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Decorating
All Things Home

Ultimate Scallop Wicker Tray

Last week, I decided to play around a bit inside the house.  I’ve been spending a lot of time outside pulling weeds, hauling mulch, and planting and I haven’t been paying much attention to the interior.  Dust bunnies may have been involved.  Okay, they were.  They were involved.  But, I took a few hours to take care of the dust bunnies and things that needed to be addressed but I have learned that chores often lead to creative play.  In addition to running the vacuum, tidying up, and wiping down surfaces, I started fluffing, styling, and moving things around.  I had a few new goodies I purchased at Lucketts to play around with and I had a few photo shoots I needed to work on for clients, so it was a good time to make some small changes. One of the fun bits of styling I did was relocate this

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May 29, 2024 24 Comments
All Things Home

living room lighting from Lamps Plus

This post is sponsored by Lamps Plus.  As always, all words and opinions expressed are honest and my own. I shared the plug-in wall sconces from Lamps Plus before Christmas, but I never wrote about the details of the fixtures as well as another lamp we selected for the room.  So, that’s what this post is about!  Within the first few months of living in the house, we had recessed lights installed in the living room, my studio, and all the bedrooms.  There was no overhead lighting and we didn’t want to rely solely on lamps, especially during the winter when it gets dark so early.  So, we turn on the recessed lights and wash the room in light when needed, but we mostly like to use lamps in this cozy room for tasks and ambiance. For the chair in the corner opposite the sofa. we got the Antique Brass

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May 23, 2024 6 Comments
All Things Home

planting the espalier apple trees in terra cotta pots

Yesterday, I shared how we primed, painted, and installed the vintage-style trellises on our blank white wall of siding, and today, I want to share how I planted the espalier apple trees in large terra cotta pots and tied them to the trellises.  When I mentioned putting them in pots on my Instagram stories, I was asked several times why I opted for pots instead of putting them directly into the ground. Well, there are a few reasons for that… Number one, I’m not sure what kind of chemicals have been sprayed on this soil over the years.  We’ve had pest control treatments and I didn’t know I’d be planting edibles here, so I didn’t ask them to skip this area.  I would be a little nervous planting a fruit tree in questionable soil. Number two, I want to make sure they get enough light on this wall with the

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May 22, 2024 29 Comments
All Things Home

DIY cedar garden obelisk

I was on a high from building the vintage-style trellises for the front of the house, so I decided to do more math and make a DIY cedar garden obelisk.  I bought enough wood to make three trellises (two large and one small), but I decided to do something different on the wall where the small trellis was going to hang.  So, I had extra cedar that we cut down to 1 x 2s as well as some scraps from the trellis project and I wanted to use every bit I could.  You can find the plans for the vintage-style trellis HERE if you missed it and are interested in building one. I didn’t take pictures as I built the obelisk for two reasons.  One, it was sprinkling on and off so I was fitting in work on the project as weather would allow.  Two, I was completely winging it

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May 16, 2024 13 Comments
All Things Home

My Lucketts Spring Market 2024 Wish List

This Friday, my mom and I are heading back to the Lucketts Spring Market!  It snuck up on me this year because I don’t have any huge items on my wishlist, but going to the Spring and Fall Markets is always a highlight.  I get to spend quality time with my mom, rub shoulders with some of my old antique vendor buddies, and come home with some treasures.  It’s also an amazing, well-curated, well-produced event that is a delight to experience.  The folks at Lucketts do a top-notch job.  Think of amazing Anthropologie displays colliding with your favorite antique shops, and a day at a country fair.  There are fiddle groups and everything.  It’s not too late to get tickets or to drop in for an enjoyable day.  HERE are all of the when, where, and how details. When we went to the 2023 Spring Market, I was on the

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May 15, 2024 14 Comments
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

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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