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All Things Home

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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All Things Home

decorating dilemma | wonky windows & neutral blahs

In this decorating dilemma post, we’re actually dealing with two issues… I know the first one is very common…  getting stuck in the world of neutral blahs.  We’ll circle back to that one in a minute. The second dilemma is a less common, but I’m sure many of you can still relate.  I know I can! You look at a home and fall in love with the cathedral ceilings and the alcove with the arched window.  And then you move in and get settled and realize you have absolutely no clue how you’re going to make window treatments work in that space.  A space that is so unique that you can’t buy off-the-shelf window treatments for it.  So, you’re watching TV with a beam of sunlight coming through that beautiful arch right into your eyes. source unknown So, we’re going to address these two issues in Kim’s space today. Here

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All Things Home

Megan’s office makeover | slipcovered armchair

If you saw the Craig’s List wardrobe makeover yesterday, you caught a peek at the slipcovered armchair… As I’ve shared before, sewing is not my very favorite thing ever in the world to do.  I do it out of necessity, thriftiness, and the desire to customize. Such is the case with slipcovers.  Unless I wanted to eat up our entire budget having this chair professionally slipcovered, I needed to do it myself in order to give Megan a cute and comfy armchair for her office. I got it done, but I did drag my feet.  This chair was staring me down for a while.  I told Megan that and she said she was glad it was staring someone else down for a change! I know how that is.  Something languishes in your stash and you know it can be really great, but you just don’t want to deal with it.

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All Things Home

Megan’s office makeover | Craig’s List Wardrobe Reveal

After lots and lots of painting, the Craig’s List wardrobe we found for Megan’s office makeover is finished! And, here she is.  The beast herself… Megan came to the studio yesterday to help us with the final coat of green on the outside (a custom mix of MMS Milk Paint in Boxwood, Lucketts Green and Mustard Seed Yellow) and the interior in Linen. Kriste and Megan also worked on cutting and hemming the curtains.  We’re just going to hang them on clips, so they just needed a double hem on three sides.  We’re going to hem the bottom in the room, once the curtains are hanging, so they hit the floor at the perfect height. This morning, my dad came over and installed some shelves in it, so it can be functional for storage. He screwed 1 x 2 supports along the back and some scrap pieces of wood on

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All Things Home

Pottery Barn Inspired Rustic Paint Finish

I’m often asked by readers and customers how to recreate a specific look they like on an inspiration piece.  So, when Jeff and I built a trunk-style coffee table for HGTV.com, one inspired by a Pottery Barn trunk, I decided to try to replicate the finish as well. I came up with a look that’s pretty darn close, so I thought I would share how I achieved it… Here’s the inspiration coffee table from Pottery Barn… …and the one we made… …and a closer look at the finish… Can you believe that’s new wood? I was able to make the wood look older by beating it up, followed by a coat of Dark Walnut stain, a light coat of MMS Milk Paint in Lucketts Green, followed by distressing, and finished with Antiquing Wax. Here’s a quick video showing exactly what I did at each step… You can find the tutorial for how

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All Things Home

Megan’s office makeover | part 6 | the craig’s list wardrobe

When I met with Megan initially about her space, she was really leaning towards built-ins for storage.  Something similar to the ones in our home office, with a desk, lower cabinets and upper cabinets.  As I thought through the space and how she uses it, I felt like a large cabinet would be more functional for her.  We talked about it and agreed.  It was not only more economical, but it would ultimately address her storage needs better. I immediately started scouring Craig’s List and checked out a few local antique stores.  I found a perfect wardrobe with a bead board back and everything, just like the one I sketched out in the plan.  My dad sent the owners an e-mail to see if it was still available.  A couple of weeks passed and we hadn’t heard anything, so I moved on. Bummer! I kept looking and didn’t find anything close.

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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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