and it's just a really weird experience.

00:15:17.200 --> 00:15:30.159
<v Sarah Trop>And all the other teams, so within that six, the first hour, the team team two is has an hour to shop and figure out what they want before they start recording, but we've had no time to pre-look at anything.

00:15:30.159 --> 00:15:32.080
<v Sarah Trop>So what was your piece?

00:15:32.080 --> 00:15:34.080
<v Sarah Trop>Uh it was three.

00:15:34.080 --> 00:15:49.600
<v Sarah Trop>We did Modern Americana, um, which we took an old um ironing board and a tractor gear, and we welded the gear to stand up on its own and had the ironing board go out with mid-century modern legs to make a coffee table.

00:15:49.840 --> 00:15:52.480
<v Tiffany Woolley>Like a statistic coffee table.

00:15:52.720 --> 00:15:52.960
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah.

00:15:53.200 --> 00:15:56.559
<v Tiffany Woolley>And you had all this vision like on the fly like that.

00:15:56.720 --> 00:15:57.600
<v Sarah Trop>It's amazing.

00:15:57.600 --> 00:15:59.519
<v Sarah Trop>I had to just do it on a fly.

00:15:59.519 --> 00:16:03.279
<v Sarah Trop>I didn't have it pre you don't you can't pre-planned because you don't know what you're gonna find, right?

00:16:03.279 --> 00:16:13.120
<v Sarah Trop>I just knew our market was New York City, so it had to be small enough to fit a small apartment, and it had to be multi-functioning as much as it could be.

00:16:13.120 --> 00:16:16.480
<v Sarah Trop>So one of the challenges was a multi-function piece.

00:16:16.480 --> 00:16:29.440
<v Sarah Trop>And so everybody takes a trunk and makes it a coffee table, but we we did a a trunk where it was flipped on its side and it was a coffee table, but then we also had a base for it and it turned into a secretary's desk.

00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:39.600
<v Sarah Trop>So it could either be a coffee table if you have company, or you pop it up and then the front flips down and you can write with on it so it could be two things in one in a small New York City apartment, you know.

00:16:39.600 --> 00:16:42.799
<v Sarah Trop>And then what was the last one?

00:16:42.799 --> 00:16:57.279
<v Sarah Trop>Uh oh, we took uh an old um electric telephone pole base for the subway system, and we added, have you ever seen the small cable spools, vintage cable spools?

00:16:57.279 --> 00:17:00.240
<v Sarah Trop>Yes, where they would wrap cable inside it.

00:17:00.240 --> 00:17:07.920
<v Sarah Trop>We attached that to the top of it, drilled holes all the way around, and had like wine bottles that went in by the neck and hung wine glasses between it.

00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:14.799
<v Sarah Trop>And so it was a stand-up wine bar slash place for people to eat at a, you know, if they had a party or whatever.

00:17:14.799 --> 00:17:18.160
<v Sarah Trop>And so I was so nervous.

00:17:18.160 --> 00:17:21.039
<v Sarah Trop>Like redoing it, I we we were in our wheelhouse.

00:17:21.039 --> 00:17:28.400
<v Sarah Trop>We actually told the c our competition that they could have some of our guys during it because we could tell they were kind of like in over their heads on some of it.

00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:31.359
<v Sarah Trop>And we're like, this is we got this, we got this.

00:17:31.359 --> 00:17:32.960
<v Sarah Trop>So we were felt good about that.

00:17:32.960 --> 00:17:35.039
<v Sarah Trop>But then Cell Day, I was panicking.

00:17:35.039 --> 00:17:37.279
<v Sarah Trop>I'm like, I can't lose on national television.

00:17:37.279 --> 00:17:38.960
<v Sarah Trop>Like, this is so embarrassing.

00:17:38.960 --> 00:17:45.680
<v Sarah Trop>And I called my brother, who's been one of my biggest fans, and uh, I said, Jesse, like, we can't lose on national TV.

00:17:45.680 --> 00:17:50.720
<v Sarah Trop>And he goes, Sarah, you are a storyteller, and every single piece that you bought tells a story.

00:17:50.720 --> 00:17:55.680
<v Sarah Trop>You're gonna go on and you're gonna tell all the buyers the stories, and the story will sell what you're doing.

00:17:55.680 --> 00:18:00.720
<v Sarah Trop>I'm like, You're right, you're right, it is what I am, yeah.

00:18:00.720 --> 00:18:06.880
<v Sarah Trop>And yeah, and then we sold, uh sold out and won by a landslide, so it was really fun.

00:18:06.880 --> 00:18:10.720
<v Sarah Trop>What a fun memory and a fun process.

00:18:10.720 --> 00:18:13.440
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah, it really was.

00:18:13.440 --> 00:18:17.279
<v Sarah Trop>It felt like once in a lifetime until we were on another one.

00:18:17.279 --> 00:18:19.440
<v Sarah Trop>It was great.

00:18:19.759 --> 00:18:24.079
<v Tiffany Woolley>So you went on another one of the same the flip show?

00:18:24.079 --> 00:18:27.839
<v Tiffany Woolley>No, we were on BYU survivalist.

00:18:27.839 --> 00:18:33.599
<v Tiffany Woolley>So you definitely are hands-on and have that DIY effect.

00:18:33.599 --> 00:18:34.559
<v Tiffany Woolley>Yes.

00:18:34.559 --> 00:18:41.039
<v Tiffany Woolley>Which is probably pretty helpful in the mus in the movie business, you know, the magic of television, right?

00:18:41.039 --> 00:18:44.640
<v Tiffany Woolley>They're kind of like your two vibes emerging together.

00:18:44.640 --> 00:18:56.160
<v Tiffany Woolley>So you mentioned about being the storyteller, and I know like as we were doing our research on you for today, that that's something that you try to, you know, define.

00:18:56.160 --> 00:18:59.359
<v Tiffany Woolley>Are you an interior designer or a storyteller?

00:18:59.359 --> 00:19:00.640
<v Tiffany Woolley>But you're both.

00:19:00.640 --> 00:19:03.759
<v Tiffany Woolley>So tell us where that came into play.

00:19:04.720 --> 00:19:12.000
<v Sarah Trop>So, you know, in the land of a lot of knowledge that we've live in and it's getting even more and more with AI, right?

00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:13.519
<v Sarah Trop>Knowledge is great.

00:19:13.519 --> 00:19:21.279
<v Sarah Trop>I'm really grateful for it, but understanding the heartbeat of something and the story behind it to me makes it matter.

00:19:21.279 --> 00:19:32.079
<v Sarah Trop>Um and so every dresser I bought that had a story, uh, whether it was a family heirloom or like I found it, there's this one where everything was decayed out the back.

00:19:32.079 --> 00:19:33.680
<v Sarah Trop>It should have been burned, right?

00:19:33.680 --> 00:19:38.240
<v Sarah Trop>But we brought it really should have been but we brought it completely back to life.

00:19:38.240 --> 00:19:39.759
<v Sarah Trop>You wouldn't even know it was the same thing.

00:19:39.759 --> 00:19:41.119
<v Sarah Trop>You you wouldn't even imagine.

00:19:41.119 --> 00:19:49.039
<v Sarah Trop>And to me, there's something soul self, there's soul filling when you can see something so broken and made so beautiful, you know?

00:19:49.039 --> 00:19:59.359
<v Sarah Trop>And so yeah, whether it's a piece of furniture or it's a home or it's just a corner of your home that you can tell a story about.

00:19:59.359 --> 00:20:09.119
<v Sarah Trop>And the reason why that's important is because knowing yourself and sharing enough about the things around you that it has a story, to me, that's what life's about.

00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:11.200
<v Tiffany Woolley>I couldn't agree more.

00:20:11.200 --> 00:20:24.880
<v Tiffany Woolley>I mean, as an interior designer myself, you know, I definitely also like the whole process of curating and, you know, having a story to tell with everything, not a cookie-cutter mentality at all.

00:20:24.880 --> 00:20:26.559
<v Tiffany Woolley>So I definitely appreciate that.

00:20:26.559 --> 00:20:39.920
<v Tiffany Woolley>I wish I had more of the the DIY type of training myself because sometimes I feel like I can't get my words out to explain exactly what I'm envisioning.

00:20:39.920 --> 00:20:41.759
<v Tiffany Woolley>Does that ever happen to you?

00:20:41.759 --> 00:20:45.599
<v Tiffany Woolley>It's like it's in my head, but all the time.

00:20:45.599 --> 00:20:47.599
<v Tiffany Woolley>Because I don't know, do you think in pictures?

00:20:47.599 --> 00:20:49.039
<v Tiffany Woolley>I feel like I do.

00:20:49.039 --> 00:20:57.200
<v Tiffany Woolley>I heard you say it like that, and I've I do think of life sometime as a catalog of snippets of pictures, and I realize I do.

00:20:57.200 --> 00:20:58.880
<v Tiffany Woolley>I I am very visual.

00:20:58.880 --> 00:20:59.839
<v Tiffany Woolley>Yeah.

00:21:00.240 --> 00:21:01.119
<v Sarah Trop>So same with me.

00:21:01.119 --> 00:21:04.079
<v Sarah Trop>If I walk into a space, I can picture how it's gonna look at the end.

00:21:04.079 --> 00:21:09.599
<v Sarah Trop>So the biggest challenge that I come into with clients is trying to get them to trust that I can see it and it'll be good.

00:21:09.599 --> 00:21:10.079
<v Sarah Trop>Right.

00:21:10.079 --> 00:21:11.920
<v Sarah Trop>When when they don't think in pictures.

00:21:11.920 --> 00:21:22.240
<v Sarah Trop>Uh, I mean AI has helped that because it's a little easier to be able to give them a quick rendering that's a little bit more similar to what I'm picturing, even though it's never exact, right?

00:21:22.240 --> 00:21:22.720
<v Sarah Trop>Right.

00:21:22.720 --> 00:21:29.039
<v Sarah Trop>But um that has helped over the years versus trying to pull Pinterest pictures that are similar but they're not quite.

00:21:29.039 --> 00:21:29.359
<v Sarah Trop>Right.

00:21:29.359 --> 00:21:34.079
<v Sarah Trop>Or trying to just look up other designs and say, hey, that's kind of like this, but not quite.

00:21:34.079 --> 00:21:38.480
<v Sarah Trop>You can actually just take a picture of their room and add a certain style that you're envisioning.

00:21:38.480 --> 00:21:52.640
<v Sarah Trop>And it won't it won't be exact, but it'll give them a good like I had um a client recently that wanted all bamboo cabinets with wood floors and like tones that there's it's too much of the same thing, you know?

