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Decorating

Getting a Tree & Style Update

Today we went to pick out our Christmas tree at the local tree farm where we have bought our trees for the past few years.  It was a chilly day, so we strolled through the open barn looking over the lineup of 8 ft+ trees.  One caught my eye.  It was tall and looked perfect.  Confident in my ability to pick out an amazing tree, I went over to buy some garland while the tree I selected in about 10 seconds was wrapped and strapped to the top of our van.  When we got home, my husband trimmed the lower branches and we put it in the stand and put it in place. Hm.  It looked a bit thinner than I remembered and there were some big holes in the shape of it.  Plus, the branches point more up than out.  Did I really pick that tree?!   Yep.  I did.  Well,

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December 8, 2013 54 Comments
Tutorials

missmustardseed-19 (640×352)

I finished painting, staining and slip covering the four Craig’s List chairs for the dining room a fewweeks ago and have been on the hunt for chairs to use for the ends of the table.  As it happens, I’ve had two other French cane chairs that are almost identical to the Craig’s List ones in my basement stash.  I bought them at Lucketts for $50/each, but haven’t been excited to work on them.  The seats on both of them are broken and I wasn’t sure how to deal with that.  The caning isn’t in sheets, but hand done, so I wasn’t about to try repairing the cane!  So, they’ve been sitting in my basement for over two years.  The ones I bought off Craig’s List had pretty good seats, but at some point, an upholstered seat was made for them, so I used that as my inspiration for “fixing” these

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December 6, 2013 27 Comments
Furniture Makeovers

“fixing” a broken cane seat

I finished painting, staining and slip covering the four Craig’s List chairs for the dining room a fewweeks ago and have been on the hunt for chairs to use for the ends of the table.  As it happens, I’ve had two other French cane chairs that are almost identical to the Craig’s List ones in my basement stash.  I bought them at Lucketts for $50/each, but haven’t been excited to work on them.  The seats on both of them are broken and I wasn’t sure how to deal with that.  The caning isn’t in sheets, but hand done, so I wasn’t about to try repairing the cane!  So, they’ve been sitting in my basement for over two years.  The ones I bought off Craig’s List had pretty good seats, but at some point, an upholstered seat was made for them, so I used that as my inspiration for “fixing” these

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December 6, 2013 No Comments
Before and Afters

upholsterygallery

 Several people asked for a tutorial on the part upholstered/part slipcovered French chair I revealed yesterday, so this is it!  This isn’t a comprehensive upholstery post, but it will give you an idea of what’s involved in upholstering the back and arms of a chair in this style. To get you started, you can read THIS POST on stripping upholstery.  I didn’t strip the upholstery off the seat and cushion, because I’m going to make a slipcover instead.  I had to take everything off of the back and I stripped the arms down to the muslin.  There just wasn’t a reason to strip them down beyond that. I salvaged the batting, webbing and burlap to reuse and used the fabric pieces I removed as templates for the new fabric pieces.  I cut all of my pieces and set them out so I was all ready to go. When upholstering a chair like

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December 4, 2013 62 Comments
Before and Afters

Upholstery Tutorial

 Several people asked for a tutorial on the part upholstered/part slipcovered French chair I revealed yesterday, so this is it!  This isn’t a comprehensive upholstery post, but it will give you an idea of what’s involved in upholstering the back and arms of a chair in this style. To get you started, you can read THIS POST on stripping upholstery.  I didn’t strip the upholstery off the seat and cushion, because I’m going to make a slipcover instead.  I had to take everything off of the back and I stripped the arms down to the muslin.  There just wasn’t a reason to strip them down beyond that. I salvaged the batting, webbing and burlap to reuse and used the fabric pieces I removed as templates for the new fabric pieces.  I cut all of my pieces and set them out so I was all ready to go. When upholstering a chair like

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December 4, 2013 5 Comments
Decorating

Tara’s Questions, My Answers

I receive a lot of questions through e-mail and various social media outlets wondering everything from where I bought something to how I did something to how I deal with something else.  Most of the time I answer those questions individually, but I thought I probably should answer a few more of those publicly to benefit everyone.  Plus, it gives me good blog material!  So, I thought I would share excerpts from an e-mail I received a few days ago.  A lovely lady named Tara sent me this… “I have two sons, two dogs and a husband, all male.  I am overwhelmed with male-ish-ness. I love your interiors but they are. . . well, feminine. My sons are 12 and 15. I’m 40, my DH is 45 and after all the time and experiences under my belt, I have to ask – how do you keep your menfolk feeling comfortable

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December 3, 2013 No Comments
Decorating

sofagallery

I receive a lot of questions through e-mail and various social media outlets wondering everything from where I bought something to how I did something to how I deal with something else.  Most of the time I answer those questions individually, but I thought I probably should answer a few more of those publicly to benefit everyone.  Plus, it gives me good blog material!  So, I thought I would share excerpts from an e-mail I received a few days ago.  A lovely lady named Tara sent me this… “I have two sons, two dogs and a husband, all male.  I am overwhelmed with male-ish-ness. I love your interiors but they are. . . well, feminine. My sons are 12 and 15. I’m 40, my DH is 45 and after all the time and experiences under my belt, I have to ask – how do you keep your menfolk feeling comfortable

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December 2, 2013 72 Comments
Decorating

Christmas Inspiration

Over the past few years, decorating for Christmas has been mostly about work.  That sounds terrible, because I love Christmas, but with a blog, freelance writing jobs, magazine shoots and a retail space, Christmas started in September, ended in February and often sprang up in July or some other random month.  By the time it was really Christmas, I was sort of Christmased out.  This is the first year that I have nothing going on.  No articles.  No retail space.  No magazine shoots.  While all of those things are an exciting and a fun part of my business, it’s sort of nice knowing that decorating for Christmas will just be about my family and decorating for us.  Yes, I’ll share pictures on the blog, but that’s not what it’s about. So, I’m looking at holiday decorating with a fresh perspective and excitement this year.  I look forward setting up a

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November 30, 2013 19 Comments

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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