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Room Makeovers
1970 home renovation

2023 favorite projects

While I enjoy looking forward to the coming year in January, I think it’s also important to look back.  It can be easy to focus on the to-do list and ways we want to improve, but, even if the previous year has been difficult or hasn’t been everything one hoped, there are always things we’ve learned, things we’ve accomplished, and things to celebrate.  Since the main things I write about on this blog are projects I’m working on, I figured I would share my favorite projects from 2023.  When I still feel like so many projects need to be done on our home specifically, it’s a good reminder to see how much we’ve accomplished in just over a year since we’ve lived here!  And, 2023 was a huge year because we tackled the two biggest projects on our to-do list when we bought the house. As I’ve shared before, we

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January 17, 2024 11 Comments
1970 home renovation

antique-style fireplace mantel reveal

Earlier this week, I shared about the antique-style fireplace mantel we built to replace the simple mantel shelf.  You can find more details about how we built that mantel in THIS POST.  I really liked the foundation of this room, but I envisioned the fireplace with a more traditional mantel.  The shelf, to me, felt more modern and the room as a whole felt more traditional.  I felt like building out the mantel would give the fireplace more presence and make the room more cohesive.  Here is how the fireplace and surrounding built-ins looked when we moved in… …and here is how it looks now with the room painted in Card Room Green and the mantel we built! Of course, it’s a little hidden because it’s all decorated for Christmas.  In fact, as soon as the paint on the mantel was dry, I started decorating it!  I realized after the

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November 30, 2023 49 Comments
1970 home renovation

new plans for the mantel

I shared early in the fall that I found an antique mantel removed from a local home built circa 1810.  I was so excited about bringing that piece of history into our house.  Overall the measurements seemed like they were going to work, but after we got it home and inspected it more carefully, we realized that it would need more than the few tweaks I initially thought.  I was pretty bummed, but Jeff and I were sort of excited at the idea of designing and building our own mantel.  So, I sold the antique one on Facebook Marketplace and started looking for some inspiration. This is mantel option number one and the one I looked at initially when I searched for inspiration about a year ago.  I liked the uniqueness of the curve above the firebox and I felt like the simplicity of it would work nicely in our

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November 21, 2023 30 Comments
1970 home renovation

custom-built shelf by the side door

One of the downsides to taking down the walls in the kitchen is that we lost the “mud room” area.  It was small, but it at least provided a landing area for shoes and such that was hidden from view.  But, I felt like the light and space we would gain was a good trade, so the walls came down. I thought initially I would add a piece of furniture along the wall by the side door as a place to tuck shoes, drop keys, and hang bags, but it would block the traffic path much more than I thought.  So, I decided to shift gears and build a shelf to define a bit of a “landing area.”  Of course, it’s still in the kitchen and in full view, so it’s not a place to hang everything people bring in the door.  The boys will still keep their backpacks in

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September 18, 2023 39 Comments
1970 home renovation

doors to the dining room & dining room updates

One of the details I loved about this 1970s house when we first looked at it was the doors leading to the dining room.  It’s one of those architectural details you don’t usually find in newer homes.  But. a house built in 1970 is bridging the formality of homes in the first half of the 20th century (with front and back entrances, rooms for guests and entertaining, and ones strictly for practicality, etc.) and the modern, open floorplans that became popular through the 1970s and 80s.  I love that this home leaned a bit more into old-fashioned choices along with upgrades that were modern for the time. The doors are just slab doors, but I painted them Card Room Green and added (instead of cabinet knobs) and they look so sweet. I still need to paint the dining room walls (they are just primed at this point) and give the

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September 11, 2023 33 Comments
All Things Home

making a slipcover for a recliner

Shortly after we moved in, I bought a manual wingchair recliner off of Facebook Marketplace for $40.  I had a feeling it would be a “placeholder” for a nicer recliner in the future, but it seemed like a good tester piece.  We could see how much we used it, see how it fit in the room (while fully open), and help us make a more informed decision in the future.  I intended to make a slipcover for this recliner, but after using it for a few weeks, it became clear that it wasn’t worth the effort or the cost.  The chair wasn’t comfortable and piece by piece, the mechanism was falling apart and got to the point where it would just randomly pop open. So, for almost a year, I looked around at recliners.  I looked at new and used and was very wishy-washy and undecided.  I didn’t mind saving

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September 5, 2023 29 Comments
Decorating

shopping for a living room sofa

We’re going to talk about a room other than the kitchen today!  Now, it’s onto the hallway, dining room, and the room I’m sharing today, the living room/family room.  When we looked at this home with our realtor, we knew that the formal dining room would be reserved for my studio and that meant the den off the kitchen would be our only living/family room.  In our previous two homes, we’ve had a more formal/pretty living room and a separate family room for watching TV.  When we first bought the house, we considered the possibility of making a TV/family room in the basement.  That may still happen years down the road, but the truth is after living here for a year, we don’t really feel like we need it. But, making this room a combination of our semi-formal living room and our casual TV/hangout room is a bit of a

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August 17, 2023 21 Comments
1970 home renovation

stainless steel trim for the range hood & range

I kept showing the range and range hood with a little asterisk.  *It’s not quite finished, yet!  We will be adding some stainless steel trim to the back of the range and around the underside of the hood.   Well, that was finally installed last week and it was just the perfect finishing touch.  For you to fully appreciate these finishing touches, you have to see where we started. Our contractor built the frame and installed the range hood, but the way he built the frame, some of the lumber would be exposed when we added the panels and trim.  Of course, painting it would be an option, but he suggested having a stainless steel frame made that he would install and seal with silicone for a cleaner look and one that would protect the wood better against moisture.  It would also be easier to clean. You can read about how

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August 8, 2023 11 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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