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All Things Home

All Things Home

Giving an antique whirligig a makeover

 A few months ago, I decided to check out an antique store I hadn’t been to in a while – the Fayetteville Antique Mall in Fayetteville, PA.  I used to go there regularly when we lived in PA, but I noticed more vendors were leaving over and the quality of the merchandise was going downhill.  But, I’ve learned with antique malls that it’s always worth checking it out.  Even one or two new vendors that carry things I like can make a place worth visiting.  Well, they have really stepped up their game since I was last there.  There were more vendors with quality antique pieces.  The store was tidier and more pleasant to shop.  I bought a nice collection of things and liked many pieces that I just didn’t have the right spot for.  I’ll definitely make regular visits!  Anyway, one of the things I bought was this antique

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All Things Home

two antique watercolor boxes

We’re going back to April when I first took these pictures and started this post-draft.  You see, my birthday is in April and, even though I just turned 46, I still celebrate my birthday like I did as a teenager.  It’s not just my birthday, but my birthday month which means I can splurge on a few things and buy goodies I happen to come across in very specific searches on Etsy.  It means treats, gifts, cards, and well-wishes are welcomed the entire month of April.  I’ve already shared a few things I bought with my birthday money or received for my birthday as well as some treats I bought for myself, but there are two more things I haven’t shared yet.  I found both of them at the end of March and bought them in anticipation of my birthday month.  They are both antique art supplies, which probably doesn’t

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1970 home renovation

Landscape Mural Design & Colors

I’m getting things lined up to start “dining room mural take two.”  I painted the mural in my last dining room with very little planning.  I just had an idea in my head and used MMS Milk Paint and some acrylics that I had on hand.  I was just going to throw the paint on the wall to see how it worked.  It’s just paint after all and I could always paint over if it wasn’t working.  I kept it very loose, drippy, watery, and light, so I was able to finish it in just a couple of days. For this mural, I decided to use Farrow & Ball paints so there is cohesion with the paint colors (Light Blue and Card Room Green) used in adjoining rooms.  I also like the idea of having a palette of colors instead of mixing my own colors.  I’m sure some amount of

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All Things Home

dining room curtain options

Last week, I shared inspiration and some plans for our dining room.  You can find that post HERE.  In this post, I wanted to share the fabrics and colors I considered for the curtains and which one I selected. We have already had these windows replaced, but I’ve been waiting to nail down the curtains until I figured out what I wanted to do on the walls.  This room is a game of dominoes and I have been hesitant to commit to knocking the first one down.  It’s easier to paint before hanging curtains and I obviously want the paint and curtains to make sense together, but I need to paint the ceiling before I paint the walls… You can see how this goes. Full-length curtains will add so much to this space, though, so I can’t wait to get them done.  They’ll frame out the window and visually give

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All Things Home

my favorite weeding tools

The most overwhelming part of working on this yard has been getting the weeds under control.  Having lived in two other homes with yards, I know that’s always the overwhelming part of a yard and I’m sure you would agree.  Once they are permitted to run amuck, it takes a while to get things turned around.  The yard was tended before we bought it but the woman of the house, who was an avid gardener, hadn’t been able to work in the garden as much as she did in her younger days.  The weeds got even more out of control when we were focusing on the interior of the house and just did basic maintenance in the yard.  I’ve been slowly working on the weedy areas, bit by bit, to try to get the overrun beds under control and then keep the places I’ve worked on maintained I’ve had to

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All Things Home

Kim’s Coastal Bedroom Updated

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you might remember I worked with my parents on a makeover of their bedroom.  You can find the reveal of that bedroom makeover HERE and there are more detailed links at the bottom of the post.    It was such a fun project and they loved the result.  They have loved it so much that they have hardly changed a thing since the day of the reveal.  Here is how it looked when I shared it… They swapped out the bedspread because it had been washed a lot over the years and they were looking into getting a new rug.  This one has held up well for a woven cotton rug, but it was a little hard to clean spills and stains.  It was the one thing in the room that was looking a little tired. When my parents came over

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1970 home renovation

dining room inspiration & plans

While the walls of our dining room are still only primed, I’ve been giving it a lot of thought lately and would like to start making some progress on it over the next few weeks.  It would be very nice to have it done before the holidays.  If it makes you feel any better about undone projects, these walls have been wearing primer for over a year and I have felt a little paralyzed about getting started on this room.  I don’t usually drag my feet so long when it comes to painting a room, but I have waffled about what I want to do with this space. With our last dining room, I sort of plowed forward, starting a hand-painted mural one morning in my pajamas.  It’s still one of my favorite rooms and was completed on gut instinct and whim.  Instead of continuing to overthink, I just need

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All Things Home

summer obsessions with Walmart

This post is sponsored by Walmart.  As always, all words and opinions expressed in this post are honest and my own. With the pool completely finished and opened, landscaping underway, a new fence, and a furnished patio, we have thoroughly been enjoying our backyard this summer.  It truly is an oasis and we’ve loved using it ourselves as well as having friends and family over to enjoy the pool and relaxing environment.  As I’ve shared before, many of the items used in our outdoor space are from Walmart and we’ve added a few new things that have become summer essentials.  I love that Walmart carries reliable summer staples like patio umbrellas and comfy swivel chairs and trendy items like water-resistant Bluetooth speakers and tabletop “bonfire” stoves. So, in this post, I want to highlight a few of my favorite summer essentials from Walmart. The first one is my favorite new

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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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