00:21:52.640 --> 00:21:56.720
<v Sarah Trop>And when I thought about it, I'm like, oh, it's just gonna look so bad.

00:21:56.720 --> 00:21:57.920
<v Sarah Trop>But you don't you don't want to say that.

00:21:57.920 --> 00:21:59.039
<v Sarah Trop>Oh, she's not listening.

00:21:59.039 --> 00:22:07.680
<v Sarah Trop>Um but instead I said, Would you mind if I pull up a rendering with what you're picturing versus what I think would look better?

00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:09.279
<v Sarah Trop>And she's like, Yeah, that's great.

00:22:09.279 --> 00:22:10.559
<v Sarah Trop>So I did two, I did it.

00:22:10.559 --> 00:22:19.039
<v Sarah Trop>And the once she could see what I was saying about adding different tones and not wood on wood, um, she was like, Oh my gosh, yes, I have to go that way.

00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:26.319
<v Sarah Trop>So I think when you don't think when you do think in pictures and your clients don't, utilizing tools like that could be really helpful.

00:22:26.799 --> 00:22:34.079
<v Scott Woolley>So are you drawing it or are you using SketchUp or are you using AI to create those those images?

00:22:34.559 --> 00:22:36.079
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah, I just use AI.

00:22:36.480 --> 00:22:37.119
<v Scott Woolley>Really?

00:22:37.839 --> 00:22:45.359
<v Sarah Trop>Like Chat GPT or Oh, so you can do a couple different things because AI is getting so much better.

00:22:45.359 --> 00:22:47.279
<v Sarah Trop>Gemini or ChatGPT.

00:22:47.279 --> 00:22:51.119
<v Sarah Trop>Well, actually, Gemini, I think, just stopped their photo rendering.

00:22:51.119 --> 00:22:58.880
<v Sarah Trop>They for a while you could say, like, here's a picture of a room, here's a picture of the design board that I created for the room, as far as just products.

00:22:58.880 --> 00:22:59.519
<v Sarah Trop>Right.

00:22:59.519 --> 00:23:08.400
<v Sarah Trop>And then you could say, hey, ChatGPT, merge those two onto the onto the room, and then it would apply those items to it.

00:23:08.400 --> 00:23:09.599
<v Sarah Trop>So that's one way.

00:23:09.599 --> 00:23:12.160
<v Sarah Trop>But I also use um Mid Journey.

00:23:12.160 --> 00:23:13.599
<v Sarah Trop>Are you familiar with Midjourney?

00:23:13.599 --> 00:23:14.400
<v Sarah Trop>No.

00:23:14.400 --> 00:23:19.920
<v Sarah Trop>It's a stronger visual tool than ChatGPT.

00:23:19.920 --> 00:23:21.359
<v Sarah Trop>And it does have a monthly subscription.

00:23:21.359 --> 00:23:23.680
<v Sarah Trop>It does take like I had to take a training on how to do it.

00:23:23.680 --> 00:23:26.960
<v Sarah Trop>It's not as user-friendly as like ChatGPT would be.

00:23:26.960 --> 00:23:28.799
<v Sarah Trop>But it prompts well.

00:23:28.799 --> 00:23:44.880
<v Sarah Trop>So like if I if I want to search for if I want to create it with certain renderings, like I want a 9x12 kitchen that's farmhouse with navy cabinets, wood butcher block founders, white walls, and subway tile, it'll give you pretty close to that.

00:23:44.880 --> 00:23:49.759
<v Sarah Trop>And there are some wonky moments, but you can or wonky renderings, but you can render it.

00:23:49.759 --> 00:23:54.160
<v Sarah Trop>Um do slight render changes and advanced render changes as well.

00:23:54.799 --> 00:24:15.519
<v Tiffany Woolley>That is so interesting because you know, in a lot of what I listen to and do 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 much because it is still so hands-on.

00:24:15.519 --> 00:24:26.960
<v Tiffany Woolley>It is still so in the field that you still need these tools to, you know, bring a full vision to life.

00:24:26.960 --> 00:24:35.039
<v Tiffany Woolley>So we tried using a little bit of AI here and there in the office, but we still kind of rely on SketchUp.

00:24:35.519 --> 00:24:40.559
<v Scott Woolley>Sketchup and CA and CAD, you know, the tools that everyone's been using for years.

00:24:41.200 --> 00:24:47.920
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah, and those are gonna be more technical and realistic expressions of you know whatever your design is, and that's great, right?

00:24:47.920 --> 00:24:50.240
<v Sarah Trop>That's what you want is the polished finished product.

00:24:50.240 --> 00:24:53.039
<v Sarah Trop>But it's and people get scared of AI, right?

00:24:53.039 --> 00:24:56.480
<v Sarah Trop>But what I say is we would have just Googled the pictures before.

00:24:56.480 --> 00:24:57.119
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah.

00:24:57.119 --> 00:24:58.079
<v Sarah Trop>It's no different.

00:24:58.079 --> 00:25:00.079
<v Sarah Trop>It's just a more advanced Google.

00:25:00.079 --> 00:25:04.160
<v Sarah Trop>So it's not gonna it's not gonna source the products for you, although one day it might, honestly.

00:25:04.160 --> 00:25:06.000
<v Sarah Trop>I think AI will get there one day.

00:25:06.000 --> 00:25:09.200
<v Sarah Trop>But for for now, at least, it's not gonna do that.

00:25:09.200 --> 00:25:26.160
<v Sarah Trop>But when if I can say, give me a living room with a white shiplop wall and or a color-drenched room with crown molding that's this color uh or this this height with this color room, a leather sofa, blah, blah, blah, and type it all in like that.

00:25:26.160 --> 00:25:34.079
<v Sarah Trop>If I can show a client that, instead of having to look at five or six images on Google and say, imagine all these things together while we're sitting and meeting.

00:25:34.079 --> 00:25:36.640
<v Sarah Trop>Well, why wouldn't we want those tools to help them visualize?

00:25:36.640 --> 00:25:37.680
<v Sarah Trop>I I agree.

00:25:37.839 --> 00:25:43.039
<v Tiffany Woolley>I think it's a wonderful explanation of it being a tool, not a replacement.

00:25:43.359 --> 00:25:43.920
<v Scott Woolley>Absolutely.

00:25:43.920 --> 00:25:52.480
<v Scott Woolley>You mentioned earlier about your husband and recycling, and I know that sustainability is uh kind of a big focus and core to your business.

00:25:52.480 --> 00:25:56.559
<v Scott Woolley>Tell us a little about that aspect of your business with the system.

00:25:56.559 --> 00:25:58.079
<v Scott Woolley>Yeah, so sustainability.

00:25:59.359 --> 00:25:59.519
<v Sarah Trop>Right.

00:25:59.519 --> 00:26:06.240
<v Sarah Trop>From the beginning, we've tried to use products that are as green-friendly while mixing quality.

00:26:06.240 --> 00:26:13.039
<v Sarah Trop>You know, so that's a little tricky in the paint world because some people say, oh, everything should be lacquer, but we're like, oh, it's oil-based, it's so toxic.

00:26:13.039 --> 00:26:14.720
<v Sarah Trop>We're not gonna go oil.

00:26:14.720 --> 00:26:18.640
<v Sarah Trop>Um, and then you'll have some people say, well, it should all just be mud paint or chalk paint.

00:26:18.640 --> 00:26:19.599
<v Sarah Trop>We we can do that.

00:26:19.599 --> 00:26:26.960
<v Sarah Trop>You know, we have some clients who really want that, but the durability we we don't find to be as good as some of the other products, you know.

00:26:26.960 --> 00:26:34.559
<v Sarah Trop>But when we're redoing furniture, we use a uh, or at least kitchen cabinets, we use a low VOC lacquer that's water-based.

00:26:34.559 --> 00:26:37.519
<v Sarah Trop>And so it's like the in our opinion, the best of both worlds.

00:26:37.519 --> 00:26:38.559
<v Sarah Trop>So that's what I kind of say.

00:26:38.559 --> 00:26:42.880
<v Sarah Trop>I I have a very balanced approach, both in design and in life.

00:26:42.880 --> 00:26:47.680
<v Sarah Trop>Like I try not to go to too extreme, but I really want sustainability to be important.

00:26:47.680 --> 00:27:00.880
<v Sarah Trop>Why would we buy something new that's not made as well in the furniture or any other thing when we could buy something old that can be given a second life, have a unique character, and save things from going into the landfill.

00:27:00.880 --> 00:27:03.279
<v Sarah Trop>To me, that is really important, you know?

00:27:03.920 --> 00:27:04.640
<v Tiffany Woolley>Agreed.

00:27:04.640 --> 00:27:09.440
<v Tiffany Woolley>Yeah, and I feel like so many things were made so much better years ago.

00:27:09.440 --> 00:27:14.160
<v Tiffany Woolley>We're just paying more for less in this, you know, consumption economy.

00:27:14.160 --> 00:27:17.920
<v Tiffany Woolley>I think it's really, really special your approach.

00:27:17.920 --> 00:27:23.359
<v Tiffany Woolley>So when you tackle design projects, do you start with the piece sometimes?

00:27:23.359 --> 00:27:27.680
<v Tiffany Woolley>Or do you start with the whole vision?

00:27:28.559 --> 00:27:31.839
<v Sarah Trop>I think it depends on the customer and what they have.

00:27:31.839 --> 00:27:43.519
<v Sarah Trop>So some clients don't have any pieces that they care about, and so then I can really source in something old or s or say, let's find this one piece in your house, and how about we salvage it into this?

00:27:43.519 --> 00:27:44.880
<v Sarah Trop>You know, sometimes it's that.

00:27:44.880 --> 00:27:56.160
<v Sarah Trop>Um, and then other times we work around like, hey, the you don't need to gut all of this just because everybody thinks let everything has to be new in a remodel.

00:27:56.160 --> 00:28:10.319
<v Sarah Trop>I was just listening to, and maybe you'd have some in insight on this as well, but I was just listening to some real estate specialists saying that they're finding that clients actually don't like when houses are gutted of their original character and put all new.

00:28:10.319 --> 00:28:13.279
<v Sarah Trop>They're finding buyers want things that have history.

00:28:13.279 --> 00:28:13.599
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah.

00:28:13.599 --> 00:28:24.799
<v Sarah Trop>So I think that is something that sometimes we have shop in and we actually devalue the homes because we don't appreciate the history and keep that, you know?

