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Decorating

All Things Home

the stuff threshold

Let’s talk about the stuff threshold.  I’ve mentioned before that I don’t like to refer to spaces as sparse or cluttered because I have seen rooms on both ends of the “stuff threshold” done very well.  Some rooms are perfectly edited, displaying just a few key things in harmony with one another.  Sparse seems too cold a word for those elegant rooms.  Other spaces are packed to the hilt, but everything is arranged and displayed so beautifully that applying a word with somewhat negative connotations, like cluttered, seems incorrect.  I think it comes down to the fact that everyone has a different stuff threshold. My own stuff threshold fluctuates and has since I was young.  I remember rearranging my room and wanting to put all of the decor and accessories away so I had clear surfaces and the room felt lighter.  One day, seemingly out of the blue, my mood

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Artistic Endeavors

the ongoing battle in my studio

I love my studio.  It’s a little creative sanctuary for me.  But, in this sanctuary, there is an ongoing battle that followed me from my last studio.  It’s the push and pull between wanting a tantalizing buffet of books and art supplies in view and wanting room to work and white space to foster new projects.  This side that is almost always winning is the former and lately, I’ve been feeling it.  Maybe it’s because I wedge a cat tree in a free square foot of floor space next to my desk (the kitties do love it) or that I have piles of papers and books on most available flat surfaces, but it feels like a tidying-up is called for. Maybe even some rearranging, rethinking, and, yes, purging. It seems the more I embrace being an artist, the more I become an artist, playing right into the stereotype of being

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a slice of life

top 10 posts of 2024

At the beginning of the new year, I always like to check out my analytics to see the list of the most popular blog posts from the previous year.  I don’t pay too much attention to analytics generally, because I write for people, not for algorithms and search engines, but it’s nice to know which posts were most visited, perhaps most helpful, timely, or resonating.  Interestingly, the top posts were rarely written in that same calendar year.  They are usually posts that have gained some traction on Google, Pinterest, or a social media platform.  For years, my top post was how to make a seat cushion!  (You can find that HERE if you need it.)  It has fallen off of my top ten list and other practical posts have replaced it. Here are the top ten blog posts from 2024… Salt dough, humble as it is, has been having a

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All Things Home

Christmas dining room 2024

This year, I focused my Christmas decorating on our home’s three public (and most used) rooms – the kitchen, living room, and dining room.  Some years, I will add decor to the bedrooms, bathrooms, or my studio, but I decided to keep it simple.  I enjoyed decorating the kitchen and living room this year, but my favorite was the dining room.  For our first Christmas in the house, the walls still wore remnants of wallpaper glue and an old minty-green paint.  Last year, the walls were simply primed white.   (You can see that HERE.)  This year, the ceiling is freshly painted, wainscoting and trim have been installed and painted in Oval Room Blue, and a hand-painted mural (in the French block-print scenic wallpaper style) is about 90% finished.  There are still things to do, but it feels like a finished room. As I did with the kitchen and living rooms,

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Decorating

Christmas Kitchen 2024

I shared our Christmas living room 2024 yesterday and, if you missed it, you can see it in THIS POST.  Today, I’m giving a little tour of the kitchen and eating area. Last year was the first year I had the chance to decorate our newly-renovated kitchen for Christmas, so I had a great time with it.  This year, I kept most of the decor the same since I really loved it.  There are a few differences, though. antique baker’s table | hardwood floors | Ilve range | brass pot rail | quartz counters I used the same wreath I made last year (you can find details HERE), but the velvet ribbons didn’t store very well, so I changed those out.  I used the same dried orange slice garland along the pot rail.  I made it last year and stored it in a zip topped back in the basement and

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Decorating

Christmas 2024 Living Room

Well, I might be (literally) limping across the Christmas decorating finish line, but I’ve made it.  I added things this year and left other things out, making decisions based on how I felt at any given moment.  Sometimes I had a spurt of energy and was really excited about what I was doing and then other times I thought I might be finished.  In the end, nothing in life hinges on Christmas decorations, so I did what felt fun and most important to me.  While I do share my Christmas decorating online as a part of my job, I am woefully behind, weeks behind, for that to serve its intended purpose.  I’m sure your decorating is done, so you probably don’t need to see mine to get ideas!  But there isn’t a time limit on when ideas can be used or when inspiration will show up at just the right

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Decorating

Christmas tree in an antique laundry basket

When I shared about using presents as part of Christmas decorations yesterday, several people asked here and on Instagram about two things: How did I get the Christmas tree to stand up in the antique French laundry basket, and where is the antique goat cart? So, let’s talk about those two things. First of all, I decided to try something different this year with the dining room Christmas tree.  Since it’s only our third Christmas in this house, I’m still playing with options.  I like to keep decorating for Christmas a little open so I can feel free to try new things or change things up from year to year.  I don’t want to do a full overhaul, but use the things I have differently.  So, I decided to leave the goat cart stored in the basement this year and tried putting the dining room tree in one of my

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All Things Home

presents are a part of Christmas decor

I am a multitasker to my core. I like flitting from one thing to the next, but I also seem to work at my best when I’m juggling a few things.  As a part of being a multitasker, I’m always looking for ways to make the things I have and do work in more ways than just one.  It’s helpful in business when one piece of furniture can be blog content, a social media post, a YouTube tutorial, an avenue to promote products, and eventually a product to sell.  It’s helpful in decorating when one piece can be beautiful, and functional, and will look just as good in the dining room as it did in the living room.  And, of course, this carries over into Christmas and seasonal decorating. I don’t want to have too many things beyond a couple of trees that are Christmas-specific.  I want ribbons I can

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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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