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All Things Home

All Things Home

how to refinish a kitchen table | part 1

Before we even moved in, before we even knew this house was ours, I knew a new kitchen table would be on our list of furniture to hunt for.  We’ve been using a small pine table, which fit our last house well, but it’s always felt too small for the four of us at meals.  And it was definitely too small for this new space.  So, let me take you on the journey of finding a new table as well as how to refinish a kitchen table. (The current table was buried under there somewhere!) If the kitchen is the heart of the home, the table is heart of the heart.  It’s where the family gathers for meals, homework, crafts, household business, and devotions.  It’s an important piece of furniture and I wanted it to be solid, properly scaled for the room and how our family will use it.  I

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All Things Home

studio transformation | part 1

Believe it or not, we’re not trying to get the entire house completed in two weeks!  We are making a push, though, to get a bunch of big things checked off the to-do list.  One of those big things is painting the studio…all of it.  The walls, the floor, the ceiling, the trim.  Buckets and buckets of paint.  And painting like that is better done with help. But first, this is a room that wasn’t insulated or climate controlled.  That’s just not going to work when it’s 2 degrees outside.  The climate control is coming, but earlier this week, we had it insulated.  The floor and ceiling were both easily accessed, but the walls under the window had to be removed, insulated, and replaced.  This may have been a more advanced DIY project, but we decided to hire it out, so it was done quickly and professionally. The wall on

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All Things Home

craigslist wardrobe score

My parents are here!  They are visiting for two weeks to help with house projects and spend time with us.  We have walls to paint, chandeliers to hang, things to fix, and two birthdays to celebrate.  It’s going to be an exciting couple of weeks. Today, we had a big to-do list, but something came up that we just needed to squeeze into the day.  I had been trying to coordinate the pick-up of an antique pine wardrobe listed on craigslist for several days and it just hadn’t happened.  I finally heard back this morning and it was still available! I knew that an hour trip to pick up the wardrobe might just be asking too much.  Jeff agreed it was a great piece, though, and worth taking the time to get.  He took the van and my dad to pick it up while my mom and I knocked out

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All Things Home

working with your house

Every home has a personality.  It might be quirky, conservative, playful, regal, humble, sleek…  The home brings something to the table.  While there are some homes that need to be stripped to the bones and entirely reworked, most homes just need for you to cooperate with them – let them be what they are and bring out their best qualities. As I’m working on this new home, first of all, I’m falling more in love with it every day.  I was admittedly a little disappointed that buying an old house wasn’t going to happen at this season of life, so this house felt like a compromise.  A really good compromise, but a compromise none-the-less.  As our family and belongings have populated the space, I have come to realize I was selling this home short…misjudging it simply because it was young. One of my wise readers put it well, “All old

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a slice of life

settling in

The past couple of days have been a whirlwind.  We’ve been bringing stuff in from the trucks, cleaning, unpacking boxes, making daily runs to Home Depot, and getting to know the neighbors.  We’ve fallen into bed exhausted each night and creaked out of bed each morning, but multiple times a day, we press the pause button on the crazy and marvel about where we are.  Not just where we are physically, although that’s still a little surreal, but where we are in the journey of this life.  It’s a sweet place and I’m trying to soak it in. On the first day of unloading the truck, we found the box with the painting of Eulalie in it.  I was anxious about how she traveled, so we unpacked the box on the spot.  The painting was in perfect condition.  I carried it right away and leaned it on the mantle in

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All Things Home

but first, toilets

Warning: This post contains pictures of toilets that some readers may find disturbing.  Reader discretion is advised.   If you know me at all, you know I am bursting to break out some paint in this new house!  But I’ve learned from a few moves that a place feels more like home once the toilets are cleaned to my satisfaction. Sooo, before we talk about all of the fun stuff, I’m going to share about these toilets!  Yep.  A whole new house to blog about and we’re talking about toilets. This house has hard water and it’s been vacant for a while, so there was an ugly build-up in all of the toilet bowls and who knows when they last had a good scrubbing.  Our last house had hard water as well, so I learned how to clean it up lickety-split and I thought that would be helpful information for

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All Things Home

sharing my “honey holes” | west & south

Since I am moving out of the South Central PA area, I am sharing some of the shops, co-ops, and antique malls I frequent as I’m getting ready for an antique market or online sale. This isn’t an extensive list of all of the amazing shops in my local area, but these are the ones on my regular shopping circuit.  (I just needed to add that disclaimer, because I know some great shops are left off this list!) I shared those east & north of Gettysburg HERE and today I’m sharing the shops that are west and south… WEST Fayetteville Antique Mall, Fayetteville, PA Fayetteville Antique Mall is a little hard to describe, because it is four different buildings and each one is different.  I like two of the buildings and those are the ones I hit, but I don’t go in the other two, because they are mostly crafts

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All Things Home

sharing my “honey holes” | north & east

First off, thank you so much for all of your comments on my “moving story“.  I especially feel so loved by those in Minnesota who have welcomed our family to your gorgeous state.  We are really looking forward to moving there and I hope to befriend some of you.  I need some shopping buddies and friends for “art dates”! I know you’re all dying to see the house and I’m dying to share it, but I’m going to wait until the keys are in hand and it officially belongs to us.  That is scheduled to happen next week, so it won’t be long. While we’re all waiting, I thought I would share something many people have been asking me to share – my favorite shopping spots in the South Central PA area.  Since I won’t be hitting those up any time soon, I can dish all of the details! I’ll break

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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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May 20th, 2026 at 1pm EST

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