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All Things Home
a slice of life

Summer 2018 Favorites

This week is back to school week and that means I can have my work day back!  Don’t get me wrong.  I have enjoyed the lazy mornings, trips to visit family, movie matinees with the boys, the warmer weather for gardening and house projects, and watching the boys enjoy the freedom of summer.  We had lots of playdates, sleepovers, bike rides, afternoons at the pool, and evenings at the park.  They did drama camp and sports camp and Marshall did his first week-long away-from-home camp.  We’ve had a great time, but it will be nice to get back to a rhythm that gives me a quiet house for a few hours each day. Other than the obvious things, like visiting our families and special time spent with the boys, I thought I would share my summer 2018 favorites… Alone Jeff started watching this reality show first and I sort of

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August 27, 2018 39 Comments
All Things Home

cleaning an antique grain sack

I recently bought an antique German grain sack off of .  As an antique textile junkie and a lover of German things, I have been drawn to them for years and I’ve actually bought and sold a few after reworking them into projects.  Intact, ornate grain sacks from the 1800’s are rare and therefore expensive, so I usually just admire them and leave it at that.  Well, I finally had a specific project I wanted to use one for, so I bit the bullet and bought one that was really special. I felt a little better about the splurge, because I bought one that has painted detail on two sides.  Most of them just have stenciling/hand painting on one side.  Of course, the side with the design is the feature and what makes the grain sack valuable.  Without that, it’s really just a dirty old sack. With the hand painting,

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August 24, 2018 47 Comments
All Things Home

foyer & staircase plans

If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been focusing my home improvement efforts on the main floor of our home over our first year here.  I’ve done a little bit of painting in the basement and worked on the master bedroom (mostly because of our collaboration with Sleep Number), but aside from that, our money, time, and elbow grease have been focused on where we live the most… the kitchen, kitchen eating area, living room, dining room, my office and studio, and soon we’ll be turning our attention to the space that connects it all – the foyer (which also includes the stairs and half bath.) I assure you, my house is not decorated for Christmas!  This is from last December and it’s just the best picture I had of the foyer through the front door! Yes.  It’s too soon. Anyway, here is what it looks like without the garland (that was

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August 23, 2018 48 Comments
All Things Home

a chair back, details, & a dog

Jeff has been on a fishing trip for the past few days, so he gave me a chance to get out of the house today and do a bit of kid-free milling around.  It was so nice to have some unhurried time to myself.  I’ll share what I was shopping for in another post.  In this post, I’ll share some of the details from my kitchen table photo shoot. As I was photographing the new kitchen table, I swayed the camera over a little to get the butler’s pantry, sneak peek of the dining room, and the newly upholstered checked chair all in a shot together.  Some of you have mentioned here and on Instagram that you’re not sure how our first floor is laid out.  In this shot, the kitchen is to the left and that doorway visible in the far left of the frame is to the laundry

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August 21, 2018 64 Comments
All Things Home

fluffing & organizing

I usually blog in “real time”, but I did a slew of projects one right after the other over the past few weeks that I missed a few of the smaller things that happened in between the bigger things.  Giving something a total makeover is the flashy part, but sometimes it’s the little details that follow, the fluffing and organizing, that really make the space sing. After the butler’s pantry makeover, painting the kitchen island, and painting the blue hutch in the dining room, it was time to rearrange some of my ironstone and transferware collection to tidy up these newly-transformed open shelves and to sort through and organize things that were shoved into a cabinet when we moved in.  I’m fine with storing some things to rotate, but I don’t think it does justice to a pretty piece to have it behind closed doors for months or years.  So, I

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August 20, 2018 26 Comments
All Things Home

Gold Rush 2018

This weekend is the big antique event in this corner of the world – Gold Rush!  It’s an antique market that sets up in the entire town of Oronoco, MN and at the Rochester Fair Grounds.  I went last year, but it was raining, so I only experienced a small fraction of the event in Oronoco.  I did get to shop at the Rochester Fair Grounds venue, though, since most of that is indoors.  That’s where I bought this piece last year… This year, I was able to get a friend to watch the boys and I met up with another friend (a Gold Rush veteran) to do some antiquing. The weather was nice this year (or at least not raining), so I was able to see a lot more and get a better feel for the event.  Like most antique markets, this one is a mixed bag.  There is

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August 17, 2018 37 Comments
All Things Home

Wellsworks Furniture Farm Table

Within a couple of weeks of moving into our new house, my mom and I picked up a table and chair set off of craigslist.  The size was perfect and I loved the little scalloped, dotted detail around the apron.  I thought it was the perfect candidate for painting and refinishing and would see our family through the high school years and beyond. But, as it happens with some purchases, this one wasn’t as perfect as it seemed.  The top, that I thought was solid wood, was actually veneer and it was chipping off in a few places.  I thought it was sturdy, but it turned out the table was sagging at the seam where the table opened to allow for leaves.  I painted and refinished it and the top accepted the white wash unevenly, leaving an unsightly stripe down the middle.  I had already spent hours on it and

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August 16, 2018 33 Comments
All Things Home

Laundry Room Makeover | Sources

In case you missed any of the other posts in the Laundry Room Makeover Series, you can catch up here… Part One – Inspiration & Bead Board Installation Part Two – The Reveal Part Three – Tools & Tips In this post, I’ll share sources for everything (well, as much as I can source) and will also talk through the functionality of this space. I must say that organizing the shelves was my favorite part of the makeover.  I love it when things that are useful and hard-working can also look pretty and be out in the open.  It really doesn’t have to be form OR function.  It can be both. So, let’s talk about the shelf over the sink first, since that’s where I put the things I use most.  Because the washer and dryer are so tall, it’s a little hard to reach the cabinets over them without

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August 13, 2018 No 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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