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a slice of life

annoying project day

I’m sure I am not alone with it comes to not quite finishing some of the more annoying and easily overlooked parts of a DIY project. When I am really focused and disciplined, I’ll pin myself down and force myself to finish that last bit of painting or put in that final piece of shoe molding. But there are other times that I want to move onto to something higher impact than installing a small piece of quarter-round that’s hidden behind a door or painting the 1 1/2″ strip of trim around the screen door. There are a couple of larger, alluring projects I’m excited to start working on, so I decided to use those as an incentive to finish some of the annoying things that have been languishing on my to-do list. I can’t start something new until I completely finish those projects. I called it my “annoying project

July 31, 2018 34 Comments

All Things Home

dining table makeover

Independent of one another, two of my friends from church asked me if I could give them advice on refinishing a table. It occurred to me that I have a table I want to refinish, too, so why not make a day of it and refinished all of the tables together? Projects are always more fun when fellowship is involved and, as an added bonus, we have boys who are the same age and they could play together while we worked. Projects are also more fun with the kiddos are occupied and happy! Since I was working with friends on their tables as well as my own, I didn’t take the time to do a tutorial for this one, but I’ll share links to tutorials I’ve written in the past when I used the same techniques. Here is the table before… It wasn’t in bad shape, but it had a

July 30, 2018 42 Comments

All Things Home

mid-summer garden update

It’s been a few weeks since our front garden overhaul, so I thought I would give an update! First of all, everything has been a success so far. Everything is growing well and I’m enjoying checking on all of my flowers and bushes in the evenings to water, deadhead the petunias, pull weeds (although there aren’t many popping up), etc. Here is how the garden looked back in early April… And how it looks now… I can even see how much our grass has improved. It took a beating this winter from Sebastian’s pee and sidewalk salt to melt the ice. Jeff’s really been working on it this spring and summer (thatching, aerating, spreading weed & seed and lawn fertilizer, etc). It’s nice to see his hard work paying off. I found the Annabelle Hydrangeas late in the season, so they were on sale and I was able to buy

July 28, 2018 73 Comments

All Things Home

summer bed & fluffy towels

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by . As always, all opinions expressed are honest and my own. We had a late spring here in Minnesota, but summer is definitely here now. It was officially signaled by the fact that we finally kicked off our down comforter in the middle of the night. I am always eager to bring it out each fall and am reluctant to put it away when the weather warms. This year, though, it wasn’t a sad day when I folded up the thick feather decker for the summer, because now we have a from to replace it. It is the perfect weight to offer the coziness I like, but it’s breathable and light enough that we don’t wake up sweating under it. So I don’t add more bulk, I didn’t put it in a cover, but sandwiched it between the sheets and our quilt. Before I

July 26, 2018 27 Comments

All Things Home

making an “antique” hook rail

I think one of the hardest areas in a house to keep clean and tidy, aside from the kitchen and bathrooms, is the foyer. It’s natural to walk in and dump everything that your carrying, kick off your shoes, and then go about your business. Our foyer, even though it’s two stories, is relatively small as far as square footage on the floor is concerned. There is just a small space by the door and, of course, a pile of shoes quickly collects there and it gets even more out of control over the winter with all of the wet and salty boots! There also wasn’t a place to hang purses, coats, hats, and Sebastian’s leash, so the doorknobs in the foyer (to my office and the coat closet) were always engaged as hangers for those items. I’ve been looking around for an antique-style hook rail that would fit next

July 25, 2018 37 Comments

All Things Home

kitchen table end chairs

I have a soft spot for antique chairs and I have bought many over the years. The majority of the chairs in our home are old. I have learned, though, that when it comes to the chairs our family sits in every day for meals, it’s nice to go with chairs that aren’t petite in scale and potentially rickety. The use of “decorative chairs” in our house over the years has become a joke in our family. Recently, I told Jeff I passed up a $6.00 French-style upholstered chair at a thrift store and his reply was, “Why? Was it actually comfortable and you could sit in it?” Okay, okay. I earned that, but I’ve gotten much better at making sure you can sit in all of the chairs in our house. Anyway, in addition to having sturdy chairs, I also wanted ones that were relatively comfortable, with padded seats

July 23, 2018 32 Comments

All Things Home

milk paint mural tutorial

One of the reasons I decided to DIY my own dining room mural was so I could share how to do it with others. Well, I realized about 10 minutes into it that I was totally flying by the seat of my pants and I didn’t know if it would even look good in the end! It’s hard to teach something when I’m just making it up as I go. This project had been on my mind for a few months, but I kept dragging my feet on actually starting it. As I would begin to formulate a plan and gather colors, memories of a failed attempt at a chinoiserie mural haunted me and intimidated me. Years ago, pre-blog, I decided to paint a white-on-blue chinoiserie-style (sort of an asian toile) mural in our master bedroom. I knew just how I wanted it to look in my head. Jeff was

July 19, 2018 32 Comments

All Things Home

“boxwood” recipe & glass hardware

I had in mind just the color of green I wanted for the kitchen island and butler’s pantry – the color Boxwood I developed for the MMS Milk Paint line. Of course, it goes beautifully with my color palette, because I created it! I looked through four different paint decks and didn’t find a perfect match, so I decided to have it color-matched in order to get it just right. I brushed Boxwood on a piece of wood and left it unfinished, so it would be a true representation of the color. The picture didn’t capture it very well, because of the light and the end grain of the wood, but the color match was perfect. It did still take a bit of courage to brush it onto the cabinetry, since it’s such a bold color, but I knew it would be just the pop this space needed. So, if

July 18, 2018 65 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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All Things Home

annoying project day

dining table makeover

mid-summer garden update

summer bed & fluffy towels

making an “antique” hook rail

kitchen table end chairs

milk paint mural tutorial

“boxwood” recipe & glass hardware

next art sale

May 20th, 2026 at 1pm EST

Now Available for Preorder

Move Slow & Make Things

From the Studio

Artful pieces for your home and everyday life.

From the Studio and Home

Shop the Feed

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