Visiting Clarkson’s Farm
When Julia (my English friend and host when visiting the UK) and I discussed what we should do with our time in the Cotswolds, we frequently kicked around the possibility of visiting Jeremy Clarkson’s concerns – The Farmer’s Dog Pub and Diddly Squat Farm Shop. Both of us are fans of the show, and we […]
Move Slow & Make Things | Giveaway No. 1
Welcome to the first of several Move Slow & Make Things giveaways! To celebrate the book and introduce the themes explored in these pages, we’re going to give away products and gift cards that highlight small creative businesses and showcase analog tools and materials that perfectly complement living a delightfully fulfilling creative life. We’re talking […]
the notesbooks on my desk
I take a hybrid approach when it comes to running my life and organizing my thoughts. I like paper, pencils, and pens for writing down ideas, planning, and managing my day. While old-fashioned notebooks are my preference for most things, I rely heavily on a digital calendar and reminder alarms to make sure I don’t […]
four things | seventy six
It’s been a full, exciting week. I’ve been walking each morning, caring for the garden beds, working on commissioned paintings, packing prints, and recording some test audiobook samples for Move Slow and Make Things. I’ve also been arranging some fun giveaways as we get closer to the launch, and this afternoon (Friday), I received my […]
Antiquing Jaunt
When my in-laws were visiting for Calvin’s graduation, I decided it would be a good opportunity to hit a few antique stores with my mother-in-law. She is happy to sit and read while I work on things, and over the years, she has helped with many sewing and slipcover projects during her visits, but we […]
Move Slow & Make Things Preorder Print Bonus
In case you didn’t hear, my new book, Move Slow & Make Things, comes out September 1, 2026! We’re getting into the final weeks before the launch, so I’ll be releasing more preorder bonuses, running giveaways, and sharing more about it in the lead-up to the release date. Of course, I’m sharing the book because […]
Recent Blog Posts
four things | fifty-six
I cannot believe we are a week away from Christmas! When I was a kid, I felt like December would last forever. It was torturously long. As a middle-aged adult, it flies by. I blinked, and over half of it is gone. Such is life, though. The hours are long and the years are short. I’m looking forward to the quiet, slow days between Christmas and New Year’s, though. I think that might be my favorite week of the year.
straddling creative fences | creative business
In my creative work, I’ve often straddled fences. One foot in refinishing furniture and another in writing a book. One foot in managing a paint brand, while the other is in freelance articles and photography. I have always enjoyed the flexibility and stimulation that comes with hopping from one side of the fence to the other. I have also learned over the years that one creative endeavor often speaks to another. I get writing ideas when I’m working in the
Christmas 2025 Living Room
If you missed it, I shared the details about our 2025 Christmas tree HERE. In this post, I’m sharing how the rest of the living room looks dressed for Christmas this year. Here is the view through the doorway from the kitchen… curtain rod | curtains | rug | pillows | sconces | paint color I do need to say that we don’t usually have this many pillows on our sofa! I learned a long time ago that sofas and
Our 2025 Christmas Tree
I used to put up our Christmas tree, string the lights, and decorate it all in one day, but I’ve learned I enjoy it more if I do it in stages. When I’m not pushing to get it all done, I feel more freedom to experiment and play if I want to. The funny thing is that I didn’t get super creative with our tree this year, even with that extra time. I just made a couple of very small
four things | fifty-five
It’s been a cold week here in Maryland, and even as I write this, flurries are gently falling. We’re not having any sticking snow, but it’s been nice to watch little flakes flutter out of my studio window this morning. I wish we had more snow! When we moved here from Minnesota, everyone commented on how happy we must be to leave those winters behind. In truth, I mourn Minnesota winters. I loved having snow on the ground all winter,
Christmas trees over the years…
As I’ve been working on decorating for Christmas this year, I thought it would be fun to look at pictures of our “main” Christmas tree through the years. I am now wishing I had done that before I decorated our tree for this year, because I found so much inspiration from things I’ve done in previous years. I love it when that happens! It was a little challenging to find pictures of Christmas trees from my early years of blogging,