00:28:24.799 --> 00:28:26.559
<v Sarah Trop>I agree.

00:28:26.559 --> 00:28:31.359
<v Sarah Trop>We had one client reach out and say, Hey, we want you to buy our parents' home.

00:28:31.359 --> 00:28:32.880
<v Sarah Trop>They started redoing it.

00:28:32.880 --> 00:28:35.680
<v Sarah Trop>It's an old, old brick colonial is beautiful.

00:28:35.680 --> 00:28:37.279
<v Sarah Trop>I mean, I wanted it so badly.

00:28:37.279 --> 00:28:41.359
<v Sarah Trop>If I could have money come from the sky, I would have bought this.

00:28:41.359 --> 00:28:42.960
<v Sarah Trop>It was and I should have at the time.

00:28:42.960 --> 00:28:43.599
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah, I should have.

00:28:43.599 --> 00:28:46.319
<v Sarah Trop>It was uh they said, We'll give it to you for $175,000.

00:28:46.319 --> 00:28:50.240
<v Sarah Trop>It's over 3,000 square feet on almost three acres of small house.

00:28:50.240 --> 00:29:00.559
<v Sarah Trop>We've salvaged, I know, they had these pocket doors and and fireplaces that they salvaged all the mantles and the thick um trim work and mouldings.

00:29:00.559 --> 00:29:07.599
<v Sarah Trop>And I tried with all I had, but I didn't have enough money to buy it for cash and have cash to also do the work.

00:29:07.599 --> 00:29:08.000
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah.

00:29:08.000 --> 00:29:08.640
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah.

00:29:08.640 --> 00:29:11.519
<v Sarah Trop>So I asked friends, like, hey, can I just borrow this from you?

00:29:11.519 --> 00:29:12.240
<v Sarah Trop>I'll get it back.

00:29:12.240 --> 00:29:14.319
<v Sarah Trop>Like we we'll do this house justice.

00:29:14.319 --> 00:29:15.279
<v Sarah Trop>And that's what the people said.

00:29:15.279 --> 00:29:18.079
<v Sarah Trop>We know if you buy it, you'll do this house justice.

00:29:18.079 --> 00:29:20.000
<v Sarah Trop>And we don't want it just to go to anyone.

00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:22.319
<v Sarah Trop>So we tried, but we couldn't get the cash, someone else bought it.

00:29:22.319 --> 00:29:27.119
<v Sarah Trop>Well, they put all new tile and didn't put the old molding back in.

00:29:27.119 --> 00:29:31.359
<v Sarah Trop>And made it like shipwop over the fireplace versus like the beautiful fireplace.

00:29:31.359 --> 00:29:32.640
<v Sarah Trop>I know.

00:29:32.640 --> 00:29:33.839
<v Sarah Trop>Why?

00:29:33.839 --> 00:29:39.359
<v Sarah Trop>And it went back on the market for $900,000 a year later.

00:29:39.359 --> 00:29:42.000
<v Sarah Trop>Um, and I just thought the character's gone.

00:29:42.000 --> 00:29:45.839
<v Sarah Trop>Like, yeah, you you might make some money, but that's not how I would have done it.

00:29:46.240 --> 00:29:46.720
<v Tiffany Woolley>Right.

00:29:46.720 --> 00:29:47.440
<v Tiffany Woolley>I know.

00:29:47.440 --> 00:29:49.119
<v Tiffany Woolley>I I couldn't agree more.

00:29:49.359 --> 00:30:01.599
<v Scott Woolley>Like, so you you mentioned also that you're doing a fair amount of kitchens and the kitchens that you're doing, you know, from our standpoint in Del Rey and in South Florida, even homes that we're Doing outside of Florida.

00:30:01.599 --> 00:30:04.000
<v Scott Woolley>Most people are redoing a kitchen.

00:30:04.000 --> 00:30:05.440
<v Scott Woolley>They want to gut everything.

00:30:05.440 --> 00:30:07.599
<v Scott Woolley>Let's put a whole brand new kitchen.

00:30:07.599 --> 00:30:11.519
<v Scott Woolley>We're actually redoing our kitchen right now in our own home.

00:30:11.519 --> 00:30:13.599
<v Scott Woolley>And Tiffany didn't want to do that.

00:30:13.599 --> 00:30:18.400
<v Scott Woolley>She wanted to keep what was there, and she's kind of like what you do.

00:30:18.400 --> 00:30:24.559
<v Scott Woolley>She's refurbishing, changing, but we're keeping the aesthetics, but bringing it kind of up to date.

00:30:24.559 --> 00:30:29.119
<v Scott Woolley>In the kitchens that you're doing, how are you tackling tackling those?

00:30:29.680 --> 00:30:35.839
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah, we we specialize in repurposing kitchen cabinets, so we almost always keep the majority of cabinets.

00:30:35.839 --> 00:30:41.119
<v Sarah Trop>Sometimes we have to add a few extra in if it doesn't, yeah, if the sizing doesn't work.

00:30:41.119 --> 00:30:43.759
<v Sarah Trop>But uh people are always shocked.

00:30:43.759 --> 00:30:46.799
<v Sarah Trop>They always say to me, Oh no, it won't look good if I keep the old.

00:30:46.799 --> 00:30:48.480
<v Sarah Trop>And I'm like, just wait till we're done.

00:30:48.480 --> 00:30:53.039
<v Sarah Trop>You will say, Why did I why did I do why did I want to gut this out?

00:30:53.039 --> 00:30:53.440
<v Sarah Trop>Right.

00:30:53.440 --> 00:30:58.640
<v Sarah Trop>And we I don't think we've anyone who've been who've been regretful of that decision.

00:30:58.640 --> 00:31:02.559
<v Sarah Trop>Um so for instance, I do design of new kitchens where it's not repurposed, right?

00:31:02.559 --> 00:31:06.400
<v Sarah Trop>Like I I can't exclusively say no, I won't repurpose for you.

00:31:06.400 --> 00:31:14.000
<v Sarah Trop>But I'm doing a kitchen remodel right now, and it's gonna be anywhere from 250 to 300,000 for this moderate-sized kitchen.

00:31:14.000 --> 00:31:15.359
<v Sarah Trop>Um all new.

00:31:15.359 --> 00:31:20.319
<v Sarah Trop>Now, granted, we want some funky features like arched cabinetry and things like that.

00:31:20.319 --> 00:31:21.440
<v Sarah Trop>Lighting.

00:31:21.440 --> 00:31:22.720
<v Sarah Trop>Right.

00:31:22.720 --> 00:31:26.799
<v Sarah Trop>But our kitchens, when we repurpose, we call it a kitchen facelift.

00:31:26.799 --> 00:31:33.519
<v Sarah Trop>And so when we facelift a kitchen, we keep the cabinets and we just do tile and new counters, it ends up being around 20,000.

00:31:33.519 --> 00:31:42.079
<v Sarah Trop>And so it's just such a good money saver, and it's good for the con it's good for the environment.

00:31:42.079 --> 00:31:46.799
<v Sarah Trop>So to us it's a win-win, but I know it's not a fit for every client, you know.

00:31:46.799 --> 00:31:48.000
<v Sarah Trop>Right.

00:31:48.160 --> 00:31:52.079
<v Scott Woolley>And I'm one of those people that said to Tiffany, you want it what?

00:31:52.079 --> 00:31:53.039
<v Scott Woolley>We want it what?

00:31:53.039 --> 00:31:54.880
<v Scott Woolley>No, why don't we just put all new in?

00:31:54.960 --> 00:32:04.799
<v Tiffany Woolley>And she Well the the other thing is I find I still like so much and and appreciate, as do you, so much of the old style and the character.

00:32:04.799 --> 00:32:15.519
<v Tiffany Woolley>And I feel so strongly that that 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 had.

00:32:15.519 --> 00:32:30.880
<v Tiffany Woolley>Like people just go in and try to put the latest, greatest, newest that they think is gonna, you know, appeal to everyone under the sun, versus really cherishing and it, you know, elevating what's there.

00:32:31.680 --> 00:32:32.400
<v Sarah Trop>Absolutely.

00:32:32.400 --> 00:32:43.599
<v Sarah Trop>And you know, there's some ways too, for instance, uh on our Facebook page, the very top video we had is a kitchen that we remodeled where the front had those outdated arch doors.

00:32:43.599 --> 00:32:44.880
<v Sarah Trop>You know what I mean when I say that?

00:32:44.880 --> 00:32:47.039
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah, like the typical.

00:32:47.039 --> 00:32:51.680
<v Sarah Trop>But if you flip them inside out, the backsides were shaker.

00:32:51.680 --> 00:32:57.839
<v Sarah Trop>So our I said, we can save money if you are fine with the arch being on the inside, you never see it, right?

00:32:57.839 --> 00:32:59.599
<v Sarah Trop>Unless the doors get left open.

00:32:59.599 --> 00:33:02.079
<v Sarah Trop>And she's like, game, let's repurpose, let's do it.

00:33:02.079 --> 00:33:04.400
<v Sarah Trop>And you would never guess it's even the same kitchen.

00:33:04.400 --> 00:33:06.319
<v Sarah Trop>And we just flip the doors inside out.

00:33:06.720 --> 00:33:08.720
<v Tiffany Woolley>It's really crazy, the options.

00:33:08.720 --> 00:33:09.039
<v Tiffany Woolley>Yeah.

00:33:09.039 --> 00:33:10.240
<v Tiffany Woolley>And that's another thing.

00:33:10.240 --> 00:33:14.880
<v Tiffany Woolley>I feel like you know, we do this every day, and it is we do it with passion.

00:33:14.880 --> 00:33:21.279
<v Tiffany Woolley>You you are so much more aware of the opportunities that most people just really don't think of.

00:33:21.279 --> 00:33:27.920
<v Tiffany Woolley>And I feel like, you know, when you get those wins in client meetings, like, oh, like, you know, I I see it, you know.

00:33:27.920 --> 00:33:30.640
<v Tiffany Woolley>It's very gratifying.

00:33:30.640 --> 00:33:32.720
<v Tiffany Woolley>I couldn't agree with that more.

00:33:32.720 --> 00:33:41.119
<v Tiffany Woolley>So during your journey, what is the most exciting piece that like you can't like that you repurpose?

00:33:41.119 --> 00:33:45.680
<v Tiffany Woolley>Like, what would be the most memorable spectacular couple?

00:33:46.000 --> 00:33:50.799
<v Sarah Trop>I really like the secretary's desk that we turned into a wine bar because it was so different.

