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All Things Home

All Things Home

living with raw wood floors

Back in November of last year, I had finally worked up the DIY gumption to sand down the oak hardwood floors in the front of our house.  Once the work was all done, I decided to live with raw wood floors for a while. The polyurethane finish I had applied only a few years earlier was peeling off, taking the dark stain along with it.  I could literally peel it up in sheets with my fingers…like cheap nail polish, which might be fun when you’re 13 and bored in algebra, but it’s not fun when you’re an adult and it’s happening to your floor. I knew it would be a miserable, dusty, messy, move-all-of-the-furniture, kind of job, but I talked Jeff into it and we got it done.    I had no idea what finish I was going to apply, so I decided to move the furniture back and wait until

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All Things Home

repurposed pram

Do you remember that baby pram I shared last week? Well, now it’s a side table! I spot these pretty carriages/prams regularly while I’m out shopping and they always tug at my heart.  Those wheels, the craftsmanship, the generations of babies that may have been pushed in them.  I almost always have to stop a minute and appreciate them, but I never buy them. The reason is that they aren’t functional at all!  What in the world is the average person going to do with it in their home unless they have a doll collection to display.  I’ve tried to think of practical uses for them, but I’ve never come up with one. A funny little story…  a few years ago, someone gave me a beautiful 1950’s navy blue and chrome pram that was in almost mint condition.   I was so in love with it, but I didn’t know what

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All Things Home

papier mache horse makeover

You may have noticed that I have a bit of a thing for toy/rocking horses… I don’t find them very often (at a price I can afford), but I get very giddy about them when I do. When Kriste and I were shopping for The Market on Chapel Hill earlier this week, I spotted this one…     I loved the wooden legs and I thought the shape was pretty.  I originally thought it was made of plastic, but Kriste pointed out it was papier mache. I didn’t mind at all that it was missing the base.  It reminded me a bit of an antique horse I spotted in Prairie Style magazine…   The red wasn’t working for me, though.  After some amount of debate with myself, I decided to paint over the red in MMS Milk Paint French Enamel.     The paint looked a little too fresh against the

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All Things Home

Workbench Revamp

 Remember the workbench I revamped for Lucketts? I loved how it turned out and have since been on the lookout for humble handmade workbenches that others might overlook. When I was shopping last week, I found this… I dismissed it at first, because it’s a little clumsy, but in the end, the finger-hold handles won me over.  I paid about $100 for it. I added the steel wheels to make it a little taller and more mobile.  I’m keeping this piece for the studio for now and we have just about everything on casters or sliders.  They somehow make the piece look a little softer, even. The top was a little boring and I didn’t want to just paint it, so I added some antique wood lath strips to the top.  These are from the same bundle I used for my potting bench.  I tacked them in with a brad nailer

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All Things Home

new cabinet with old doors

My first year as a vendor at the Lucketts Spring Market was quite the experience.  It started raining Saturday afternoon and didn’t let up until Sunday afternoon.  Everyone was soaked, booths were waterlogged and it was pretty much misery. Sunday afternoon, though, the rain stopped and I had the opportunity to check out some other booths and score some real bargains.  One of those bargains was a pair of glass doors with wood frames and really cool latches.  I paid $40 for the pair. They hung for years in my dining room, flanking the archway that leads to the home office.  (I couldn’t find a better picture of them hanging in the dining room, but you can see them on the right.) When we refinished the floors, took down the curtains and generally lightened things up, I removed the doors and kept them in my basement.  My “rule” is to not keep

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All Things Home

hanging signs & a few more finds

I hope everyone had a wonderful three day weekend!  Despite fighting off a cold towards the end of it, mine was pretty good.  The boys are playing football this year and had their first game, which was so fun to watch.  They both played well and we were proud, cheering parents.  My parents kept the boys most of Sunday and Monday, so Jeff and I could finish a freelance building project and I can’t wait to show it to you.  I’ll start painting it tomorrow and will snap some pictures. Until then, I thought I would share a few more of my recent finds. I couldn’t pass up this old real estate sign… Chester W. Robbins?  How cute is that? To hang it, I installed a couple of d-rings on the back, top corners… …and strung a piece of picture wire between the two rings, winding the ends to secure them.

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All Things Home

dear reader | to the one who’s afraid of color

Dear reader, I understand this one. You’ve been burned by colors before.  You tried to take a walk on the wild side and ended up wasting a day and a gallon of paint and all so your walls can look like the side of a school bus.  And your disappointed.  So, you have to spend another day and another gallon of paint to get things back to a comfortable, safe beige or white. Or perhaps you were talked into a colorful upholstered piece or a rug and you ended up with buyer’s regret.  And now the only question is which shade of brown… So now, your world is neutral.  Beige, brown and white.  And it’s not because you love neutrals, layered with rich textures, curated with a discerning eye.  It’s because you’re afraid to pick anything else. How can you end up with a home you love when you’re making decisions like that? So,

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All Things Home

finds for the chapel & save the date

Soooo, my next big event is less than a month away and I really need to get myself in gear to get ready for it! The event that is coming up is the Market on Chapel Hill, formerly known as the Chapel Market.  It’s held in the same place, Pike Road, Alabama, in the sweet little chapel on the hill at The Waters.  It’s on Saturday, October 3, 2015 starting at 9:00 am.  This is the third year of the market and it’s always such a wonderful time and well worth the drive for us.  Many of the old vendors will be there along with some more new ones this year.  I hope those who are in the area can make it! Now that I’m feeling a sense of urgency, I did go shopping yesterday to try to find some things for the sale.  I didn’t find a ton of

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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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