Artists’ Guild Notepads
As I’ve been bouncing around the house, alternating between studio work and decorating the house for Christmas, I came upon a stack of the notepads I had ordered and intended to list for sale earlier this year! You know, when you have an idea in mind, you stick the thing in a closet, and then you forget about it? Well, that’s precisely what happened here. I got sidetracked, and the notepads were a casualty of having my fingers in too
copper mold candle centerpiece | Christmas decorating
I was working on decorating for Christmas – draping garland on the tree, putting fresh batteries into the LED tree candles, topping cabinets with greenery – and I got sidetracked, as I often do. My collection of copper bundt pans hanging from the potrack in my kitchen caught my eye. Oh yeah, I’ve always wanted to make a Christmas centerpiece out of one of those. That thought sent me on the rabbit trail of making this copper mold candle centerpiece…
four things | fifty-four
Between Thanksgiving break spent with family and trying to get my gift guides posted, I didn’t share my four things last week! It’s that time of year when I start feeling a little crunched to post everything in a timely manner. But I really love writing this post each week. It gives me a catch-all place to share bits and pieces of my work and life. Here are my four things for the week: Art & Fear, Dickensian, “they call
Christmas momentum
When I’m in the early stages of thinking about decorating for Christmas, before I pull out the bins or lights, faux greens, and ornaments, I usually feel pretty resolved that I’m going to keep things simple. As you may notice if you visit my blog regularly, I’m always busy with something. When Thanksgiving is over, and the calendar turns to December, I’m already looking forward to the post-Christmas slow-down. The glorious lost week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, when
plein air painting in italy & podere tour
After a late night of travel followed by two full days, touring Arezzo and teaching a creative workshop, I was feeling run down and decided to skip the group activity planned for the next day. It was a tough call, but I wanted time to slow down and soak up our beautiful surroundings. I didn’t want to feel rushed to go to the next place and do the next thing. I also wanted time to catch up on my journal
homemade christmas gifts
I’ve loved making and giving homemade gifts since I was little. As you may have guessed, my favorite medium was always paint, but I have made a lot of other things over the years, as I learned new crafts. Homemade gifts are not flashy or trendy, but they are meaningful, thoughtful, and show that time was put into a gift, which feels like a rarity in this age of one-click shopping. I have shared loads of projects on this blog
small business Saturday
As a small business owner myself, I love supporting other small business owners. It takes a lot of work to turn a vision into a reality and a lot of faith to take that big scary step. While I’m not a huge fan of the post Thanksgiving gauntlet of sales (although it is admittedly good time to start your Christmas shopping), I love that there is a day to celebrate and encourage support for small businesses, so I thought I
New Society6 Papers, Prints & More
Surface design is something I’ve played with on and off for a few years and this year, I decided to lean into that interest and create some new patterns for wrapping papers as well as other available products on Society6. While only one is specifically designed for Winter/Christmas, I feel like these designs work well year-round, including for Christmas. (Products are up to 50% off at Society6 for their Black Friday event.) I love Society6’s wrapping paper. It comes in
2025 Christmas Gift Guide
The Christmas shopping season is among us, and Black Friday (which seems to last over a month now) Sales are already happening. As I have in the past, I’ve put together a few gift guides, mostly consisting of things I own and love that might be good for someone on your list. While I love bargains and good deals, I’ve never been one to shop for or buy something simply because it’s on sale. Instead, I hope the things I
travel journal workshop
I’ll give you fair warning that my posts will be all over the place for a few weeks. We’ll be bouncing around between Christmas decorating, gifting, and crafting, to early October in Italy, and then whatever else I’m working on. Welcome to my life. Today, we’re back in Tuscany at the La Dolce Vita Retreat. While this trip was a vacation, it was also work. I was here to teach a creative workshop for the retreat attendees. I wanted my
miss mustard seed tees & hoodies