00:33:50.799 --> 00:34:04.880
<v Sarah Trop>You know, it's just like when you have we had soak stone on top for cutting topper sink and uh a rinse section for cups and the a retro mini fridge inside between where you would sit.

00:34:04.880 --> 00:34:08.400
<v Sarah Trop>Uh so for me that one was like something I've never seen done.

00:34:08.400 --> 00:34:14.320
<v Sarah Trop>I'd never, you know, I don't think anyone would think, uh, and I really enjoyed working on that project.

00:34:14.320 --> 00:34:17.440
<v Sarah Trop>So that one probably takes the cake of my favorite.

00:34:18.000 --> 00:34:24.079
<v Scott Woolley>Are there any projects that stand out that were extremely challenging when you first came about or came upon it?

00:34:25.519 --> 00:34:33.360
<v Sarah Trop>Uh the the broken down buffet where the back legs were totally rotted out, and it was for a customer who said, like, this is our families.

00:34:33.360 --> 00:34:36.239
<v Sarah Trop>And I'm thinking, then why didn't you leave it outside?

00:34:36.239 --> 00:34:40.800
<v Sarah Trop>Um But they're like, we want to keep it in the family, but it's been outside for 10 years.

00:34:40.800 --> 00:34:46.480
<v Sarah Trop>So uh the whole top was the veneer was all buckled, the drawers didn't even open.

00:34:46.480 --> 00:34:50.239
<v Sarah Trop>Um it was just I was literally like, how are we gonna do this?

00:34:50.239 --> 00:35:02.159
<v Sarah Trop>That one probably was the hardest that we've done as from uh there's been hard ones from a custom built perspective, but when you repurpose something old, you just don't know what you're gonna have to do until you're in it.

00:35:02.239 --> 00:35:04.880
<v Tiffany Woolley>You know, it's kind of like actually home remodeling.

00:35:04.880 --> 00:35:07.760
<v Tiffany Woolley>I always say to clients, you never know what you're gonna open up.

00:35:07.760 --> 00:35:10.639
<v Tiffany Woolley>I guess furniture remodeling is the same thing.

00:35:10.639 --> 00:35:16.239
<v Tiffany Woolley>Like you really get into it, what it's what it all entails.

00:35:16.239 --> 00:35:30.880
<v Tiffany Woolley>So do you have to rely on, you know, different sources too for different hardware and you know, just certain tools for crafting and saving and adding or preserving these pieces?

00:35:31.599 --> 00:35:36.079
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah, so there is antique hardware companies if we want to keep it period appropriate.

00:35:36.079 --> 00:35:42.800
<v Sarah Trop>I would say a lot of ours are not like people don't want us to have antique hardware put back on.

00:35:42.800 --> 00:35:44.559
<v Sarah Trop>They want something more modern and updated.

00:35:44.559 --> 00:35:53.920
<v Sarah Trop>So it could be something as simple as going to a hobby lobby and getting some funky knobs all the way to like restoration hardware where they want it to be more high feel more high-end.

00:35:54.239 --> 00:35:54.480
<v Tiffany Woolley>Right.

00:35:54.480 --> 00:35:55.039
<v Tiffany Woolley>Okay.

00:35:55.840 --> 00:35:58.320
<v Sarah Trop>That's an interesting thought.

00:35:58.320 --> 00:35:59.280
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah.

00:35:59.280 --> 00:36:08.400
<v Sarah Trop>And there's even things like scrapers that you wouldn't think that they're they're called um carpenter sanders, but they're these metal scrapers, and that's how you distress furniture.

00:36:08.400 --> 00:36:09.760
<v Sarah Trop>But you can only get them online.

00:36:09.760 --> 00:36:17.199
<v Sarah Trop>There's not you can't you can't even find those locally, but it's a weird tool that we have to use, we use a lot, but you would never even know it was a tool.

00:36:17.679 --> 00:36:19.920
<v Scott Woolley>Do you do you handle any like wicker furniture?

00:36:19.920 --> 00:36:23.920
<v Scott Woolley>Because I know here, wicker furniture, it's very specialized.

00:36:23.920 --> 00:36:28.159
<v Scott Woolley>You know, in South Florida, there's one per place that handles that.

00:36:29.039 --> 00:36:30.320
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah, we don't do wicker.

00:36:30.320 --> 00:36:32.639
<v Sarah Trop>There is one person that we know locally that does wicker.

00:36:32.639 --> 00:36:34.719
<v Sarah Trop>We'll add wicker to the front of pieces.

00:36:34.719 --> 00:36:41.599
<v Sarah Trop>So for instance, we had an entertainment center where they wanted every single door to be shaker and custom built with wicker on the front.

00:36:41.599 --> 00:36:46.320
<v Sarah Trop>So we can custom build that, but we don't typically replace wicker on vintage.

00:36:46.320 --> 00:36:46.719
<v Sarah Trop>Right.

00:36:46.719 --> 00:36:48.559
<v Sarah Trop>There's a whole different art.

00:36:49.760 --> 00:36:55.360
<v Tiffany Woolley>So you also mentioned in the beginning that your husband and you, you know, do this together.

00:36:55.360 --> 00:36:57.519
<v Tiffany Woolley>Are your kids involved now?

00:36:57.519 --> 00:36:59.440
<v Tiffany Woolley>But yeah, they are actually.

00:36:59.760 --> 00:37:00.880
<v Sarah Trop>They're both on payroll.

00:37:00.880 --> 00:37:04.079
<v Sarah Trop>They both uh Josh, he's our 17-year-old.

00:37:04.079 --> 00:37:19.440
<v Sarah Trop>He will he worked yesterday, or he worked Tuesday because school hadn't started yet, but he goes along and he'll when he's not at school, he'll do cabinet door installation or paint with my husband or delivery of the furniture with him.

00:37:19.440 --> 00:37:22.480
<v Sarah Trop>And so yeah, he's he's a big help as he has time.

00:37:22.480 --> 00:37:27.199
<v Sarah Trop>And then my daughter, she does um, she's actually has a really good design eye.

00:37:27.519 --> 00:37:27.679
<v Tiffany Woolley>Right.

00:37:27.840 --> 00:37:31.199
<v Sarah Trop>I was wondering if one of them would follow in your footsteps.

00:37:31.199 --> 00:37:33.280
<v Sarah Trop>She doesn't want to follow yet.

00:37:33.280 --> 00:37:48.400
<v Sarah Trop>But um, I read years ago that to help get your kids involved in whatever you do, a fun exercise is like we'll get the newest magazine in and I'll sit down and say, Hey, let's go page by page.

00:37:48.400 --> 00:37:51.360
<v Sarah Trop>You tell me the best part of the design and what you would change.

00:37:51.360 --> 00:37:52.639
<v Sarah Trop>I love that.

00:37:52.639 --> 00:37:54.480
<v Sarah Trop>Every single time, yeah, it's so fun.

00:37:54.480 --> 00:37:57.760
<v Sarah Trop>And every single time she picks exactly what I would say.

00:37:58.079 --> 00:37:59.920
<v Tiffany Woolley>Aw, so she's a trained eye.

00:37:59.920 --> 00:38:00.559
<v Tiffany Woolley>Crazy.

00:38:00.559 --> 00:38:01.039
<v Tiffany Woolley>Yeah.

00:38:01.039 --> 00:38:02.800
<v Tiffany Woolley>Without even realizing it.

00:38:03.280 --> 00:38:10.559
<v Scott Woolley>Is there any person in the past or now that inspires you that you, you know, follow or really impressed by?

00:38:10.719 --> 00:38:13.440
<v Sarah Trop>Or yeah, I really like Jean Stoffer.

00:38:13.440 --> 00:38:14.239
<v Sarah Trop>Do you know who she is?

00:38:14.239 --> 00:38:14.719
<v Sarah Trop>No.

00:38:14.960 --> 00:38:15.039
<v Scott Woolley>No.

00:38:15.440 --> 00:38:24.320
<v Tiffany Woolley>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 and put two and two together.

00:38:24.800 --> 00:38:30.639
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah, she's a designer that is um on the show The Established Home on the Magnolia Network.

00:38:30.639 --> 00:38:31.119
<v Sarah Trop>Okay.

00:38:31.119 --> 00:38:34.000
<v Sarah Trop>And she's based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

00:38:34.000 --> 00:38:38.159
<v Sarah Trop>And I just really like her, she's written a book called The Established Home.

00:38:38.159 --> 00:38:41.039
<v Sarah Trop>I like her home value.

00:38:41.039 --> 00:38:44.480
<v Sarah Trop>Like she works with her family and she prioritizes family time.

00:38:44.480 --> 00:38:47.760
<v Sarah Trop>And she actually didn't become famous until she was older.

00:38:47.760 --> 00:38:50.000
<v Sarah Trop>And she talks about why that was okay with her.

00:38:50.000 --> 00:39:00.880
<v Sarah Trop>Like different seasons of life allowed for scaling up and down, and now she's her kids are all grown and she's ready to pour into it, like she didn't want to do when they were younger.

00:39:00.880 --> 00:39:01.280
<v Sarah Trop>Right.

00:39:01.280 --> 00:39:04.719
<v Sarah Trop>And her daughter, Grace, she works with her as well.

00:39:04.719 --> 00:39:09.599
<v Sarah Trop>And so I've been to Grand Rapids, I've met them, I've been to their home tours.

00:39:09.599 --> 00:39:17.199
<v Sarah Trop>I'm gonna actually be going out uh in two weeks again for their final mansion tour of a house that they ri have redone.

00:39:17.199 --> 00:39:20.000
<v Sarah Trop>And I just I like a lot her style.

00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:27.119
<v Sarah Trop>She has a kind of European flair mixed with traditional, and but she thinks outside of the boxes.

00:39:27.119 --> 00:39:35.679
<v Sarah Trop>Like I don't know if you've seen from a design side where they take in a countertop and they'll split it and then put like a gold piece, a brass piece.

00:39:35.679 --> 00:39:38.320
<v Sarah Trop>That's basically I've I saw it from her first.

00:39:38.320 --> 00:39:39.199
<v Sarah Trop>Oh, wow.

00:39:39.199 --> 00:39:42.800
<v Sarah Trop>And I thought that's thinking outside of the box, same thing.

00:39:42.800 --> 00:39:50.719
<v Sarah Trop>Like I just love when she thinks outside of the box and she brings in traditional, you know, classic design, but with a little bit of a flair, you know.

00:39:50.719 --> 00:39:51.199
<v Sarah Trop>Right.

