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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

All Things Home

progress in Calvin’s room…

We made some real progress in Calvin’s room the past couple of weeks. As a reminder, we’re transitioning our guest room into a room for our youngest son, Calvin. He’s ready to have everything done right now, but I’ve been trying to teach him that good rooms aren’t rushed together. It’s about collecting just the right items and that can take time. With the addition of a desk, bean bag chair, more masculine bed frame, some navy bedding, and a rug, it’s looking a lot more like a boy’s room, and a pretty cool one at that. One of my favorite pieces, though, is his new nightstand. This room is really small and we needed a small nightstand to fit in the tight space. I was using a stool when it was a guest room, but Calvin needed something a little more substantial. I happened to have a piece in

September 12, 2016 42 Comments

All Things Home

Plantation Shutters for Mom’s Guestroom

If you’ve read my blog for any amount of time, you know that my mom does quite a lot for me. She’s a huge part of how my business even got off the ground (not to mention all of the mom stuff she’s done through the years like diapering, feeding, and sending me to school.) So, when I have a chance to do something nice for her, I like to do it. And this just happened to fall in my lap. I was asked to review blinds or plantation shutters from Blindster and it works out that I knew someone who really wanted plantation shutters for her guest room – my mom. So, we started the process of ordering the shutters. I have to insert that, even as a seasoned DIYer, I was a little intimidated at the thought of measuring and installing plantation shutters. We found that Blindster has extensive

September 7, 2016 35 Comments

a slice of life

farmhouse holiday series | red wine risotto

This year, I was invited to be a part of a farmhouse holiday decor series with an amazing line-up of bloggers, so how could I say no to that?! Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sprinkling in some seasonal farmhouse-style blog posts to (hopefully) inspire our readers. This week’s theme is “farmhouse kitchen and fall recipe”, so I’m sharing a red wine risotto recipe. I’ve shared this before and I’ll share it again that other than Christmas, I don’t do much in the way of seasonal decorating. I might set out a few small pumpkins and some seasonal fruit, but that’s about it. I haven’t gotten to any fall decorating, yet, this year, so these pictures are from last year, just showing how I like to mix in a few fall elements without going overboard. The recipe I’m sharing is very similar to one I first made as

September 6, 2016 9 Comments

All Things Home

30-day watercolor challenge

Hang in there with me while I experience my own personal renaissance! I am just having such a wonderful time allowing my creativity to spill into other mediums. This seems to be what happens to me and I’m going to embrace it fully with a 30-day watercolor challenge. Music and theatre were always my creative outlet when I was younger, but when I finished college and decided not to pursue a career in performing, I needed a new outlet. So, I started working on my home and learned how to sew, paint, and refinish furniture, and became obsessed with all things decorating. I picked up decorative painting when we lived in my in-law’s basement, as Jeff finished his undergrad degree, and I didn’t really have a space to decorate. I picked up cooking and baking when our first townhouse was painted and decorated and I needed something to learn

September 2, 2016 85 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

fall living room

mixing painted pieces in a room

ironstone, linen tea towels, quilts & more

farmhouse holiday series | fall family room

progress in Calvin’s room…

Plantation Shutters for Mom’s Guestroom

farmhouse holiday series | red wine risotto

30-day watercolor challenge

next art sale

August 13th, 2026 at 1pm EST

NEW ONLINE ART COURSE

Paint a Pet Portrait You’ll Love

Now Available

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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tucking in the garden for winter

simple, natural fall mantel | autumn decorating

fall baking with Walmart

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