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All Things Home
All Things Home

Christmas Porch 2018

After a 3:00 am wake-up call and 9 hours of hopping onto three different planes, I arrived safely home from my excursion to Montana.  It was a great trip and I’ll be sharing all about it and the HGTV Dream Home soon. But today, I’m going to share the Christmas decorations I added to my porch this year.  It’s very similar to last year since I loved how it looked so much. I added a live garland and some white lights around the door.  You can find a tutorial on how I attached it HERE. On either side of the door, I filled the concrete urns with some fresh greens, twigs, lights, and sugar pine cones.  Last year I bought small evergreen trees, but I ended up neglecting them and pitching them in early spring, so that seemed like a waste of money.  This was more economical and the greens will still last

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December 9, 2018 27 Comments
All Things Home

Christmas Butler’s Pantry

I gave the butler’s pantry a makeover this summer, so this is the first time I get to decorate it for Christmas!  It’s a small thing, but I was excited about it none-the-less.  With that rich, green color, it’s just begging to be decorated for Christmas. And, I kept the Christmas decor very simple.  I just added some cinnamon sticks, nuts, pinecones, candles, and some faux greenery. The swag is hung from a 3m hook, so it can be removed after the holidays without leaving a mark. Now that the beadboard is contracting a bit from the change in humidity and temperature, I need to get in there and do a little touch up with the paint.  I’ll do that once the Christmas decorations come down. Well, tomorrow I am waking up at the crack of dawn to fly to Montana to tour the 2019 HGTV Dream Home!  I don’t

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December 5, 2018 22 Comments
All Things Home

Montauk Blue Slate Tile in the Foyer

The tile in the foyer is finished and we are one step closer to having the foyer and powder room makeovers complete!  So, there is still more to do before a reveal, but I thought I would share how this space is looking currently and also the details on the Montauk blue slate tile as well as our grout choices. I wanted to use a material that fit the traditional style of the house, but also worked with my aesthetic, which lands somewhere in an American farmhouse style meets European influence vein.  What came to mind to meld all of those styles AND to stand up to shoes and boots during a Minnesota winter AND a dog AND two boys were slate and brick.  I had considered a limestone, too, but I just couldn’t picture it. After talking to the professional who was going to install it and getting Jeff’s

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December 5, 2018 86 Comments
All Things Home

hand painted bread sign

Let me start off by saying this was supposed to be a tutorial, but it won’t be.  The reason is that I mindlessly deleted all of the process photos!!  Ah!  I try to keep my camera card “uncluttered”, so I delete all files once they are uploaded.  Well, I got a little overenthusiastic in my decluttering and deleted these files before I put them on my computer.  Not only did I delete these pictures, but also pictures for a freelance tutorial.  I redid those because I had to, but this will just be the tutorial that wasn’t meant to be. Anyway, I’ve been looking for something to hang over my range, but I just haven’t come across anything that is just right.  I even did some thorough shopping of my house and tried a few different platters, trays, breadboards, etc.  I would hang one and leave it for a day

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December 4, 2018 52 Comments
All Things Home

Christmas Dining Room 2018

I shared my dining room tree early last week, but it was before I really had the chance to dig into decorating for Christmas.  Last week, I took a lot of time to slowly work on our main living spaces and, in the process, I decided I wanted to rework some things in the dining room, including the tree. I decided that I just couldn’t handle the LED lights.  The glow coming off the LEDs was better when I added some vintage-style incandescent lights, but it was still there and I found myself not wanting to even turn on the tree.  So, I removed the lights from the top part of the tree (it was pretty laborious, so I didn’t do the bottom sections) and I decided to redo the entire thing while I was picking it apart.  As I sorted through my Christmas decorations, I found some vintage-style reflectors that had

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December 3, 2018 25 Comments
All Things Home

Blue & White Christmas Living Room 2018

I know this is a crazy busy time of year for everyone and I must say that this week has been a doozy for the Parsons’ family.  We have been slammed with stuff to do and appointments and obligations from every side…family, work, church, school.  That’s why I’ve been quieter than usual on my blog.  It was just not possible to get a post out mid-week.  We’re expecting a winter storm this weekend here in MN and I’m sort of hoping we get even more snow than expected, so we have a good excuse to stay in our jammies and cocoon ourselves from the world for a couple of days.  (I also hope to get a chance to paint, because I have not been able to since before we left for Thanksgiving and I miss it!)  But, today, I am a part of the Farmhouse Christmas Tour with an amazing

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November 30, 2018 No Comments
All Things Home

Christmas Living Room 2018

I know this is a crazy busy time of year for everyone and I must say that this week has been a doozy for the Parsons’ family.  We have been slammed with stuff to do and appointments and obligations from every side…family, work, church, school.  That’s why I’ve been quieter than usual on my blog.  It was just not possible to get a post out mid-week.  We’re expecting a winter storm this weekend here in MN and I’m sort of hoping we get even more snow than expected, so we have a good excuse to stay in our jammies and cocoon ourselves from the world for a couple of days.  (I also hope to get a chance to paint, because I have not been able to since before we left for Thanksgiving and I miss it!) Anyway, today, I am a part of the Farmhouse Christmas Tour with an amazing group of bloggers…

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November 30, 2018 35 Comments
All Things Home

The Mercantile in Knightdale

I spent Thanksgiving in Raleigh, NC, visiting Jeff’s family.  The days were mostly filled with relaxing and visiting, but I did take advantage of my close proximity to one of my MMS Milk Paint retailers (In Sweet Time at The Mercantile in Knightdale, NC) and I spent an evening teaching a milk paint demo and signing books. The evening itself was so special.  You know how magical it is when you get to spend time with creative kindred spirits?  It was all of that and more.  The demo turned into a full sit-down workshop (with several people from the “audience” participating in painting and finishing the piece) and a discussion about creative small business, blogging, and social media.  I got to meet so many delightful people, some who dropped Thanksgiving preparations and others who drove several hours to be there. And I had the treat of touring the beautifully curated a

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November 27, 2018 20 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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