00:39:51.280 --> 00:39:53.199
<v Tiffany Woolley>And that's what keeps it timeless, too.

00:39:53.199 --> 00:39:55.760
<v Tiffany Woolley>I feel like I see that story so often.

00:39:55.760 --> 00:40:02.400
<v Tiffany Woolley>Like the last thing you want to do is be like, oh, that was done in you know, 2000, or no, this was done in 1990.

00:40:02.400 --> 00:40:11.199
<v Tiffany Woolley>You know, you want something that can evolve and collect and you know, transform and continue through time.

00:40:12.159 --> 00:40:12.719
<v Sarah Trop>Exactly.

00:40:12.719 --> 00:40:20.480
<v Sarah Trop>And when you go to her home tours, all her family's there, like her sons, her daughter, like it just feels like they love to be together.

00:40:20.480 --> 00:40:24.159
<v Sarah Trop>And I was and I've gotten to know her daughter, Grace, a little bit.

00:40:24.159 --> 00:40:27.679
<v Sarah Trop>And my daughter has met Grace, and she really looks up to her.

00:40:27.679 --> 00:40:39.599
<v Sarah Trop>And so I think over the years we've we've really kind of respected and admired how they work together and how their faith is integrated into their work and how they've grown their business as well.

00:40:39.599 --> 00:40:41.119
<v Sarah Trop>It's just been a real inspiration for me.

00:40:41.440 --> 00:40:42.000
<v Tiffany Woolley>That's a beautiful.

00:40:42.000 --> 00:40:46.719
<v Tiffany Woolley>I'm actually I'm from Grand Rapids, so I'm gonna check them out.

00:40:46.719 --> 00:40:48.880
<v Tiffany Woolley>I definitely am gonna check her out.

00:40:48.880 --> 00:40:53.119
<v Tiffany Woolley>So you would say that she's like a big design influence for you.

00:40:54.000 --> 00:41:00.960
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah, I would say, I mean, originally uh before I ever knew about her, Joanna Gaines, of course, because I know, what a story, right?

00:41:00.960 --> 00:41:03.840
<v Sarah Trop>Right, and we have a lot of similarities.

00:41:03.840 --> 00:41:09.599
<v Sarah Trop>Like we were we were got into design sort of similar timing.

00:41:09.599 --> 00:41:14.719
<v Sarah Trop>We were married the same time, we honeymooned in the same space at the same time.

00:41:14.719 --> 00:41:16.960
<v Sarah Trop>Um like Mr.

00:41:16.960 --> 00:41:21.760
<v Sarah Trop>Visionary, who will just say, Oh, we're just we're gonna do this without thinking about how we're gonna do this.

00:41:21.760 --> 00:41:22.159
<v Sarah Trop>Right.

00:41:22.159 --> 00:41:24.239
<v Sarah Trop>And I feel like that's her as well.

00:41:24.239 --> 00:41:29.360
<v Sarah Trop>And so for years I've said, if I could ever meet Joanna Gaines, I feel like we'd be best friends.

00:41:29.360 --> 00:41:30.719
<v Sarah Trop>I feel like we have a lot in common.

00:41:30.719 --> 00:41:32.639
<v Sarah Trop>And uh so I would say her too.

00:41:32.639 --> 00:41:40.559
<v Sarah Trop>She probably would have more of an influence in the beginning years because I thought, oh, she doesn't have a design, and look at what she's done, you know, a design degree and look at what she's done.

00:41:40.719 --> 00:41:43.599
<v Tiffany Woolley>Well, I often say you can't teach this.

00:41:43.599 --> 00:41:46.639
<v Tiffany Woolley>You can't I could not agree with you more.

00:41:46.639 --> 00:42:02.639
<v Tiffany Woolley>Yeah, I'm like I've hired interior design helpers through the years and everything like that, and some of them can be the most hardworking, great people and great additions to the team, but not necessarily who I could turn design trust over to.

00:42:02.639 --> 00:42:05.360
<v Tiffany Woolley>It's really something you know you're born with.

00:42:05.760 --> 00:42:08.239
<v Scott Woolley>So what do you do to stay creatively fresh?

00:42:08.239 --> 00:42:09.760
<v Scott Woolley>Are you on Instagram?

00:42:09.760 --> 00:42:12.960
<v Scott Woolley>Are you going to shows, reading?

00:42:12.960 --> 00:42:15.679
<v Scott Woolley>What's what's the Go to Go to?

00:42:16.000 --> 00:42:17.599
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah, so I do a couple things.

00:42:17.599 --> 00:42:19.280
<v Sarah Trop>I actually travel a lot.

00:42:19.280 --> 00:42:26.000
<v Sarah Trop>I blog about our travels, but I try to go places that inspire me from a design perspective.

00:42:26.000 --> 00:42:31.039
<v Sarah Trop>So last this year we went to Budapest, Vienna, Prague, I can't imagine.

00:42:33.760 --> 00:42:41.599
<v Scott Woolley>So you're so you're going there looking probably at antiques and architecture.

00:42:41.760 --> 00:42:50.559
<v Sarah Trop>I mean the way that they decorate even the exterior of buildings can translate to how a furniture design piece is painted or the finish that we use.

00:42:50.559 --> 00:43:03.679
<v Sarah Trop>We did a whole uh the year two years before that I went to Paris and London and I did a whole furniture um I did furniture pieces based on doors that I photographed in Paris.

00:43:03.679 --> 00:43:12.159
<v Sarah Trop>So I would say, like, here's the door and here's how it translates on furniture, and then we would do a custom painting of the door that came with it.

00:43:12.159 --> 00:43:19.199
<v Sarah Trop>And yeah, to me that that's what inspires me the most is travel and seeing new spaces.

00:43:19.199 --> 00:43:23.920
<v Sarah Trop>Um but I do like uh one thing I like is say I have to work at night or something.

00:43:23.920 --> 00:43:28.000
<v Sarah Trop>Sometimes I'll have a design show on in the back because you don't really have to watch it.

00:43:28.000 --> 00:43:28.559
<v Sarah Trop>Right.

00:43:28.559 --> 00:43:36.079
<v Sarah Trop>Because it's there, and then at the final review, or if I hear some doing something I've never done before, I'll look up and be like, oh, that's interesting.

00:43:36.079 --> 00:43:43.119
<v Sarah Trop>Um so I try to stay relevant by like always listening, always reading, always watching, but I don't have a lot of time to watch TV.

00:43:43.119 --> 00:43:44.320
<v Sarah Trop>I don't have a lot of time to read.

00:43:44.320 --> 00:43:45.280
<v Sarah Trop>And I don't want to.

00:43:45.280 --> 00:43:50.559
<v Sarah Trop>Like I my life is full with people and and creating spaces that I love, so it's okay with me.

00:43:50.639 --> 00:43:56.559
<v Tiffany Woolley>But so where does your process begin when you bring on when a new design client comes into play?

00:43:56.559 --> 00:44:08.239
<v Tiffany Woolley>I mean, do you start with I know we mentioned briefly like the room, it depends, or if it's the piece of furniture, but I tend to like have to immediately start with like furniture layouts.

00:44:08.239 --> 00:44:11.039
<v Tiffany Woolley>Like I want to see how space is used.

00:44:11.039 --> 00:44:15.920
<v Tiffany Woolley>What's your go-to to begin your process?

00:44:16.960 --> 00:44:18.480
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah, we scale up and down.

00:44:18.480 --> 00:44:23.599
<v Sarah Trop>That's something that's a little different for with us versus some of at least our local competitors.

00:44:23.599 --> 00:44:31.360
<v Sarah Trop>Sometimes people just hire me for a one-hour design consult, and it could be virtual or it could be in person, where I literally say, Are you a DIYer?

00:44:31.360 --> 00:44:36.559
<v Sarah Trop>Like I had a design client just this this week, and they wanted to DIY everything themselves.

00:44:36.559 --> 00:44:37.679
<v Sarah Trop>They're very hands-on.

00:44:37.679 --> 00:44:40.239
<v Sarah Trop>They and I said, That's fine.

00:44:40.239 --> 00:44:42.239
<v Sarah Trop>Then this design consult looks different.

00:44:42.239 --> 00:44:44.400
<v Sarah Trop>I'm just gonna tell you layout.

00:44:44.400 --> 00:44:45.599
<v Sarah Trop>I'm gonna tell you.

00:44:45.599 --> 00:44:54.880
<v Sarah Trop>And she had all these historic pieces from her family, like literally a Queen Anne's dresser that came over on a boat from England that was her great-grandmother's.

00:44:55.039 --> 00:44:55.280
<v Tiffany Woolley>Wow.

00:44:55.440 --> 00:45:00.639
<v Sarah Trop>And so she doesn't want to touch any of those, but we have to make it feel updated in the space.

00:45:00.639 --> 00:45:07.599
<v Sarah Trop>So it's more, yes, like you said, layout, it's color, it's how does color work with vintage to make it feel updated.

00:45:07.599 --> 00:45:11.599
<v Sarah Trop>Um, and so I created a design board for her from that one hour.

00:45:11.599 --> 00:45:21.840
<v Sarah Trop>And it wasn't really like order this piece of furniture, it was hey, custom build this in here, and here's why and how, and close up this wall, and then put these vintage pieces here.

00:45:21.840 --> 00:45:29.920
<v Sarah Trop>So everyone's a little bit different, but I would say I always start with a one hour and just see, do we need to scale up or are you a DIYer?

00:45:29.920 --> 00:45:31.760
<v Sarah Trop>And it's just you need some tips.

00:45:31.760 --> 00:45:33.519
<v Sarah Trop>And I'm happy to do either.

00:45:33.519 --> 00:45:37.679
<v Sarah Trop>It doesn't, you know, it I'm happy because I I was a DIYer most of my life.

00:45:37.679 --> 00:45:44.159
<v Sarah Trop>So I don't want to close the door for DIYers and say, like, oh, you don't your budget's not 20,000, so I won't work with you, you know.

00:45:44.559 --> 00:45:45.519
<v Tiffany Woolley>Right, right, right.

00:45:45.519 --> 00:46:03.599
<v Tiffany Woolley>So where do you, when you're not necessarily sourcing, you know, heirloom pieces or repurposed pieces, where do you go to mix in the, you know, upholstery pieces or lighting or what what are some of your favorite places that you source from?

00:46:03.920 --> 00:46:08.960
<v Sarah Trop>I mean, I don't it's not the what I find is I do a lot of different styles.

00:46:08.960 --> 00:46:13.920
<v Sarah Trop>So there's not a one go-to that I always pick, you know.

