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1970 home renovation

spring 2024 projects

After being sick for a few days, it always takes a little while to assess how you’re feeling in the morning. Am I still sick? Have I finally turned the corner? Well, this morning, I assessed after helping Jeff get the boys off to school and I have turned the corner. I felt like myself and had some energy for the first time in a week. I’m still not 100%, but I’m on the way there. So, with the turn of the calendar to March 1 and with some new energy, I found myself thinking about projects we are planning to work on this spring. I shared a list of loosely planned projects to do in 2024 HERE, but this is a bit more specific to what we’ll be working on in the coming weeks. Since the weather will be warming up, we’ll be focusing a lot of our attention

March 1, 2024 14 Comments

Crochet & Knitting Patterns

crochet vs. knitting – updated

Over three years ago, I wrote a post sharing my thoughts on crochet vs. knitting. You can find that original post HERE. I had just learned how to knit, so it was perhaps a little premature to make the comparison, but I wanted to share how I initially felt about the two yarn crafts. I had been crocheting for over a year and was excited about testing the knitting waters. I’ve now been crocheting for just over four years and knitting for just over three, so I feel like I can make a better comparison and offer some tips, patterns, tutorials, and other resources if you’d like to pick up one or both of these creative hobbies. I’m going to go through the same comparison questions I wrote in my initial post, share my previous answer, and then what I think now. crochet vs. knitting – which one is easiest?

February 23, 2024 12 Comments

Decorating

card room green living room shelves

Back in December, I shared our living room freshly painted in Card Room Green, but then I started sharing more Christmas content, so sharing the details of the room was left for another day. I finally got out the camera again to showcase the built-in bookcases and how they look in their new shade. Because painting the living room was a big, multi-day project, I waited to paint the bookcases until everything else was done. They were easy to access with the furniture moved back in place and waiting also gave me a chance to decide if I wanted to keep them white or paint them the same color as the walls. So, I painted the ceiling, beams, walls, door, and trim, and decided the bookcases would look best painted the same color as the wall. My mom came over one day to help and we were able to knock

February 21, 2024 27 Comments

Decorating

family gallery wall in the hallway

After living in military housing apartments followed by two single-story homes in my childhood, I was always enamored with the idea of having an amazing staircase in a future home. The first two homes Jeff and I bought as adults had staircases but they were enclosed and completely utilitarian. Our Minnesota house was the first house that had a staircase that was an architectural feature and I loved it. It was open to the foyer, but it was also a unique “scissor staircase”, which split in two at the landing making a “front staircase” to the foyer and a “back staircase” to the kitchen. When we started househunting in 2022, I never thought we would end up in a single-story ranch-style house. I think the fact I was in an orthopedic boot and on a scooter made me a bit more open to the idea of not having a staircase.

February 19, 2024 20 Comments

All Things Home

wicker market cart

One of my sweet readers has been asking me for several weeks to share more about the antique wicker market cart in my kitchen and I looked for a blog post about it and couldn’t find one! I have had this piece for several years, so I thought I wrote a post about it at some time, but I haven’t. I decided I would fix that today and share the details about this charming antique shopping trolly. I bought this particular wicker market cart about 10 years ago at one of my favorite PA antique shops. I think I paid around $90 for it, which I thought was a good price for the condition of such a functional antique. A wicker market cart like this one would’ve been used during an age or in a culture where you walk to the butcher, then the baker and the greengrocer to hold

February 15, 2024 10 Comments

Artistic Endeavors

antique shoe cart reproduction & inspiration

Over the years, I have bought and sold more antique “shoe carts” than I can properly remember. These antique shelves on wheels are called shoe carts because they were often used in shoe factories to transport shoes around the factory. I have found carts that are all different shapes and sizes and made in different styles. Some have spindles making the “shelves” instead of a board (like the first shelf.) I always preferred the ones that had solid shelves (or could be adapted with boards) so they were more versatile. I’ve mostly used these antique shoe carts for retail display or storage in my old studio in PA, but I did use one or two in my home over the years in my kitchen and home office. When I was an antique dealer, I bought and sold a lot of ironstone, so these carts were fantastic for displaying stacks of

February 13, 2024 8 Comments

All Things Home

caring for wood floors in a kitchen

I’ve been asked a few times over the years about having wood floors in the kitchen, so I thought I would share my experience as well as how I care for them. We inherited wood floors in the kitchen of our previous home in Minnesota, but I selected wood floors for our current home when we renovated. We also installed hardwood floors in the kitchen of the first townhouse we owned. We’ve had linoleum and tile in other kitchens, but wood is my favorite. My Opa, who was a builder, selected hardwood flooring for his kitchen when he designed and built his own home, so it was never an odd choice for me. Of course, there are downsides to wood floors and I’ll get to those, but there are downsides to any floor you select, so you might as well pick what you love if you have the choice. As

February 6, 2024 21 Comments

All Things Home

put a rabbit painting on it

I have learned over working on many rooms in the homes we’ve lived in through the years that there are always little loose ends that languish until you get sick of looking at them. For me, it’s often installing shoe molding or touching up trim for some reason. I was pretty good at keeping a list of the final touches on our kitchen renovation so I could complete them and check them off the list. I wanted to be able to call the kitchen completely done instead of having to add an asterisk every time I shared the room. It’s done except for this, this, and this. That just gets annoying and I wanted it to be done period. But, there was one lingering thing that I’ve been simply ignoring and removing from photos – the doorbell. See it above the doorway to the hall? The doorbell is hardwired, so

January 31, 2024 35 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

spring 2024 projects

crochet vs. knitting – updated

card room green living room shelves

family gallery wall in the hallway

wicker market cart

antique shoe cart reproduction & inspiration

caring for wood floors in a kitchen

put a rabbit painting on it

next art sale

May 20th, 2026 at 1pm EST

Now Available for Preorder

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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