Do you remember Miss Mustard Seed tees and hoodies? We’re going almost ten years back when I used to sell in retail spaces, at markets, and regularly added products to an online store. I loved designing and wearing my own tees and hoodies, and they were my uniform for many years. I finally let go of my last paint-splattered, faded sweatshirt a couple of years ago. I’ve wanted to relaunch tees and hoodies for years, but I always get hung
your creative super power
A question I received when I shared one of my paintings on Instagram earlier this week stuck with me. I posted a picture of a cat painting as an example when someone asked if I only paint dogs. It was this painting… Here was her question… Two of the questions are about method and technique, which I won’t go into in this post. But the second question is the one that hung with me. “Do you actually SEE them that
Arezzo Antique Market
After our day-and-a-half delay in London, we arrived in Florence late at night and sleepily went through customs and connected with the driver who would take us to the Prone to Wander retreat in Sovicelle. He was a kind gentleman who spoke a little English, so we exchanged the usual pleasantries, then sat quietly for the rest of the drive. The main excitement of the ride was his driving style. Mom and I referred to him as Mario Andretti the
salt-dough season | traditional salt-dough ornament recipe
One of my favorite holiday projects over all my years of Christmas crafting is making things with salt dough. It started with an impulsive purchase from an Instagram ad. I bought two wooden cookie molds, not really even sure what I was going to do with them. I just thought they were pretty and had good crafting potential. After languishing in my tin with cookie cutters and piping tips, inspiration hit. What if I used those pretty molds with humble
I’m Marian, a painter, writer, and lover of all things creative. From art and antiques to home projects and everyday life, I share my journey in hopes of inspiring you to embrace your own creativity and make beauty in the spaces you live.
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From the very first coat of paint to custom cabinetry, Marian has been slowly transforming her 1970s split-level into a home filled with charm, character, and creative vision. Explore room-by-room updates, clever DIYs, and the stories woven into each renovation project. It’s a work in progress—and that’s part of the beauty.
In the Studio
Artistic Endeavors
Move Slow & Make Things Book Bonuses Available!
I am so excited to share that the preorder bonuses for Move Slow & Make Things: Pursuing the Delightfully Fulfilling Creative Life are now available! If you’ve already ordered the book, thank you! You can enter your order information on THIS to claim your bonuses. If you haven’t preordered the book yet, you can do that HERE. I will be released September 1, 2026, so you still have plenty of time, but I learned through the release of Feels Like
the Gibbes Museum
When we planned our Charleston outing for our anniversary, we were going to visit a few antique stores and then have a nice dinner. My aunt’s proposition changed that, though. We knew we would be transporting two large paintings in bulky frames home, so space would be at a premium. (We won’t mention all of the shells I was bringing home, too!) For that reason, we decided not to go to the antique store. I have a knack for finding
criticism & what makes you an artist
I received a critical comment on social media a couple of weeks ago. It happens when you share online, and after over 15 years of posting, I’ve gotten used to it and generally have a healthy perspective. Most of the time, I can shrug off the comment. It’s from a stranger on the Internet, and in many cases, it’s not even about me at all. My inbox, DMs, or comment section is just where someone’s frustration, hurt, or bad mood
my favorite part of the Uffizi Museum
We are back in Florence, Italy, in today’s blog post, but this story will circle back to Charleston and then to my house in a beautiful, serendipitous story about art. It started with my favorite part of the Uffizi Museum. Let me start off by saying that I loved most things about the Uffizi. The U-shaped building with light-filled halls was spectacular, and the art collection might be my favorite of any museum I’ve visited to date. It’s big enough
Spring Break Paintings
Painting really is like any other skill or strength-based activity. If you step away from it, even for a few days, there is a bit of dust to knock off when you get back to it. For this reason, I wanted to try to fit in some painting while I was at the beach. Not only is it good practice in general, but it’s good practice to get better at painting when away from my studio. I feel pretty confident