00:46:13.920 --> 00:46:19.679
<v Sarah Trop>I love mid-century modern, so I love joy bird couches, I love uh Westel furniture.

00:46:19.679 --> 00:46:23.280
<v Sarah Trop>I have a lot of customers who really only want me to use pottery barns, so I go with that, you know.

00:46:23.280 --> 00:46:26.159
<v Sarah Trop>So it just kind of depends on the client.

00:46:26.159 --> 00:46:31.119
<v Sarah Trop>I don't know that I have a one-go-to-I like Ballard design.

00:46:31.119 --> 00:46:36.880
<v Sarah Trop>Like one of the clients this week wanted Ballard Design for some of their hutches and and things like that.

00:46:36.880 --> 00:46:41.360
<v Sarah Trop>So, but I don't there's not really one that I selectively use.

00:46:41.840 --> 00:46:46.079
<v Tiffany Woolley>Do you ever go to the trade shows like High Point or anything like that?

00:46:46.079 --> 00:46:47.360
<v Tiffany Woolley>I have, yeah.

00:46:47.360 --> 00:46:50.000
<v Tiffany Woolley>I've been to High Point um one time only.

00:46:50.000 --> 00:46:51.199
<v Tiffany Woolley>I need to, I want to go back.

00:46:51.360 --> 00:46:52.800
<v Sarah Trop>It's just I haven't had time.

00:46:52.800 --> 00:46:53.519
<v Sarah Trop>I know.

00:46:53.760 --> 00:46:55.039
<v Tiffany Woolley>Time is like so crazy.

00:46:55.039 --> 00:46:58.480
<v Tiffany Woolley>I was like, when you said you're blogging, I'm like, where do you find the time for that?

00:46:58.480 --> 00:47:03.920
<v Tiffany Woolley>I've been wanting to do that for many years, Scott, and I've you know talked about doing it.

00:47:03.920 --> 00:47:06.880
<v Tiffany Woolley>How do you find the time to even do that?

00:47:08.000 --> 00:47:16.960
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah, so I just heard a quote from Elon Musk that said, you have enough time to you give yourself enough time to do I'm quoting him wrong.

00:47:17.199 --> 00:47:19.039
<v Tiffany Woolley>Nobody saw the same quote.

00:47:19.039 --> 00:47:19.840
<v Tiffany Woolley>I know where you're going with it.

00:47:20.639 --> 00:47:24.079
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah, like whatever time you give to yourself, that's how long it's gonna take you.

00:47:24.079 --> 00:47:32.719
<v Sarah Trop>So for instance, like I do a fall festival at our home where we do open house tours and we have vendors that sell things.

00:47:32.719 --> 00:47:40.239
<v Sarah Trop>I don't sell things really typically at that at that event, but I decided I felt called to paint again.

00:47:40.239 --> 00:47:44.239
<v Sarah Trop>I don't know why, but I just did I could see how you could miss that.

00:47:44.239 --> 00:47:45.199
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah.

00:47:45.199 --> 00:47:47.280
<v Sarah Trop>And I haven't picked up a brush much.

00:47:47.280 --> 00:47:49.440
<v Sarah Trop>I mean I've done it here and there, but not much.

00:47:49.440 --> 00:48:00.800
<v Sarah Trop>And um and so I started and I did a gallery of I said I'm gonna have a gallery debut with 10 paintings that that month, and I started last month and I'm almost done.

00:48:00.800 --> 00:48:01.760
<v Sarah Trop>I have two left.

00:48:01.760 --> 00:48:06.639
<v Sarah Trop>And if but if I had said I'm gonna do a gallery of paintings over the next two years, it would have taken me two years.

00:48:06.880 --> 00:48:07.280
<v Tiffany Woolley>Year round.

00:48:07.519 --> 00:48:08.719
<v Sarah Trop>Because that's just how we work, right?

00:48:08.719 --> 00:48:08.880
<v Sarah Trop>Right.

00:48:08.880 --> 00:48:09.840
<v Sarah Trop>So yeah.

00:48:09.840 --> 00:48:20.079
<v Sarah Trop>I'm a big time management person, and then I've also learned a lot about business this year and what you can hand off and how you should be handing off as much as you possibly can.

00:48:20.079 --> 00:48:29.119
<v Sarah Trop>So I have an assistant who now writes most of my blogs, and then I just proof and tweak because yeah, you've learned how to delegate.

00:48:29.599 --> 00:48:33.599
<v Tiffany Woolley>Who do you rely on for the business resource, like you know, advice?

00:48:33.599 --> 00:48:37.760
<v Tiffany Woolley>Is there certain podcasts or books you've read that you've integrated?

00:48:37.760 --> 00:48:39.440
<v Tiffany Woolley>How does that inspire?

00:48:39.920 --> 00:48:48.800
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah, so the most helpful thing that I've done with um business so far is I joined this group called EO, it's entrepreneurial organization, and they have chapters that are global.

00:48:48.800 --> 00:49:00.400
<v Sarah Trop>And basically they have quarterly training and it's all about different things cash management, um understanding your core values, things like that.

00:49:00.400 --> 00:49:05.840
<v Sarah Trop>And then they bring in global speakers that talk about everything, and it can be from AI to breath work.

00:49:05.840 --> 00:49:12.960
<v Sarah Trop>I mean, it really covers so much, but I've gotten to be on a Zoom call and ask Martha Stewart questions.

00:49:12.960 --> 00:49:19.920
<v Sarah Trop>I've gotten to you know connect with global leaders that I would never have even been able to get a response from.

00:49:19.920 --> 00:49:30.000
<v Sarah Trop>Um is it a virtual kind of course or so no most of it's in person, and there are virtual courses you can do as well, but almost everything I've done is in person.

00:49:30.000 --> 00:49:33.119
<v Sarah Trop>Um I met the owner of Uggs boots.

00:49:33.119 --> 00:49:34.960
<v Sarah Trop>Um and he was fascinating.

00:49:34.960 --> 00:49:44.480
<v Sarah Trop>I don't know if you've ever heard him, but it's an Australian action, and his story is like phenomenal, selling boots out of the back of his car in California trying to become successful.

00:49:44.480 --> 00:49:48.239
<v Sarah Trop>And I also didn't know Bug Uggs boots were made for surfers.

00:49:48.239 --> 00:49:48.880
<v Sarah Trop>Did you know that?

00:49:49.119 --> 00:49:57.599
<v Tiffany Woolley>Yeah, I did because they got popular in Malibu is when I first heard of them in 2003.

00:49:57.599 --> 00:50:04.000
<v Tiffany Woolley>I two it was you know, and they were saying it was like the popular because it's cold there in the morning.

00:50:04.000 --> 00:50:14.159
<v Tiffany Woolley>So when they come out of the I know, but I've everybody has such great stories, so I can imagine where the inspiration came with him.

00:50:14.639 --> 00:50:16.880
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah, he was really inspiring.

00:50:16.880 --> 00:50:32.000
<v Sarah Trop>And even this guy, his name is Jack Daly, he had does hyper-sales growth training and also another book about how you manage your life, and that was kind of life-changing for me uh because he talked about they they had these charts that look like a pie, right?

00:50:32.000 --> 00:50:32.400
<v Sarah Trop>Okay.

00:50:32.400 --> 00:50:34.719
<v Sarah Trop>And every sliver is a portion of your life.

00:50:34.719 --> 00:50:43.599
<v Sarah Trop>So it could be everything from romance to time with your kids to spirituality to time in your health.

00:50:43.599 --> 00:50:52.239
<v Sarah Trop>And then zero is the center of the circle, ten is the edge, and you put how much like where where how much time you spend on each of those slices, right?

00:50:52.239 --> 00:50:52.960
<v Sarah Trop>All the way around.

00:50:52.960 --> 00:50:59.679
<v Sarah Trop>And then you connect the dots, and then you can see like what in your life is not balanced because everything's gonna be a little more, a little less, right?

00:50:59.679 --> 00:51:05.440
<v Sarah Trop>But when there's one that's getting no time at all, you you know, as a leader, this is where I need to work on.

00:51:05.440 --> 00:51:11.679
<v Sarah Trop>And my sliver that was a zero compared to everything else, which was pretty balanced, was my health.

00:51:11.679 --> 00:51:19.440
<v Sarah Trop>And Jack Delhi spoke and said, How dare you not care enough about your children to take care of your health for them one day?

00:51:19.440 --> 00:51:23.440
<v Sarah Trop>And uh that hit me like a rock in the face.

00:51:23.440 --> 00:51:28.079
<v Sarah Trop>Um and I started working out, eating healthier.

00:51:28.079 --> 00:51:30.880
<v Sarah Trop>I've lost 92 pounds and it hasn't even been a year.

00:51:30.880 --> 00:51:31.360
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah.

00:51:31.360 --> 00:51:31.840
<v Sarah Trop>Gotcha.

00:51:31.840 --> 00:51:33.599
<v Sarah Trop>And it was just thanks.

00:51:33.599 --> 00:51:35.440
<v Sarah Trop>It was such a game changer in my life.

00:51:35.440 --> 00:51:51.840
<v Sarah Trop>And so EO really has been so helpful from uh learning how to scale to answering questions, like having people answer questions because you're in a room of people who are very successful, so you usually can get your questions answered because to be in it, they have three programs.

00:51:51.840 --> 00:51:54.880
<v Sarah Trop>One you grow from they're teaching how to go from a hundred thousand.

00:51:54.880 --> 00:51:57.119
<v Sarah Trop>You have to make a I think it's a hundred thousand in sales.

00:51:57.119 --> 00:52:02.800
<v Sarah Trop>The other category is two fifty, and they'll scale you to a million, and then there's one if you make a million or more on gross.

00:52:02.800 --> 00:52:04.639
<v Sarah Trop>So it's teaching a lot of.

00:52:05.360 --> 00:52:06.239
<v Scott Woolley>What's the name of the organization?

00:52:06.239 --> 00:52:07.599
<v Scott Woolley>Executive.

00:52:07.920 --> 00:52:11.039
<v Sarah Trop>Um, it's called EO, so entrepreneurial organization.

00:52:11.039 --> 00:52:12.400
<v Sarah Trop>And they have different chapters.

00:52:12.400 --> 00:52:16.880
<v Sarah Trop>I think they have many in Florida, but I'm in the Albany chapter in New York.

00:52:17.280 --> 00:52:17.519
<v Scott Woolley>Hmm.

00:52:17.519 --> 00:52:19.119
<v Scott Woolley>Sounds very interesting.

