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Antiques

Union Jack Ottoman

As I shared in my other posts about my Houston trip, I met some amazing people. One of those people was Jennifer Williams of Metamorphose Studios. I was getting ready for the Milk Paint demo and Jennifer comes out of the back room, smiling. “I have a present for you.” I was slightly distracted and didn’t notice what she was holding. She then lifted up this black garbage bag filled with something boxy and handed it to me. My first thought, and I’m pretty sure I said it out loud, was, how am I going to get this home?! I pulled the garbage bag back and saw this amazing Union Jack pattern in burlap, cream and aqua. My second thought was, I’m going to get this home no matter what. Jennifer left the legs raw, so I could paint them. I’ve been known to do that sort of thing and

January 16, 2013 61 Comments

home improvement

DSC_6068 (640×424)

You can read part one of laying a floating floor HERE. It shows how we stripped the carpet and installed the underlayment. Today, I’m going to talk through how we installed the actual floor. As I said in part one, we’re not professionals at this, so this isn’t meant to be a comprehensive tutorial, but more of a testimony of our experience. I was a very good blogger and took lots of pictures as we ripped out the carpet and installed the underlayment and then I got tired and the sun set (so my natural lighting went away) and I just wanted to finish, so this was the last picture I took. When we lay the floors in the bedroom, I’ll take more. As I said in part one, laying the floor was the easiest part of the project. Since it is a floating floor, there is no gluing,

January 11, 2013 12 Comments

home improvement

laying a floating floor

January 11, 2013 38 Comments

Antiques

my new bed

You know me. Almost all of the furniture and accessories I buy for my home, I buy used. (The only exception I make is for a sofa and mattresses.) It’s almost always cheaper and the quality is almost always better. I also just like buying used. The pieces have more “soul” and character. If I have money burning a hole in my pocket, I go to the antique mall. I don’t think I’ve set foot to shop in a real mall for over a year. Any time I do go to a real mall (usually for a youth trip), I make a point to wander into Restoration Hardware. A lot of their furniture and accessories are a bit masculine for my taste, but I love the classic quality of their designs. In my mind, they are tops when it comes to beautiful neutrals. I never bought anything from them, but I

January 3, 2013 83 Comments

My House

The totally wrong way to hem curtains

I took the tree down a couple of days ago and it left me staring at my unhemmed curtains that I finished about two years ago. I came to the realization that I am never going to hem these curtains. There is always something more fun to do than pinning, measuring, ironing and sewing straight lines. They don’t look bad without a hem, but I have to fluff them a lot to position them right and they puddle on the floor in an unattractive way, so the curtains don’t hang as well. As I was looking at them I realized that they have not frayed at all. The fabric is indoor/outdoor canvas that hasn’t been washed, so it has a nice stiffness to it. Well, I grabbed a pair of scissors and just cut them off. I felt a little bit like Chevy Chase in Christmas

January 2, 2013 85 Comments

Decorating

Christmas Recap

Today was a wonderful Christmas. It was definitely one I will look back on with great fondness. First, we got about 3″ of snow last night, which was magical for both Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. My parents, brother & his wife & mother-in-law came over to join us. It was the perfect amount of people and was very relaxed. I did get a little carried away with my super simple Christmas table I talked about a couple of days ago. I decided to make a fruit topiary centerpiece and add some name cards. The topiary looks fancy, but it was really simple to make. I’ll actually be making a tutorial for HGTV.com for next year. I was a little in love with photographing it. The name tags were craft card stock punched out with a decorative circle cutter. I wrote on them with chalk

December 26, 2012 No Comments

Decorating

my real Christmas table

I set a lot of fancy tables for photo shoots, but to be entirely honest, I’m much more of a paper plate and lap trays kind of hostess. I do love pulling out my fine china, linens and silver, but I don’t do it very often (to actually eat on, anyway.) Our gatherings usually involve football, teenagers and/or small children, so they’re pretty informal. We’re hosting Christmas this year, so I decided to set a pretty table for my family. This table is totally different from ones I set up for shoots. It’s simple, with mismatched chairs and a stained tablecloth that was given to my grandmother as a wedding present. I’m using my mother’s wedding china and a silver pattern that has been collected by three generations of women in my family. Gray linen napkins are rolled in mismatched silver napkin rings. I love the

December 24, 2012 No Comments

Shop Lucketts Giveaway

If you’ve read my blog for any amount of time, you know I have a great fondness for the Old Lucketts Store. I loved shopping there for years and had the privileged of becoming a vendor there about two years ago. Working with Suzanne, the owner, and all of the other talented vendors and designers there has been great for creative inspiration, but I’ve also been able to see first hand how much heart is at Lucketts. Suzanne and the other folks behind the genius at Lucketts don’t always look at just how to make money, but how to make a difference as well. When brainstorming about this month’s Shop Lucketts giveaway, they wanted to make it about paying it forward. Not just entering a giveaway for yourself, but winning it for someone else. What a lovely idea, right? I know you’ll love playing along and we’ll all love reading what you

December 21, 2012 No 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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All Things Home

Union Jack Ottoman

DSC_6068 (640×424)

laying a floating floor

my new bed

The totally wrong way to hem curtains

Christmas Recap

my real Christmas table

Shop Lucketts Giveaway

next art sale

August 13th, 2026 at 1pm EST

NEW ONLINE ART COURSE

Paint a Pet Portrait You’ll Love

Now Available

Move Slow & Make Things

From the Studio

Artful pieces for your home and everyday life.

From the Studio and Home

Shop the Feed

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tucking in the garden for winter

simple, natural fall mantel | autumn decorating

fall baking with Walmart

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