King Louis & Sky Miles | IOP Dog Reunions
Each morning, as we walk and collect shells on the beach, there is also a dog party happening. At Isle of Palms, dogs are allowed off their leashes to run free for a few hours each morning, and both owners and dogs take advantage. Dogs are running in the surf, chasing balls, playing with each other, greeting all the other beach-goers (who are there for them, naturally), and jogging alongside their owners. It finally occurred to me in 2024 that
Seasonal
Fall
farmhouse holiday series | fall family room
In this second installment of the farmhouse holiday series, we’re all sharing our fall family rooms… I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, but I don’t do much in the way of fall decorating. I’ll put out a couple of pumpkins, a bowl of apples, etc. and just leave it at that. In the case of my family room, I just put a mum in a bucket and added a couple of faux pumpkins in a wicker basket
apple orchard picnic shoot
Today was a whirlwind, but packed with activities that were good for my creative soul. Photo shoots are one of my favorite aspects of my job. If you read my very, very early posts, I share how much I love “playing magazine”. I loved that I had an excuse to take pictures of pretty things and share them. And I have never grown weary of it! Today’s shoot was for an “apple orchard picnic” table for HGTV.com. It was hot and
a harvest table, a dough bowl & succulent pumpkins
A few of the freelance projects I worked on late this summer for HGTV.com are live now, so I wanted to share a preview and links. I love how these turned out. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…I could set tables and take pictures of them all day long. And sometimes I do. Harvest-inspired fall table This one came together with so many rich layers. Kriste and I were working on it together and I kept stopping
Finding Fall Home Tour
Today, my blog is the second-to-the-last stop in the Finding Fall 2015 Home Tour. There are a lot of amazing homes and decorating ideas that have been shared so far, so be sure to check out the links at the bottom of this post if you’re just jumping in on the tour. If you’re stopping from Unexpected Elegance and are new to my blog, welcome! Before we get into the pictures, I must be a bit transparent for a minute. Getting
fall table & buffet preview
As I shared the other day, I could do tablescapes all day long. Other than furniture, it’s probably one of my favorite parts of my job. I think it’s probably because I love dishes, serving pieces, ironstone, silverware, etc. I have a lot of it and, while we do use some of it everyday, I have enough to feed an army. So, I love when I get to pull it out and “play” with it. It’s sort of like a
autumn table & more glittered pumpkins
A couple of weeks ago, I showed a more traditional, spooky black & orange fall table with black glass glitter on pumpkins, crows, pinecones and a paper bat bunting. In this setting, I wanted to show glittered pumpkins in a totally different way, so Kriste & I set up a rustic autumn table with a little glam element in the form of gold (14 Karat) and silver (Tiara) glass glittered pumpkins. Kriste took the lead on glittering these pumpkins and opted to glitter
at home
All Things Home
hard pruning a mock orange bush
One of my favorite things in our yard is an old mock orange bush. I had no idea what it even was when we moved in, since it had bloomed months before the home was put on the market. I was surprised our first May in the house when the large bush was dotted with dainty white blooms. It was beautiful and so fragrant. Every May since, I have eagerly awaited the mock orange blossoms to make an appearance. Here
small guest room updates
Painting the guest room is still on the to-do list, and it might be there for a while. As is often the case, decorating the guest room isn’t usually a top priority. I’ve always loved working on the guest rooms in our homes, though. Since I’m not in these rooms daily, I feel I can take a departure from my usual color palette and try something different. The style remains the same, but I step outside my predominantly blue and
how to paint vinyl shutters
When I shared the installation of the new vinyl shutters along the back of the house, several people asked if I could share the specific products, tools, and techniques I used, so here is a post all about how to paint vinyl shutters. When we moved into our PA house way back in 2006, there were vinyl shutters on the front windows that were a faded country blue. Not long after moving in, I took them down and spray-painted them
how to find the right next house
