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All Things Home

All Things Home

farmhouse-style dog bed cover

Earlier this week, I took some time to design and make a dog bed cover for a freelance project.  I’ve been doing a lot of desk work lately and not a lot of making, so it was nice to get on the floor, cut & stitch, and see flat fabric take some shape. I used an old tablecloth and some mattress ticking, both from my stash, to make the cover that fit over a standard size inexpensive dog bed.  I come up with some of my favorite projects when I’m just winging it as I go and that was definitely the case with this one! This one was simple, but I think it looks a bit fancier because of the two different fabrics and the addition of the ties.  It really is just an oversize pillowcase, though! Sebastian plopped on it right away, but he kept facing the wrong direction, walking over

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All Things Home

recent finds – quilts, ironstone & more…

When I was out shopping on Saturday, the main purpose was getting out of the house and away from the studio, but I was also hoping to find things to list in the online shop. I usually find a quilt every now and then.  Maybe a few each year.  This shopping trip, though, I found three quilts!  It was just my day when it came to finding pretty quilts at decent prices. I have always loved “penny” quilts and I found a lovely red-work one along with this sweet, colorful patchwork quilt. Both are in nice, useable condition.  The third one is in the washing machine as I type this.  It was a little dirty, so I wanted to wash it before selling it.  It’s a very pale, almost imperceptible, blue on cream pattern and it’s a gorgeous piece. Of course, I picked up some ironstone as well.  This pitcher

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All Things Home

the great debate | to paint or not to paint

Right off the bat, let me say that I don’t ever mind my readers sharing their opinions here.  Unless someone is being downright nasty on a personal level, which is rare, it doesn’t bother me if someone disagrees with a decorating decision I make or they don’t like something I made, bought, etc.  If ever I do feel ruffled, I figure that I probably wouldn’t like every single decorating decision they make, either, and that makes me smile.  We’re all different and that’s okay. I’ve grown a relatively thick skin over the years and sometimes even find the constructive critiques to be very helpful and thought provoking.  Sometimes they change my mind and sometimes they make me even more certain of my decision. All of the varying opinions shared on my newly acquired art cabinet made me think about the process of deciding if a piece should be painted.  Well, maybe not

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All Things Home

antique “art cabinet”

I have been pushing towards a few deadlines over the last several weeks and, while it’s all been fun work, I was really ready for a change of pace!  Jeff gave me a chance to get away on Saturday, so I went on a trek to HomeGoods and to a local antique shop.  I am almost always shopping for things to sell and I did some of that on this trip, but I also took some time to shop for myself. And I found this awesome piece… It’s an antique cabinet, obviously handmade, probably a piece some guy built for tool storage or something. It’s been well used and worn over the years, but I find all of the rough edges very endearing. And, what pushed it over the top for me is that it’s perfectly sized to store art supplies. The cubbies are long enough for brushes, pads of paper, palettes, and finished works.

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All Things Home

progress on the “deconstructed chair”

This is possibly one of the longest chair makeovers ever. I’m working on it in 10-15 minutes increments as time allows, which is not my usual style.  One reason I am so productive is that I knock things out pretty quickly and all in one shot.  The season of cranking pieces out one after the other will come again, but it’s just not right now. So, this is where the “deconstructed chair” (that is no longer going to be a deconstructed chair) looked like the last time I shared it with you… Last week, I took some time to staple on the decking (the piece of fabric under the seat cushion) and then the bottom of the back and sides. Those steps really fixed some of the pulling issues and wonkiness, but there is still a little slack on the left side, but I have now learned that lightweight antique linen layered

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All Things Home

using & caring for silver every day

A couple of years ago, I decided I wasn’t going to keep my pretty things hidden in cabinets and drawers.  I was going to either use them or let them go.  Since I didn’t want to get rid of it, I decided I would use the silver pattern I inherited from my mom, Oma, and both great-grandmothers as our everyday flatware.  Since I’m often asked I thought I would share about using and caring for silver every day. There are moments when I cringe at how expensive each piece is, but then I remember that is all the more reason to use it. We use it just like any other flatware, but we do have two “rules”. #1 | Using & caring for silver every day | We wash it by hand most of the time.   It can go in the dishwasher, but there is some debate as to whether

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All Things Home

how to upholster a broken cane-back chair…

…because you know you wanted to do that at some point in time, right?  Top Google search -“How to upholster a broken cane-back chair?”  Well, here is your answer! So, the chair itself isn’t broken, but the cane back is.  It’s actually missing entirely, but that qualifies as broken in my book.  So, here is how to upholster a broken cane-back chair. I bought this chair quite a while ago and Kriste commandeered it from the stash to use as her desk chair.  Well, our stash is very thin and my back was killing me perched on a stool all day, so I commandeered the chair from her.  Clearly I need to go desk chair shopping if we have two people who need to sit and only one proper desk chair. So, I’ll do that. Until then, I needed to take a break from sitting at a desk, so I decided

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All Things Home

$100 craigslist drafting table

I have realized that as my work changes, my workspace needs to change, too.  When I work on furniture and photoshoots, I rarely sit at a desk or work table.  I’m usually crawling around on the floor or scooting around on one of our wheely stools.  I’m in a season right now, though, where a lot of my work involves sitting, painting, sketching, and writing.  I’ve been spread out over one of our workshop tables, but it is a pretty impractical workspace.  I also get this beautiful natural light in the studio and I was set up away from the windows.  I’ve needed to set up a proper workspace for a while and I finally got the push I needed when this antique drafting table crossed my path… I found it on Craigslist for $125 and my dad negotiated the seller down to $100 and, as always, he picked it

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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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