00:52:19.519 --> 00:52:20.239
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah, it is.

00:52:20.239 --> 00:52:21.039
<v Sarah Trop>It's really neat.

00:52:21.039 --> 00:52:21.760
<v Sarah Trop>It's really neat.

00:52:22.320 --> 00:52:24.000
<v Scott Woolley>So let me ask let me ask a question.

00:52:24.000 --> 00:52:30.960
<v Scott Woolley>If there was a dream project, home client space, what would it be in the come in the future?

00:52:30.960 --> 00:52:31.920
<v Scott Woolley>What would you love?

00:52:33.679 --> 00:52:40.400
<v Sarah Trop>So I would love I would love to probably uh well I can tell you because No, I can't tell that yet.

00:52:40.400 --> 00:52:45.679
<v Sarah Trop>Um Yeah.

00:52:45.679 --> 00:52:55.119
<v Sarah Trop>I I have a dream for like I would love to take spaces where you have This is gonna sound crazy, I haven't told anyone this.

00:52:55.119 --> 00:53:16.480
<v Sarah Trop>But little like a motel where it has a lot of different little motel spaces, and you have the cost effective enough that local people could rent it at a reasonable rate but still make enough money to cover it, and have like a miniature village of shops that are all locally sourced, like not just little niche things that you can order wholesale.

00:53:16.480 --> 00:53:23.199
<v Sarah Trop>I get the place of those, but more repurposing and reuse and creative and artsy and um I would love something like that.

00:53:23.199 --> 00:53:24.719
<v Sarah Trop>I mean that's like a dream project.

00:53:24.719 --> 00:53:35.360
<v Sarah Trop>Uh, but I also would love to get another historic home and salvage it because if for instance a couple of years ago we bought an 1895 electric trolley station that was so bad.

00:53:35.360 --> 00:53:41.679
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah, my husband fell through the kitchen floor um the day we closed it.

00:53:41.679 --> 00:53:48.400
<v Sarah Trop>And everybody said, you know, you should burn it and just build a module or you'll never make money.

00:53:48.400 --> 00:53:56.320
<v Sarah Trop>Um but we really wanted to keep the history of that space, and so yeah, we flipped it over a year and sold it.

00:53:56.320 --> 00:54:01.519
<v Sarah Trop>And uh I love taking historic spaces that most people would say, What are you doing?

00:54:01.519 --> 00:54:03.119
<v Sarah Trop>Why would you fix that?

00:54:03.119 --> 00:54:05.119
<v Sarah Trop>We were driving around and it's so cute.

00:54:05.119 --> 00:54:08.639
<v Sarah Trop>My daughter uh recently was we saw a broken down house.

00:54:08.639 --> 00:54:10.559
<v Sarah Trop>She's like, Mom, that should be yours.

00:54:10.559 --> 00:54:11.280
<v Sarah Trop>This is what we do.

00:54:11.280 --> 00:54:14.159
<v Sarah Trop>We make the community better by fixing old houses.

00:54:14.159 --> 00:54:17.440
<v Sarah Trop>I was like, Yeah, I everyone I see broken down, I want.

00:54:17.440 --> 00:54:17.920
<v Sarah Trop>Right?

00:54:17.920 --> 00:54:18.639
<v Sarah Trop>Ring them all.

00:54:18.880 --> 00:54:20.239
<v Tiffany Woolley>Those are kind of my dream jobs, yeah.

00:54:20.239 --> 00:54:24.400
<v Tiffany Woolley>So do you so you do some of your own projects as well?

00:54:24.880 --> 00:54:25.519
<v Sarah Trop>Oh, tons.

00:54:25.519 --> 00:54:29.119
<v Sarah Trop>We bought a 1802 farmhouse uh six years ago.

00:54:29.119 --> 00:54:35.039
<v Sarah Trop>We had a five-year goal to redo the whole thing, and uh we have every single room, every single space.

00:54:35.039 --> 00:54:44.400
<v Sarah Trop>And our we call it the repurposed idea house on our blog because we tried to repurpose and reuse as much as we can throughout the spaces as we redid.

00:54:44.400 --> 00:54:46.880
<v Sarah Trop>And we show tutorials about how to redo them.

00:54:46.880 --> 00:54:50.239
<v Sarah Trop>And um and that's what we do in our fall festival.

00:54:50.239 --> 00:54:53.840
<v Sarah Trop>We do historic tours of that repurposed idea house.

00:54:53.840 --> 00:54:56.320
<v Sarah Trop>Um so I have to make sure I clean my house that week, you know.

00:54:56.719 --> 00:55:21.280
<v Scott Woolley>So So being in Albany, New York, how is it deal dealing with the like here in Delray and in South Florida, we're dealing with you know historic societies, you know, controlled by the this each of the different cities, which you're going through the building department, but then you're also going through the historic department that's basically in many cases dictating how and what we can do or can't do.

00:55:21.280 --> 00:55:23.039
<v Scott Woolley>How's that been with you?

00:55:24.800 --> 00:55:29.360
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah, in New York it's it's it's okay, so it depends.

00:55:29.360 --> 00:55:38.400
<v Sarah Trop>So we've looked at projects in the past where if you want to get historic funds for it, there's much more stipulations in what you can do.

00:55:38.400 --> 00:55:45.599
<v Sarah Trop>But if you do it yourself, unless it's on the national registry, I believe is a stipulation, doesn't matter if it's old, because we have a lot of old buildings here.

00:55:45.599 --> 00:55:54.320
<v Sarah Trop>So we can even the trolley house um that we flipped, we they wanted us to gut and remove almost everything.

00:55:54.320 --> 00:56:00.400
<v Sarah Trop>So basically the rule is if it's 50% or more of renovations, they want everything to new code.

00:56:00.400 --> 00:56:05.119
<v Sarah Trop>Well, in a historic home, it's basically impossible to get everything to up to new code.

00:56:05.119 --> 00:56:08.239
<v Sarah Trop>And that house was more than 50% of a remodel.

00:56:08.239 --> 00:56:15.440
<v Sarah Trop>So even things as simple as we had a two-foot-wide staircase that went up to a little loft, right?

00:56:15.440 --> 00:56:17.199
<v Sarah Trop>So crazy.

00:56:17.199 --> 00:56:17.679
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah.

00:56:17.679 --> 00:56:18.239
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah.

00:56:18.239 --> 00:56:20.400
<v Sarah Trop>To me, that was my favorite part about the house.

00:56:20.400 --> 00:56:24.639
<v Sarah Trop>You walk in the front door, and straight ahead are these adorable little stairs.

00:56:24.639 --> 00:56:28.719
<v Sarah Trop>There's a kitchen, there's a mud room, and then straight ahead are these tiny little stairs, right?

00:56:28.719 --> 00:56:33.920
<v Sarah Trop>And so I was so bummed because code came back saying, like, nope, you have to rip those out, and you have GLS.

00:56:33.920 --> 00:56:39.199
<v Sarah Trop>And I went back and said, I well, actually, I said, Oh shoot, how are we gonna do this?

00:56:39.199 --> 00:56:46.800
<v Sarah Trop>And then I was talking to a friend who worked in code for a different county, and he said, You have to push back and say, This is a historic home.

00:56:46.800 --> 00:56:52.159
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah, we're keeping an electric trolley station preserved.

00:56:52.159 --> 00:56:53.119
<v Sarah Trop>It was falling apart.

00:56:53.119 --> 00:56:54.800
<v Sarah Trop>Like literally, animals were living inside.

00:56:54.800 --> 00:56:56.320
<v Sarah Trop>There weren't windows on half of it.

00:56:56.320 --> 00:56:58.000
<v Sarah Trop>Like, what do we do with this?

00:56:58.000 --> 00:57:01.679
<v Sarah Trop>Like, you know, and so there were some things they wouldn't give on.

00:57:01.679 --> 00:57:07.679
<v Sarah Trop>For instance, like I wanted to keep the large windows where there was windows, which was not that many, but they were beautiful.

00:57:07.679 --> 00:57:16.559
<v Sarah Trop>And they said absolutely not because you have to have, I think it's 18 inches from the floor um to have new code for window height, at least in this in this space.

00:57:16.559 --> 00:57:21.440
<v Sarah Trop>And so I had to make the window smaller, which kind of killed me as a designer a little bit.

00:57:21.440 --> 00:57:23.519
<v Sarah Trop>Like huge, beautiful open windows.

00:57:23.519 --> 00:57:33.440
<v Sarah Trop>But um, but in other spaces they did end up working with us and saying, okay, yeah, we see like this porch has been here for uh over a hundred years.

00:57:33.440 --> 00:57:42.000
<v Sarah Trop>It's fine that we don't have it be trek stacking or you know, something new that doesn't work with the history and the property.

00:57:42.320 --> 00:57:57.280
<v Scott Woolley>That's some of the some of it here is very tough because there's been a number of projects Tiffany goes in front of the board or and goes to City Council and fights for that particular issue that it gets it stays or remains, and she's been very successful with that.

00:57:57.280 --> 00:57:57.519
<v Scott Woolley>Trevor Burrus, Jr.

00:57:57.679 --> 00:58:00.800
<v Tiffany Woolley>Well, because I think my go back is kind of like what you said.

00:58:00.800 --> 00:58:03.679
<v Tiffany Woolley>I mean, we're trying to preserve it and make it beautiful.

00:58:03.679 --> 00:58:05.039
<v Tiffany Woolley>We're not changing it.

00:58:05.039 --> 00:58:08.159
<v Tiffany Woolley>We're just you know updating it.

00:58:08.159 --> 00:58:09.840
<v Tiffany Woolley>So work with us.

00:58:10.400 --> 00:58:11.440
<v Sarah Trop>And that definitely happens.

00:58:11.440 --> 00:58:15.280
<v Sarah Trop>So for instance, I'm working on a historic home in Saratoga.

00:58:15.280 --> 00:58:17.760
<v Sarah Trop>I don't know if you know Saratoga, but it's a beautiful area.

00:58:17.760 --> 00:58:18.400
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah.

00:58:18.400 --> 00:58:19.440
<v Sarah Trop>It's beautiful.

00:58:19.440 --> 00:58:24.320
<v Sarah Trop>Well, one part of the house, one side of the house, lands in the historic district.

00:58:24.320 --> 00:58:27.039
<v Sarah Trop>The side of the house, that road is not.

00:58:27.039 --> 00:58:34.400
<v Sarah Trop>So when my client bought the house, he thought, okay, we're gonna turn it into a two apartments from a single family.

