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1970 home renovation

gardening plan with a local nursery

Over the winter, I was already thinking about working on the front garden.  It was going to be a massive project landscaping this wide, rambling, unsymmetrical house, but we were at a place in our 1970 home renovation where we could get started once Spring arrived.  We had painted the siding and trim, removed the overgrown trees and landscaping, replaced missing shutters, installed new windows along the front of the house, and a new roof.  All of the bush-trampling jobs were behind us and we could start reestablishing the beds and planting.  But, I felt very overwhelmed at the idea of planning it all out myself. I reached out to a few landscape designers about quotes and the process for getting a virtual plan.  For a virtual consultation, I would have to have the property professionally surveyed and most of the quotes were in the $1,000 neighborhood.  While I felt

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May 14, 2024 21 Comments
All Things Home

large vintage-style garden trellis tutorial & free plans

As I shared last week (in THIS POST), I decided I was overcomplicating the trellis idea for the garage wall.  I thought building one large trellis would be the way to go, but I realized two would balance out the windows on the other “wing” of the house and two trellises would be much easier to build than one.  They’d still be substantial (about 4 x 8′), but they would be smaller and lighter than the original idea and would be easy to install and remove for cleaning and painting over the years.  It would require less lumber and wouldn’t need footings.  I took measurements, sketched some ideas, and built two trellises last week.  I am over the moon about these trellises and, of course, I wanted to share detailed plans and a tutorial so you can build your own vintage-style trellis if you have a similar blank wall to

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May 13, 2024 13 Comments
1970 home renovation

garden updates | bishop’s weed, trellis design, & progress

In case you haven’t noticed by the subject of my recent posts, gardening has been my main focus over the past few weeks.  I feel like I have to take advantage of the weather before it starts getting really hot and also get the backyard cleaned up before we open the pool.  I keep feeling a pull to the easel to get some paintings done and I’m excited about finally painting the dining room, but I have to follow the seasons and plant when it’s prime planting time.  And, I need to get ahead of the weeds before they get out of control even more than they are.  In addition to the sense of seasonal urgency, I’m really enjoying it.  I put my headphones in and listen to an audiobook or music and completely lose track of time.  I’ve been gardening some evenings until it’s so dark I can hardly

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May 8, 2024 24 Comments
Favorite Things

beautiful tools | copper watering can & mister

As I have shared many times over the years, I believe in having the tools you use every day be beautiful from dish brushes and bars of soap to brooms and scissors to pencils and grocery bags.  Functional items can, in most cases, also be lovely, aesthetically pleasing, and a delight to use.  They don’t have to be made of brightly-colored plastic that you want to hide in your cabinets.  Even the humblest of sponges or a pair of gardening clogs can be something you enjoy having in plain view.  For years, I have been using a plastic water bottle or whatever else I could find on hand to water my houseplants.  I finally decided to treat myself to a beautiful watering can that I wouldn’t mind sitting out on the counter or the shelf by the kitchen door.  After looking around at my options and thinking about it, I

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May 2, 2024 25 Comments
All Things Home

my gardening notebook

A couple of weeks ago, I stopped by a local nursery/garden center that is just a stone’s throw from my house.  I’ve driven by it often and wanted to stop in, but I knew I wasn’t ready for planting until after the roof was replaced and the exterior painting was done.  We finished priming and painting the front and “garage side” last fall, so I was ready to do some planting as soon as spring started to emerge. I knew I wouldn’t be able to tackle the landscape in the front of the house all at once, but I wanted to get a good start on the foundation bushes on the front of each “wing” of the house and get the beds in front of the porch prepped and tarped.  I’ll explain the area in front of the porch more as I share about the work I’m doing, but that

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April 30, 2024 14 Comments
a slice of life

what’s in my gardening books stack

I’m a book-stacker.  When I am interesting in a subject, I’ll pull books on that topic and make a stack on my studio counter.  If I feel like there are holes in my collection or some tempting new books are available, I’ll buy a few more to add to the stack.  I’ll then grab books from that stack to read when I have some free time or when I’m headed to an appointment or another place where I might be waiting.  The current stack on my studio counter follows a clear theme – gardening.  It’s full of some of my favorite gardening books that I’ve had for years along with some that I just opened a few days ago. If you know me, you know I like big books.  Helping me move isn’t fun because not only do I have lots of boxes of books, but I have lots of

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April 29, 2024 14 Comments
1970 home renovation

progress on the garage-side garden

Last year, I focused most of my gardening on the backyard, specifically the area surrounding the pool.  We were in the process of having the pool restored and I wanted the area to feel tidy at the very least.  I didn’t want to be floating in our pool, trying to soak up the slower summer days only to be tormented by the view of garden beds filled with weeds.  So, I worked a little bit most days to clean weeds out of the beds, dig out rock, mulch, and plant.  I’ll share an update on those areas in another post.  This year, I’m still working on the back (specifically the area along the back fence), but I’m focusing more attention on the front and garage side of the house.  These are the two sides that are most visible from the street.  I wanted to work on them more last year,

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April 25, 2024 15 Comments
All Things Home

the war on bishop’s weed

So, last year I shared a post about lovely surprises I was finding in our yard as bulbs peeked up in the Spring, perennials woke up, and bushes leafed out and bloomed.  I learned the dogwood trees in our front yard had white blooms, which was exactly what I was hoping.  A large bush that is falling over under its own weight is a beautiful mock orange that just needs some serious pruning. What we thought was a dead dogwood tree is actually a lilac bush that has grown taller than the house!  It gave me a better indication of what I wanted to heavily prune and save and what I wanted to remove.  One of the plants I shared was a ground cover Google identified as Ground Elder or Snow-on-the-Mountain, which both sound lovely.  I left it alone to bloom and thought the lacy white flowers were so pretty. 

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April 17, 2024 36 Comments

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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