“I would love to have a post about how you find such great houses. You always seem to get such great neighborhoods, lots, “raw material” even when you’re moving across states. Do you have a method? I’d love to hear about it. Thank you.” I thought this question was interesting because I feel like most people are a little baffled by the houses we buy! With our last two home purchases, I received lots of questioning comments, but I think
sweet autumn clematis
I recognized it immediately when we first looked at this house. It was hanging over a rickety fence that would need to be replaced, but my heart lifted when I saw it – sweet autumn clematis. I had planted it in my Minnesota garden in the hopes it would grow up around the porch, adding some charm to our beige suburban house. After a few seasons of nurturing, it finally grew along the porch, just as I had hoped. And
installing shutters on brick | 1970 home renovation
When the weather first started warming up this spring, I had a long to-do list for the back exterior of the house. New windows, paint, and install shutters, build a custom A/C surround, paint the trim, power wash the patio, and work on the garden beds. We’ve been chipping away at these projects over the spring and summer, and I finally checked the last one off the list – hanging the shutters. They had been sitting in the garage for
Everyday Moments
A Slice of Life
shell collection competition 2026
The jokes, comments, and ribbing about the shell collection competition started happening the first afternoon we arrived at our rental house on Isle of Palms. I walked out to the beach for our first visit of the vacation and found a small pale gray whelk at the base of the sign at the beach entrance we use most. I posted to my Instagram Stories, “Let the games begin.” There’s always a lot of banter around the competition. My mom accuses
shelling diaries 2026 | part three & “whelk graveyard” map
You can read my 2026 Shelling Diaries Part One HERE and Part Two HERE. Jeff jokingly said we should bring shovels to dig in the whelk graveyard, but then he actually found some decent sand shovels in the garage of our rental house, so it wasn’t really a joke anymore. We were going to visit that spot again and, this time, we were going to do some serious shelling. The morning was brisk, in the low 50s, so we all
shelling diaries 2026 | part two
While we’ve all been getting lots of steps from walking on the beach. Jeff has been the grand champion with over 24,000 steps each day. (I’ve been clocking in 15,000-20,000.) Since he’s been covering so much ground, we asked him to do some shell reconnaissance for us. He found some gray olives and whelks for me (he’s redeemed himself from his traitorous act earlier in the week ), and some pink whelks for my mom, but he also found a
four things | sixty-seven
It’s Four Things: Isle of Palms edition! We’ve been at the beach since last Friday, so we’ve been going for lots of walks, eating great Lowcountry food, preparing for the annual shell-collection competition, doing puzzles, playing Bananagrams, and visiting family. We always have a grand time, and it’s been a great week. Here are my Four Things… what I’m reading My friend Cheri gave me the book Theo of Golden a few months ago, and I’ve been saving
the top three questions about shelling
Every year, when I’m sharing our shelling adventures on social media, the same three questions pop up, so I thought I would share the answers all in one place. Where are you shelling? We are at the Isle of Palms in South Carolina. We’ve been coming here for Spring Break for several years, and it’s a wonderful area for shelling. I’ve been to the Outer Banks, Myrtle Beach, Wrightsville Beach, and Hilton Head, and this is where we’ve found
shelling diaries 2026 | part one
We are back in Isle of Palms, South Carolina, for Spring Break. We love coming this time of year because it’s still “off season”, so it isn’t crowded, and it’s rarely overly hot. We can still have some warm, sticky days, and we do risk having gloomy, cold days that aren’t great for the beach, but we have found this is a good window for our crew. I’m often asked what the water temperature is here in early March. I
Explore painting at your own pace—no experience needed
Free Art Classes for the Creative at Heart
While the world slowed down in the spring of 2020, I found connection and creativity by offering live art classes each Friday—just a simple way to share something joyful during uncertain times. What began as a small spark turned into something truly special. After receiving such kind and encouraging feedback, I decided to turn those lessons into a free online course. Inside, you’ll find nine beginner-friendly oil painting classes covering everything from mixing colors to painting a sweet grazing cow. It’s a gentle, joy-filled place to start (or continue) your painting journey.