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Decorating

All Things Home

the rug that ties the room together

Well, another layer has been added to our dining room and it’s just perfection!  The braided jute rug that was in the dining room worked because it was neutral, but it was a little bit boring.  If you’ve been with me on this blog long enough, you know that rugs are my nemesis!  It’s so hard to find one that works.  It’s not too loud, not too boring, it’s the right material, colors, patterns, etc.  And, rugs are typically investment pieces, so there is pressure to get the decision right. This rug is from the upcoming (June 2019) Mark Sikes collection for Dash & Albert and it is the perfect solution for my dining room… (I’ll share more about Mark’s collection in another post, but everything is so beautiful.  It’s traditional without being tired and there is lots of blue & white, so it is right up my alley!) Anyway,

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All Things Home

favorite things | ironstone molds

When I shared the ironstone mold I purchased at the flea market over Mother’s Day weekend, I received a few questions about ironstone molds, so I thought I would share more about them.  My collection started a few years ago with, of course, my love for anything ironstone.  That love even led me into buying an ironstone spitoon, which I wouldn’t do again because #1 what do you use that for and #2…ick.  Anyway, I came across an ironstone mold and at first debated buying it.  It had a beautiful design on the inside, but it looked a little clumsy and plain on the outside.  And what would I do with it?  Pitchers and bowls and plates and the like can all be used for something (even if they are mostly used for display.) The one I was debating, though, was a good size to plop a plant in or

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All Things Home

a little “spring cleaning” for my indoor plants

Just a quick bit of business first…  We were having some technical glitches with the Personal Retreat Guide for Creatives yesterday, but it’s working now.  If you were having that trouble, you can click HERE, enter your e-mail, click subscribe, and then you’ll get an e-mail to download the guide.  Sorry about that! I noticed last week that some of my house plants were looking a little sad.  It wasn’t that they were unhealthy, but they needed to be cleaned up a little…trimmed, have the dead leaves shaken out, etc.  So, I took a little bit of time to give them a little “spring cleaning”. Both of my indoor gardenia plants were holding onto a bunch of dried out and dead leaves inside their living foliage, so I took each one of them out on the deck and pick them all out.  I was nervous they would look naked after

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All Things Home

new pulls for my desk

I just can’t leave well enough alone.  That quality is what actually led me into decorating in the first place, so I am thankful for it, but it does mean I’m always looking for ways to customize and/or improve something even when they are perfectly fine as is. Well, one thing I wanted to customize as soon as it was delivered to my house was .  I love the shape, finish, and style of it, but I didn’t like the hardware.  Fortunately, that’s a relatively quick and inexpensive thing to change.  So, I did! Here is what it looked like before… …and here is what it looks like with the new hardware… I chose antiqued brass bin-cup pulls because they still work with the mission-style of the desk, but they look a little softer and less rustic than the original pulls. I bought THIS 10-pack of pulls from Amazon for

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All Things Home

studio closet reveal

The studio closet is finally finished!  I cannot express how awesome it is to have all of that functional storage in this space now.  It was one of my goals this year to make my workspaces more functional and that has been accomplished in my studio and home office. Previous Posts: If you missed any previous posts in the studio closet series, including plans and some process pictures of how the closet was built, you can find them here… studio closet: framing and shelves studio closet progress: building the doors studio closet progress: straightening warped doors with turnbuckles studio closet progress: building the 3rd door & adding catches So, this weekend, while everyone else in my family was occupied, I took some time to prime and paint the closet.  I used Smart Prime by Zinsser as the primer and then Benjamin Moore’s Aura in White Dove in an eggshell finish

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All Things Home

linen shades & art sale

First off, the winner of the Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint birthday giveaway is Traci (butterflyoct)!  Congrats! Almost a year ago, I made some linen shades to filter light in my studio.  And that project turned into having the shades reproduced and sold on Decor Steals.  Well, they are back today! I hung one in my kitchen to show what they look like… They are made out of a pretty, off-white, linen-ish fabric that offers some privacy and filters light without blocking it out entirely.  They are made to hang on a tension rod, so they are easy to put up (and take down.) And the ties can be styled in a variety of ways.  Here is a video showing some options… I am asked about those shades almost every time I show them, I’m happy Decor Steals brought back this ready-made option. You can click HERE to purchase them.  Also, I

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All Things Home

more studio closet progress

Thanks so much for all of the lovely comments on my guest room and for the overwhelming response on my milk paint birthday post!  This group knows how to make a girl feel good.  Thank you!  I’ll announce the giveaway winner in tomorrow’s post. Well, we took advantage of a pretty day last week and finally finished building the studio closet! Now, I need to prime and paint it.  I’m planning to paint it the same color as the walls, Simply White by Benjamin Moore, so it just blends in.  I don’t want it to be too visually imposing, which would be easy since it is quite large. We built the last of the three doors and this time added a Z brace to minimize warping.  The door was still a little warped, but not anywhere near as wonky as the other two were. We did make one bone-headed mistake,

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All Things Home

Guest Room Makeover Reveal & $500 giveaway

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Annie Selke (Pine Cone Hill & Dash & Albert).  All words and opinions are honest and my own. The guest room is finally done and I am so happy with how it turned out!!  I went out on a limb in this room a few different ways.  One of them was the color palette.  I strayed from my typical blues, greens, grays, and whites, and went with beige, cream, and yellow with a touch of blue.  The other decision that stretched me was wallpapering an entire room.  I’ve done a small bathroom before, but tackling an entire bedroom was a new challenge for me.  A guest room is a great place to experiment, though, and this was a successful experiment in my opinion! Here is how the room looked before… It had a good foundation and bones, but it was just a boring box.

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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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