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All Things Home

All Things Home

Lucketts Spring Market Wish List 2026

I’ve reached that tipping point in my life where I feel like I probably have enough stuff.  No doubt, I passed that point years ago, but hunting for antiques and just the right piece for my house is still so much fun!  I have noticed I walk out of more antique stores empty-handed or with just one thing these days, compared to my piles in the past.  I think this house feels pleasantly full, and I find myself shopping for more art supplies and books than for home decor.  With the Lucketts Spring Market happening in just a few days, though, I can’t help but think about what’s on my wish list. A few years ago, I had an entire notebook filled with sketches, measurements, swatches, and lists!  I was shopping for my studio, our kitchen, and other areas of our new-to-us house.  I must admit, that was pretty fun.

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Antiques

A return to Lucketts Spring Market

Quickly, I wanted to highlight that today (April 28) is the last day to join Pup Club Prints as a founding member and receive the beautiful German Shorthaired Pointer fine art print.  Pup Club Prints is a fine-art snail-mail print club for animal, art, and analog lovers.  It’s just $10/month for a quality 5 x 7 giclee fine art print, and you can cancel at any time.  As an inaugural member, you’ll also be entered to win an original 8 x 10 oil painting (commission) from me.  You can sign up and learn more HERE.   When I moved back to the mid-Atlantic region in 2022, one of the most frequently asked questions was, “Are you going to sell at Lucketts again?”  (If you’re new here, you can head down the Lucketts rabbit hole HERE.)  I was so excited to be close enough to participate in some form or fashion,

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Exterior

April garden notes

Most of my April gardening work has been tidying up the beds, pruning old blooms off the hydrangeas, raking leaves, and weeding.  Oh, the maple saplings and onion grass have been prolific this year, so pulling them out of the beds has been my primary objective.  Instead of spending a couple of long days weeding, I decided to work in small chunks.  Every day, after my morning walk, I put on my gardening boots and gloves and would fill one bucket, sometimes two.  I worked my way around the house in this manner and just finished the last bed last week.  I know from experience that overwhelming projects can be easily completed in bite-sized pieces, but it still always surprises me.  Jeff has been taking the same approach with trimming bushes and hedges.  He also put weed and feed on the lawn and cleaned up along the curb. When we

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All Things Home

styling pet portraits in interiors

I received a question a couple of weeks ago about how to style a pet portrait in a room without it looking like a shrine to your dog, cat, hamster, or horse.  Good question!  I’m so glad you asked.  Let’s talk about animal art in interiors and how to make it work with your decorating. First of all, let me say that there really aren’t rules when it comes to style, art, decorating, or aesthetics.  I mean, there are rules (like the rule of thirds, the golden mean, complementary colors, etc.), but people break them all the time with outstanding results.  There are always exceptions.  Hang a portrait of your dog in any room of your house in any way you want.  But, since the question was asked, I will offer some practical tips and lend my opinion on the matter. This first picture is of animal portraits currently hanging

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All Things Home

madame mére

I finished yesterday’s post about the Uffizi portrait gallery with a bit of a cliffhanger.  I didn’t include the setting, though.  This was at Isle of Palms a few weeks ago.  Several extended family members live near Charleston, so we visit them (or they visit us) while we’re there.  So, my aunt interrupted my story about people walking right past a Rembrandt with an intriguing offer.  “If you love portraits, I have a proposition for you.”  Now, I had no idea where she was going with this start.  Maybe she had a portrait to show me or had a question or request.  I wasn’t left in suspense for long.  She started telling me about a few antique oil portraits she had in a closet, and she wanted to pass them along to someone who would love them.  She also offered some details about the size, age, and subject of the

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All Things Home

Kim’s Coastal Bedroom Twin | room makeover

Every once in a while, I get to see how something I share on my blog inspires someone else.  Most of the time, it’s just me at my laptop, pressing publish and receiving a handful of comments as feedback.  Over a year ago, though, I received an e-mail from one of my blog readers, Barbara, who was so in love with my design for my parents’ bedroom that she decided to replicate it in her own home.  She reached out a few times to ask questions and get clarification on sources or measurements for the built-ins my dad and I built, and then, a few months ago, she sent the final result. As a reminder, here are a few photos of my parents’ room makeover… As a reminder, here is what my parents’ bedroom looks like.  You can find links to all of the posts about this room makeover here…

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All Things Home

Christmas Kitchen 2025

I’m squeezing in the last room decorated for Christmas just before Christmas Eve.  When I started sharing Christmas content in November, it felt really early, but now I remember why I do!  I end up crunched for time in the last week and don’t have the time to share everything I had planned.  Sadly, I have a few project ideas that I didn’t photograph.  Those will get kicked to next year.  Anyway, I wanted to show you how the kitchen looks this year.  In most ways, it’s very similar to how I’ve decorated this room for Christmas the last few years, but I always make a few small adjustments. Before we get into the pictures, I wanted to share a dose of reality.  A woman from our church asked me this week how I keep my house so pristine all the time.  I had to smile and reveal the secret. 

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All Things Home

Christmas dining room 2025

I wasn’t sure I’d get my dining room decorated before Christmas this year, but I took some time Friday morning to finish it up and photograph it.  Until then, the tree was up, but I was using the table and corners for incoming packages, storing bins of decor as I worked on other rooms, and wrapping presents.  So, I tidied up the mess and finished decorating.  We have our Christmas brunch in this room, so it’s nice to have it ready! velvet curtains | curtain rod | rug | tablecloth | pillows | mural details To add a seasonal touch up high, I put a faux pine garland mixed with an eucalyptus garland on top of the antique cabinet.  To me, it’s an easy surface to decorate that doesn’t interfere with functionality and is well out of reach of the cats. velvet curtains | curtain rod | rug | pillows

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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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May 20th, 2026 at 1pm EST

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