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buying & selling antiques

Lucketts Holiday Open House

Yesterday was all about Lucketts. I went down there to get my room ready for the open house.  (Minus the sofa.  Poor Ruthie was up until 3:30am on Thursday working on that thing and just couldn’t make it to Lucketts in time, so she’s bringing it early tomorrow and will help me haul it up the stairs.  Talk about above and beyond.)  I did have some great help today, though, and we got the place looking sparkly and ready for Christmas.   OK, I have to explain this tree topper.  I know it’s ridiculous on that dinky tree.  I had planned on getting a lush, live tree, but it just wasn’t going to fit and the thought of dragging it up the steps and everything that was involved just didn’t seem worth it.  So, I pulled this little guy out of my basement and the paper star I had intended

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November 4, 2011 111 Comments
Popular

DIY Farmhouse Table Tutorial

I received several requests for the tutorial on building a simple DIY farmhouse table (with just a drill) that was published in the October 2011 issue of Cottages & Bungalows.  I just got the “thumbs up” to publish the full tutorial on my blog, so here you go!   DIY farm house table | materials & tools Pine lumber – 3 – 1” x 12” x 6’ (top) 2 – 1” x 3” x 64” (apron/frame) 2 – 1” x 3” x 28” (apron/frame) 2 – 1” x 3” x 26 ¼” (bracing) 2 – 1” x 2” x 28” (bracing) 2 – 1” x 3” x 28″ (bracing) Four pre-turned legs, 29” high Electric drill One box self – drilling 1 ¾” wood screws (matching bit included in box) Clamps (optional) Router (optional) Wood filler Putty knife Fine grit sanding sponge DIY farmhouse table | instructions 1. On a

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November 3, 2011 175 Comments
Decorating

welcome to wordpress

Believe it or not, my very first blog was started in WordPress.  Had I just stayed there, I would’ve saved myself a lot of trouble, but I think it was a good thing for me at the time.  I was on WordPress and felt pretty alone.  I didn’t understand how to plug into the blog community and get my blog “out there.”  I was writing to myself and my mom and we both already knew what I was doing.   As I started to get sucked into the world of DIY blogs, I saw that almost everyone was on Blogger, so I clicked the “start a blog” button and ran with it.  Blogger was easy to use, easy to connect and easy for me to work on myself.  Then my blog grew…and grew…and grew and about two years later, I realized I had created a bit of a mess for myself. 

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November 1, 2011 130 Comments
buying & selling antiques

shopping while hungry, snow & speculoos

You know the saying, “Never shop for groceries when you’re hungry.”  Well, I went “shopping while hungry” so to speak. My space at Lucketts was empty and I was pretty anxious about getting it stuffed to the gills for the holiday open house (November 4-6.)  Well, I shopped and sourced and scrounged and made bins and bins of ornaments and now the place is definitely stuffed.  Busting at the seams.  And I still have more at home.  I was planning on bringing in a live tree, but I think that will just take up too much space (I still have to fit a sofa somewhere in this space!)  So, I’m going to bring in the plastic slim tree from home.  Not exactly what I wanted, but it will fit a lot better. Here’s what the room looks like now…             All in all, I’m really

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October 31, 2011 122 Comments
Antiques

another keeper

Thanks so much for all of the feedback on my horse.  I’ve decided I’m going to keep him.  You’re all a bad influence.  You know that?  Or maybe a good influence.  I know I’m going to be glad I kept him.  Maybe we’ll have a “name that horse” contest to win ornaments from my Christmas line or something like that. While shopping on Friday, I found something else I knew I was going to keep….this hutch. I bought it for an HGTV.com article I’m working on and figured I would sell it when I was done.  I found the perfect place in my house for it, though, so it’s a keeper.  I love it when that happens! I’ve always wanted a chippy, old hutch to house some ironstone and linens in and this is perfect.  I’m still debating over whether I want to paint the interior or not…hmmm… I’m looking forward to

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October 24, 2011 68 Comments

if wishes were horses…

You know those things that you see in magazines and spot in antique stores and pine after and always keep in the back of your mind?  Well, one of those things for me has been an antique rocking horse.  I’ve seen a few in magazine homes, perched on an elegant buffet or the top of a French armoire.   A child’s toy turned art.  I’ve had my eye on one in an antique store for months.  I always dismissed it, thinking it was just too expensive.  Yesterday, while shopping for things for the open house, my gaze landed on the familiar horse that I have loved and dismissed at least a dozen times.  It was the same price and the tag read “firm”, so I doubted it would be reduced any time soon.   Or ever.  Today, though, it didn’t seem that expensive.  On a whim, I asked one of the women behind the counter

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October 22, 2011 68 Comments

the art of styling

When I first started my business, I would paint a piece, pull out my camera and snap a picture of it…just right where it was.  Usually the lighting was poor, so I used a flash.  I would send the picture to my web designer and ask her to put it on my site.  I didn’t realize what a poor representation of my work it was.  I just didn’t think of the fact that I should take the time to stage the photo and light it properly.  I really had no excuse, either.  I had taken a photography class and knew how to take decent pictures, but I didn’t think I could achieve “magazine quality”, so I didn’t even try.  Then, I stumbled upon the wonderful work of Shelter Blogs.  There were girls just like me, taking really great pictures of their home and their work.  I was immediately drawn to

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October 16, 2011 109 Comments

fan fetish

I admit.  I have a thing for fans.    Maybe you’ve noticed. 

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October 15, 2011 44 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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