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Decorating

Decorating

Hanging Plates on the Wall

Many of you have noticed the plates hanging on my walls throughout my home.  If you haven’t noticed, plates, platters and lids are pretty much my go-to wall art.  It all started because I could find plates at yard sales and thrift stores…sometimes for as low as 10 cents a piece.  I ended up with enough plates to feed a small army, so I started hanging them on the walls.  I first hung plates in the obvious place…the kitchen, but when I needed something to hang in the bathroom of our townhouse, I opted for an arrangement of silver plated platters.  (They looked so good against the rich navy walls!) I always have a stack of plates and platters in my home, so when I’m moving things around, the plates are often the first thing I pull out to fill a space or round out an arrangement. When we hung

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Decorating

my home – the paint colors

I have recently received a lot of e-mails and comments asking for the name of the paint colors I use in my home, so I thought I would share them in a post.  (I’ve also been asked how I hang my plates, so that post is coming up.) Do you remember the era when everyone had a yellow kitchen, red dining room and beige family room?  Well, just about everyone I knew did!  Anyway, during that era, Jeff and I bought our first home – an 1100 square foot, two story condo.  I had been dreaming about paint colors the entire time we rented and lived with white white walls.  I also spent most of my childhood in military housing (with white walls) and with a mom who was a little scared of color (which meant white walls.)  She has since gotten more daring with “accent walls” and even beiges!

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Decorating

about my jute rugs

Many of you noticed the jute and seagrass rugs throughout my house in the partial house tour and asked some questions, so I thought I would share a bit more about them.  After trying a bunch of patterned rugs in my home, I realized I didn’t want so much pattern on the floor.  I wanted the rugs to be quiet, so the fabrics and painted furniture could be the stars.  The rugs in the living room, dining room and kitchen were purchased from Joss & Main with credits I earned there.  They are the Barbados Rug by Safaveih.  I would describe them as nubby, but soft.  They don’t feel scratchy, but since they are so heavily textured, it feels better to wears socks or shoes when walking on them.  They’re definitely not rugs to snuggle on. I have found these rugs to be very forgiving with crumbs and spills so far.

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Decorating

The Style Shift

As I’ve been working on my home over the past few months, a few realizations have hit me.  The first one was that I have too much stuff and I’ve talked about purging, selling, donating, organizing and paring down in recent posts.  I find myself grabbing more and more things to put on the sale pile.  The other day I was cleaning out kitchen cabinets and Jeff stopped and stared at me, sitting on the floor surrounded by kitchen gear and cook books, as he walked by.  I looked up at him and exclaimed, “I’m getting rid of all of this!  What is all of this stuff, anyway?  I don’t use it.  I don’t need it.  I don’t like it.  It’s gone!  I see STUFF in a brand new way.”  He just replied, “I know you do” and went about his day.  He’s pretty unbothered by the things I do

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Organizing

organizinggallery

With the boys out of school, it’s been really difficult for me to get in my groove, but I have been able to pick away at some organizing projects.  Organizing is the kind of project that can be done in pieces between building Lego’s (I’m the “piece finder”), Ukulele practice, “snack picnics” and playing Creationary.  In the past few days, I was able to get my linens starched, ironed and organized for their next use.  The drawer looks so pretty now! And I’ve been working on my office shelves.  As I mentioned a few days ago, I’m moving my decorating books to our home office shelves, but I don’t want all of the spines to look too busy, so I’m wrapping them in brown paper.  Brown craft paper is pretty thick for this kind of project, so I’m actually using a roll of the thinner brown paper that’s sold in

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Decorating

Living with what you love

The past few years have been a whirlwind for me.  Moving…two baby boys born 19 months apart and a new business right on the heels of that.  I’ve been so busy that cleaning out closets, cupboards, drawers, the basement, the attic spaces, etc. has been neglected.  Earlier this year, I looked in my kitchen cupboards and noticed there were still baby bottles on the shelves and my boys still had jammies in their dressers that were 2T (they are 5 and 7 now!)  It was time to make time to get things cleaned out and under control.  So, over the past few months, I’ve been cleaning, purging and organizing.  As I’ve shared, the more I get rid of, the more I want to get rid of more.  Getting rid of the obvious like the baby bottles and 2T jammies has turned into selling pieces of furniture I really love, but

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Decorating

Living Room Rearranged

When I start rearranging furniture, it’s like playing dominoes.  I move one thing and then everything else has to move.  As I mentioned yesterday, I’m approaching my house in an entirely new way.  I’m trying to be intentional about every piece.  Is it functional?  Is it beautiful?  Do I really love it?  Is it perfect for the space or am I trying to force things?  Or am I just keeping something out of a sense of obligation or even just laziness? New Year’s Eve I started working on my living room and family room.  I’m not spending any money.  I’m actually finding things to sell, so I’ll be making money and I’m moving things around that I already have.  I may take some of the money from what I sell to buy something perfect for a space if there’s a hole that needs to be filled, but I have found

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Decorating

Christmas 2013 Recap

I’ve gotta say…it was really tough for me to get in the spirit of Christmas this year.  I’m not sure what it was.  It’s my favorite time of year and I usually can’t wait to put the tree up and start listening to my Christmas play list.  I love the decorations all over the house, the lights, the food, the get-togethers, the white elephant gift exchanges and the Christmas plays.  I don’t know why, but this year it felt like something I had to get through and I hate even saying that! Christmas day, though, was wonderful and festive and fun and all of the things it’s supposed to be and made me glad I dragged myself into the Christmas spirit.  My husband ordered some pastries from a local 5 star bakery for everyone to enjoy in the morning as we opened presents… …and I put out some bing cherries

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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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