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All Things Home

All Things Home

all the pretty things

There have been so many things coming into the studio lately that it’s been impossible for me to photograph each one, so I thought I would go around the “Lucketts staging area” and snap a few pictures. I found this old lineberry cart on Craigslist, of all places!  We just cleaned it up and applied a coat of Hemp Oil to bring out the richness of the wood. You can also see some of the beautiful baskets I’ve been collecting here and there. A reader sold me her collection of vintage bakeware… …and I finally found an old chicken feeder to use for displaying random plates and lids. I also acquired an awesome blue scale… …a rolling wire rack, chippy painted basket, a little wooden stool… …lots of glass cloches in varying sizes… …this cool antique fan… …wooden spindles, buckets, rolling carts and stoneware bowls… …rolling pins, mashers, wooden spoons,

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All Things Home

the green double wash basin

I know my fellow antique hunters will understand when I say “you know it when you find it.” I’ve been hunting for a double wash basin for about a year and, while I have found several of them, I never found one that was just right. Just the right price, just the right color, right shape, right everything. Well, I spotted this one and I felt that rush that happens when “you know it.” It’s just the prettiest shade of green and I love the detail on the front of the basins, the angle of the legs, the little casters… I even like the little spigots! …and, of course, the zinc basins. I decided to roll the wash basin across our parking lot to have a little photo shoot in front of the old mill that is basically condemned, but makes an awesome backdrop for me!   All of the accessories on

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All Things Home

decorating dilemma update | sarah’s fireside room

Do you remember Sarah’s fireplace room?  We talked about it originally back in August and then I gave you an update on her progress in December.  Last week, she checked in with me again to share their progress. Like most real, non-TV makeovers, Sarah is working on the makeover project-by-project, slowly over time, as life and budget allows.  In her e-mail to me, she shared this, “…sometimes I feel like everyone else is flying past us. We do everything ourselves and usually get our materials second hand. I read a couple of weeks ago that it took you seven years to get your kitchen the way it is and I got teary eyed. I understand that endurance.” It does sometime get tiring when a makeover is a marathon and you wish you could just beam yourself to the finished room…sit in it and have your tea and enjoy the glorious done-ness of

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All Things Home

back at the house & JAK Camera Strap Giveaway

There has been a lot of activity at the studio and things have been pretty quiet at my house.  I did rearrange the family room a few weeks ago, but otherwise, my house is just my house, which is a big change from how it was a couple of years ago. If I was at this stage of getting ready for Lucketts, I would have things piled up in my dining room, pieces in every corner of my basement and I would be hauling furniture up to my family room for quick photo shoots before I rearranged the furniture back in place by the end of the day. I realize I’m enjoying my house much more as just a home, not a place of business AND a home. Anyway, after living with the new arrangement for a couple of weeks, I am totally sold on it.  I still have a lot

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All Things Home

the zinc-topped table goes home…

I’m starting to wonder what I posted about before I had all of these furniture makeovers… Today, we’ll take a break from the before & afters and I’ll tell a little story about a table with rickety, uneven legs. He had one thing that made him really special, though – something that kept him from being a run-of-the-mill old table.  He wore a zinc top that had a perfect patina. The problem was not one of his legs was the same size as another, so he sat at a wonky angle and, even though I tried to sell this table, no one wanted him. So, I took him back to the studio and gave him a little TLC.  I sealed the chipping, flaking paint with Tough Coat… …evened out the legs and added little casters to the bottom… You can read the full makeover post HERE.   He looked so much

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All Things Home

the easiest furniture makeover ever

I spotted this piece on craigslist and I knew, despite the missing knob and dry finish, that it was a real gem. Painting is my natural tendency, but this piece spoke to me loud and clear…  I just need a drink!  (Not that kind of drink. Although, I have heard of using vodka to clean stinky furniture, but I’ve never personally tried that one!) What it needed was hydration. The old finish had worn away, leaving the pretty old wood looking faded and tired.  The top had quite a few water rings and marks, so I thought it might need to be sanded, but I was concerned about losing the patina this piece has earned over more than a century.  I decided to rub a corner of the top with Hemp Oil and it woke up! Well, good morning, handsome. Some of the rings and marks would still show through, but I didn’t

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All Things Home

the wood wardrobe with the painted interior

I know that some of you probably think I paint everything.  I will paint my mother, if she will just hold still long enough!  Well, that’s not at all true.  While paint is “my thing”, I really appreciate beautiful wood, too. When I acquired this old wardrobe off of craigslist, I wasn’t sure if I would paint it or not, but when I saw it in person, I decided against it.  The wood just has a pretty grain pattern, warmth and it was in good condition.  Most wood pieces I purchase have issues with the finish, so painting is the best route. This one just needed a little bit of help.  I felt like it would benefit from installing shelves and painting the interior. I painted it in two coats of MMSMP Mora… (Here it is after the first coat.) My dad installed the shelves, similar to the way he installed

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All Things Home

the cleaning cart turned kitchen cart…

So, I was trolling craigslist one night and ran a search for “industrial” in the general “for sale” category and I spotted two of these industrial cleaning carts for sale… I closed the listing, dismissing it, and kept clicking around, but those carts stuck in my mind.  There was something about the shape of them…  AND they were dirt cheap.  Cheap enough that it was worth the gamble, even if it seemed a little nutty. I sent the listing along to my dad and he delivered them a couple of weeks ago to my studio.  When he drove up with them in the back of the truck, I realized they were much larger than I anticipated.  Carts that I thought would be about waist high were almost up to my shoulder! The gigantic wheels were cool in their own way, but not right for what I had in mind and

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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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