00:58:34.400 --> 00:58:39.920
<v Sarah Trop>We're gonna extend out the back um and make it two apartments.

00:58:39.920 --> 00:58:44.000
<v Sarah Trop>Well, the historic society, uh historic district did not like that.

00:58:44.000 --> 00:58:54.480
<v Sarah Trop>And he fought for over two years to get them to approve a design that he could move ahead with, and the not the interior design, but like the architectural design.

00:58:54.480 --> 00:58:58.559
<v Sarah Trop>And um that is a huge budget law.

00:58:58.559 --> 00:59:02.000
<v Sarah Trop>I mean, you're paying on a house for two years that you can't do any remodels for.

00:59:02.000 --> 00:59:06.480
<v Sarah Trop>You know, I feel like there's got to be a way we can expedite that a bit.

00:59:06.480 --> 00:59:14.880
<v Sarah Trop>And they finally came to a compromise, but there are so many stipulations like the window style, the window sizing, housing are built, you know.

00:59:14.880 --> 00:59:19.599
<v Sarah Trop>Um so yeah, we do run into it, and certain counties are more sticklers.

00:59:19.599 --> 00:59:25.760
<v Sarah Trop>I I live in a county that's not as as much, but there are counties that are definitely very, very complicated to deal with.

00:59:26.239 --> 00:59:26.639
<v Scott Woolley>Yeah.

00:59:26.639 --> 00:59:32.960
<v Scott Woolley>So if you could raid any flea market or vintage store, where would it be in the world?

00:59:32.960 --> 00:59:34.000
<v Scott Woolley>Oh.

00:59:35.840 --> 00:59:36.960
<v Sarah Trop>That is a topic.

00:59:37.519 --> 00:59:46.000
<v Scott Woolley>And you've seen sort of travel to a lot of very unique places from what you've said, that architecture and design and you know, is that the same thing.

00:59:46.239 --> 00:59:50.079
<v Sarah Trop>So if it's a flea market, I've never been to the elephant's trunk, isn't that in Texas?

00:59:51.039 --> 00:59:51.440
<v Speaker 3>I think so.

00:59:52.159 --> 00:59:52.719
<v Sarah Trop>Scott, I know.

00:59:52.719 --> 00:59:57.440
<v Sarah Trop>And um I think from a flea market perspective, I'd love to go there.

00:59:57.440 --> 01:00:00.800
<v Sarah Trop>It's one of those things that is so far from me that I'm like, uh How would I get anything back?

01:00:00.800 --> 01:00:01.280
<v Sarah Trop>It would just be a little bit more.

01:00:01.280 --> 01:00:01.760
<v Sarah Trop>Back home.

01:00:01.760 --> 01:00:02.079
<v Sarah Trop>I know.

01:00:02.159 --> 01:00:05.840
<v Tiffany Woolley>That's what we end up doing things like that too.

01:00:06.159 --> 01:00:06.800
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah, yeah.

01:00:06.800 --> 01:00:07.280
<v Sarah Trop>Exactly.

01:00:07.280 --> 01:00:13.199
<v Sarah Trop>If I'm talking about my favorite, you know, structure that I've seen that I'd love to like tour and soak up pieces.

01:00:13.199 --> 01:00:20.800
<v Sarah Trop>Um, there's a m I think it's Matthias Church in Budapest in the um in in the in the castle district area.

01:00:20.800 --> 01:00:22.480
<v Sarah Trop>It is so beautiful.

01:00:22.480 --> 01:00:27.199
<v Sarah Trop>Even the roof has so many different styles, styles.

01:00:27.199 --> 01:00:29.280
<v Sarah Trop>It's not just one style of tiling.

01:00:29.280 --> 01:00:33.840
<v Sarah Trop>It has a hundred, I think it's 149,000 tiles on the roof.

01:00:33.840 --> 01:00:41.519
<v Sarah Trop>And they're all different colors, and they're my favorite types of colors, like a dark teal and a mustard, and a like all those autumn-y beautiful colors.

01:00:41.519 --> 01:00:42.639
<v Sarah Trop>Beautiful.

01:00:42.639 --> 01:00:43.199
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah.

01:00:43.199 --> 01:00:46.079
<v Sarah Trop>So I think that's my favorite from a design inspiration.

01:00:46.079 --> 01:00:54.639
<v Sarah Trop>I if you walk in that church, there's there are patterns all throughout the church interior that are all completely different.

01:00:54.639 --> 01:00:56.400
<v Sarah Trop>And yet somehow they all work together.

01:00:56.400 --> 01:00:58.880
<v Sarah Trop>Like every wall you look at, you're like, oh, that's herringbone.

01:00:58.880 --> 01:01:00.559
<v Sarah Trop>Oh no, and now they mixed it with a floral.

01:01:00.559 --> 01:01:02.880
<v Sarah Trop>Now, you know, this is exact pattern.

01:01:02.880 --> 01:01:05.920
<v Sarah Trop>And I go, how do they match all of these things?

01:01:05.920 --> 01:01:07.440
<v Sarah Trop>And it still look amazing.

01:01:07.440 --> 01:01:09.440
<v Sarah Trop>Uh it will take your breath away.

01:01:09.440 --> 01:01:10.639
<v Sarah Trop>That's probably one.

01:01:10.639 --> 01:01:15.119
<v Sarah Trop>But if I were to pick somewhere local, I know I'm giving you lots of answers, but I love design.

01:01:15.119 --> 01:01:16.159
<v Sarah Trop>No, I love them.

01:01:16.159 --> 01:01:21.760
<v Sarah Trop>If I pick somewhere local, there's this mansion called Olana in Hudson, New York.

01:01:21.760 --> 01:01:22.320
<v Sarah Trop>Okay.

01:01:22.320 --> 01:01:32.719
<v Sarah Trop>And there's a famous painter, Frederick Church, who was in the 1800s, and he did mostly landscapes with gilded gold frames.

01:01:32.719 --> 01:01:36.480
<v Sarah Trop>And it's probably my favorite type of artwork.

01:01:36.480 --> 01:01:41.760
<v Sarah Trop>Like that's the kind of artwork I love to do, is like landscaping with gold gilded frames.

01:01:41.760 --> 01:01:51.199
<v Sarah Trop>And um he bought this mansion so that he could paint things all around the I think it was over 200 acres he bought with it.

01:01:51.199 --> 01:01:54.880
<v Sarah Trop>And the thing I love about it is he is well traveled.

01:01:54.880 --> 01:02:02.639
<v Sarah Trop>So he, the interior, when you go tour it, he has like design from all different countries.

01:02:02.639 --> 01:02:07.599
<v Sarah Trop>Like part of it you go, oh, this feels like Prague, part of it feels like London, part of it feels like Budapest.

01:02:07.599 --> 01:02:10.639
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah, he blends all of those styles so beautifully.

01:02:10.639 --> 01:02:12.000
<v Sarah Trop>Beautifully together.

01:02:12.000 --> 01:02:12.559
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah.

01:02:12.559 --> 01:02:14.000
<v Sarah Trop>It's just phenomenal.

01:02:14.000 --> 01:02:16.639
<v Sarah Trop>So that's my favorite local spot to go look at.

01:02:16.960 --> 01:02:21.199
<v Tiffany Woolley>Well, I love the way you blend in all of your conversation today.

01:02:21.199 --> 01:02:25.519
<v Tiffany Woolley>You know, blend all this different beauty and timelessness together.

01:02:25.519 --> 01:02:29.840
<v Tiffany Woolley>And we thank you so much for joining us on the iDesign Lab podcast.

01:02:30.159 --> 01:02:36.079
<v Scott Woolley>But before we jump off, for everyone, anyone listening and watching, and they want to learn more about you, where should they go?

01:02:36.079 --> 01:02:38.800
<v Scott Woolley>Which your website or Instagram that's would be.

01:02:38.800 --> 01:02:40.000
<v Scott Woolley>And your blog.

01:02:40.000 --> 01:02:40.639
<v Scott Woolley>Yes.

01:02:40.880 --> 01:02:41.360
<v Sarah Trop>Yeah.

01:02:41.360 --> 01:02:44.320
<v Sarah Trop>So I my website's funcycled.com.

01:02:44.320 --> 01:02:47.360
<v Sarah Trop>So it's f-n-c-y-c-l-e-d.com.

01:02:47.360 --> 01:02:49.920
<v Sarah Trop>And my blog is on there.

01:02:49.920 --> 01:02:52.000
<v Sarah Trop>And there's tutorials on the blog.

01:02:52.000 --> 01:02:56.239
<v Sarah Trop>There's all I also created a custom web page for the this podcast.

01:02:56.239 --> 01:03:04.239
<v Sarah Trop>It's funcycled.com forward slash free, where I do tips on design features that can be easily changed out and update your home.

01:03:04.239 --> 01:03:06.320
<v Sarah Trop>So that they can go there if they want.

01:03:06.320 --> 01:03:10.880
<v Sarah Trop>But Instagram and Facebook and Pinterest that you can find me at Funcycled.

01:03:11.039 --> 01:03:12.880
<v Scott Woolley>So great.

01:03:13.119 --> 01:03:14.960
<v Tiffany Woolley>Well, thank you so much for joining us.

01:03:14.960 --> 01:03:15.599
<v Tiffany Woolley>Oh, thank you.

01:03:15.599 --> 01:03:19.679
<v Tiffany Woolley>And we love you follow along on your FunCycled journey.

01:03:19.679 --> 01:03:22.719
<v Tiffany Woolley>And if you're in South Florida, please pop over.

01:03:22.719 --> 01:03:24.159
<v Tiffany Woolley>Okay, I would love to.

01:03:24.159 --> 01:03:25.280
<v Tiffany Woolley>I'll take you up on that.

01:03:25.280 --> 01:03:26.559
<v Tiffany Woolley>I would love that.

01:03:26.559 --> 01:03:27.920
<v Tiffany Woolley>Have a great day.

01:03:28.239 --> 01:03:28.800
<v Voice Over>You too.

01:03:28.800 --> 01:03:29.119
<v Voice Over>Thanks.

01:03:29.360 --> 01:03:29.760
<v Tiffany Woolley>Bye bye.

01:03:29.760 --> 01:03:30.559
<v Tiffany Woolley>Thank you.

01:03:32.400 --> 01:03:39.199
<v Voice Over>iDesign Labs Podcast is an SW group production in association with the five star and TW Interiors.

01:03:39.199 --> 01:03:45.679
<v Voice Over>To learn more about iDesign Lab or TW Interiors, please visit TWInteriors.com.