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All Things Home

DIY window valance

Good evening from New York! I spent the better part of the day driving through the rolling hills and small towns of PA and NY and even got to stop in at an antique store and eat dinner at an amazing restaurant, so I can’t complain. Anyway, earlier this week I worked on a valance for the dormer window in Calvin’s room and I thought I would share how to make this simple window treatment… (I’m still figuring out the cord situation in this desk area, so don’t judge!) I started out by cutting a board the width I wanted the valance. In my case, it was the width from one wall to the other, since it’s a dormer window. I just used a scrap board, but a 1 x 2 would be perfect. I then cut a piece of fabric about 3″ longer than the height of the window

September 24, 2016 31 Comments

All Things Home

Furniture for the Family Room & Calvin’s Room

A few days ago, I shared the new arrangement in our family room as well as the progress on Calvin’s room. I said I would give all of the details on the new pieces of furniture and this post is making good on that promise! Now, I admit, furniture stores have never been my thing. Give me a flea market, antique store, thrift shop or yard sale! That’s where most of my pieces have been found and I’m pretty proud of my resourcefulness and ability to make-do. But there are some pieces that can be difficult to find second-hand and it’s also nice to mix in the new with the old to make a home a little more comfortable, functional, or hard-wearing. A few months ago, I rearranged the furniture in my family room to a two-sofa setup in an “L” shape. One sofa was leather and another wore a white

September 23, 2016 117 Comments

All Things Home

dog beds are decor

Before I get into the post today, I wanted to let my readers in the north east know that I’ll be in Palmyra, New York this Saturday (September 24, 2016) for The Purple Painted Lady 6th Annual Festival. (Click the link for details.) I’ll be teaching milk paint demos and answering Q&A’s at 11:00 am and 2:00 pm. I hope to see some of you there! I remember reading a post years ago, written by The Nester. In it, she pointed out that all of the things in our home, in some way, are decor. The stack of library books by the door, the mail on the kitchen counter…all of the stuff of life that we often look over, all contribute to or detract from the overall look of a room. That post made me think about all of the “stuff” in our house in a new way. The answer isn’t

September 22, 2016 53 Comments

All Things Home

farmhouse holiday series | fall dining room

It’s time for another installment of the Farmhouse Holiday Series with some of my blog buddies. And this week, we partnered with All Modern to show you our dining rooms decorated for fall. I remember when I felt like “holiday” colors were locked in. Christmas had to be green and red and fall had to be yellows, oranges, and browns. That is it. And then I vividly remember seeing an article in a magazine, featuring a home decked out for Christmas in pale pink. That article gave me the push I needed to drop traditional colors and decorate for seasons in colors that I love. So, my fall table is my favorite blue and white palette with some greens and a little bit of yellow mixed in. It may not look like fall to some people, but it looks like fall to me!I started with a piece of checked fabric as

September 20, 2016 35 Comments

All Things Home

fall living room

You’re all amazing. I just need to say that. All of your comments in reply to my “things have changed” post were like a huge hug to me. I know that sounds cheesy, but they really were. What’s interesting is that after I posted that, it was such a relief to me and it pushed me through that “stuck” feeling I’ve been struggling through the past few weeks. I took the pressure off of myself and creativity bloomed. Lesson learned. Well, for today, anyway! I’m sure I’ll have to learn it again and again. So, with the creative spurt, I decided to do a little fall sprucing in the living room. Fall decorating for me is just putting a few natural elements out, mixed in with things that are out every day. I used to be someone who had four or five bins of decorations, but I realized it just wasn’t

September 19, 2016 53 Comments

All Things Home

mixing painted pieces in a room

I received an e-mail from one of my readers asking a question I get pretty frequently, so I thought I would write the answer in a post. Here is the question… “How do you decide what color to paint various pieces of furniture in a room. Do you paint each piece a different color or all of them the same. I have several I’d like to paint but can’t decide the colors. I don’t want to end up with a mismatch of colors. Thanks, Virgil” Well, there really isn’t a right or wrong way to mix or match painted pieces, but since I’m being asked, I’ll throw in my two cents in. I am in the eclectic camp when it comes to putting a room together. I think if you paint every single piece of furniture in a room the same color, it can make the room look a little flat,

September 15, 2016 16 Comments

All Things Home

ironstone, linen tea towels, quilts & more

Last week, I set out to find a desk for Calvin’s room in a local antique store and, while I was out, I picked up a few things to list in the online shop. I found a bunch of ironstone – some very pretty tureens were the highlight, but I also got sugar jars, small pitchers, a set of dinner plates, platters, bowls, etc. This one is particularly special, but I have enough “special” tureens and I already swapped out two in this bunch to keep for myself, so I’m letting it go. ..a set of four vintage coffee cups… How cute are they? I’m not a coffee drinker, but I hope this style of coffee cup makes a comeback. I also listed this great breadboard… …and a couple of red and white quilts… … a bunch of heavy linen tea towels from Europe… …as well as another group of hemp

September 14, 2016 8 Comments

All Things Home

farmhouse holiday series | fall family room

In this second installment of the farmhouse holiday series, we’re all sharing our fall family rooms… I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, but I don’t do much in the way of fall decorating. I’ll put out a couple of pumpkins, a bowl of apples, etc. and just leave it at that. In the case of my family room, I just put a mum in a bucket and added a couple of faux pumpkins in a wicker basket tray on the coffee table. It’s just enough to bring an essence of fall to the room without having to bring up bins of decor from the basement. I also put out a bowl of mixed nuts and a nutcracker I picked up on Etsy a couple of years ago. My Oma always had mixed nuts on her coffee table and I like bringing them out for fall and winter

September 13, 2016 40 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

DIY window valance

Furniture for the Family Room & Calvin’s Room

dog beds are decor

farmhouse holiday series | fall dining room

fall living room

mixing painted pieces in a room

ironstone, linen tea towels, quilts & more

farmhouse holiday series | fall family room

next art sale

August 13th, 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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