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All Things Home

All Things Home

a bouquet of dish brushes

When I shared this picture of the light from the new kitchen window falling on my bouquet of dish brushes by the sink, I received a comment that made me smile.  I’m paraphrasing, but it said something like, “Why do you use dish brushes?  And why do you have so many?” The answer to the second part of that question is simply because we’re talking about me and we’re talking about brushes.  That’s really why I have so many, but we do use most of them.  I like having a variety of shapes and textures in my brush bouquet for visual impact, but we do use different brushes for different purchases.  For example, the dark brush on the left has very soft bristles and it’s nice for washing glasses and other delicate things.  I use the bottle brushes for water bottles and such. Most of the brushes, though, are standard

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All Things Home

vintage green-handled flatware

When I hit some antique and second-hand stores with my mom a few weeks ago, I found a lovely set of vintage flatware.  It was petite in scale and had green handles and forks with three tines.  If you’ve been hanging around here for a while, then you might know that flatware is a weakness for me.  I held the set, wrapped in a rubberband, in my hand for a few seconds as I contemplated.  I remember looking at my mom with an expression that said who am I kidding?  I took them up to the front of the store and put them on the counter. I have a similar twelve-piece set that has blue handles and gold-colored blades & tines and it’s one of my favorites.  These have a very similar feel even though the colors are different. The first thing I do when I unpack things from a

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All Things Home

Ilve Nostalgie range review

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Ilve.  As always, all words and opinions expressed in this Ilve Nostalgie review are honest and my own. Since I first shared that I was getting an Ilve Nostalgie 48″ range, I was asked to write a review.  I wanted to use the range for a few months before I shared a review so I really had the chance to use the range, get used to it, and put it to the test with cooking and baking.  There is no doubt that it is a beautiful range, that is obvious.  But, how does it cook, and is it user-friendly? As I stated in the disclosure, this is a sponsored post, but I was given free rein to write an honest review of the Ilve Nostalgie range.  Before I even entered into this dream partnership with Ilve, I knew I wanted an Ilve range.  I

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All Things Home

cleaning copper cookware

Yesterday, I shared my tips for shopping for and identifying quality copper pieces as well as some details of how I built my collection over almost 20 years.  (You can read that blog post HERE.)  Collecting is always a slow and patient process, but it is a rewarding one.  Collecting, for me, isn’t just about the things.  It’s about the process, the hunt, the scores, and the memories that are made along the way.  Most of the pieces I’ve collected have a story that goes with them, which makes using them in the home about aesthetics as well as surrounding myself with pieces that are a small part of our history.  But, as is often brought up when I share my collections, there is some amount of upkeep involved!  Yes, there is dusting and polishing, but I’d rather have things I love that need some care now and then than

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All Things Home

collecting vintage & antique copper

As I’ve shared the renovation of our kitchen, one of the things I’ve been asked about most is my copper collection.  More specifically, I’m asked where I find it and what I look for when shopping for copper.  So, I thought I would write a blog post to answer all of the questions and share some of my tips.  I started collecting copper about 20 years ago when we lived in our first house.  It was an 1,100-square-foot townhouse in a bad neighborhood in Loudoun County, VA, which, if you’re familiar with the Northern Virginia area, you may know it is a tough place for a first-time homeowner to get into the market.  While we lived there, it was the fastest-growing county in the US and the wealthiest per capita. So, anyway, this little townhouse had a small kitchen with a box-bay window that looked out over the parking lot

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Antiques

polishing silver napkin rings

When I first started hitting yard sales as a newlywed, I noticed I was seeing two things over and over.  Well, aside from the footbaths and old Easter baskets that you see at every yard sale, but I wasn’t interested in those things. I was looking for old things, specifically old things I could use in my house.  The two things that caught my eye and I often came across were table linens and silver-plated dining and serving pieces.  Most were starched with tight folds and light staining at the edges.  Some of them were still in their packaging – wedding gifts that were never opened or things that had been passed down from one buffet drawer to another until they were finally surrendered to a yard sale.  What it came down to was usefulness and maintenance.  People didn’t want to do the silver polishing and ironing and, even if

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Decorating

decorating with shells in the garden

I have loved collecting shells since I was a little girl.  Anytime we went to the beach, my Oma and mom would take walks and collect lady’s ears, olive shells, whelks, sand dollars, and whatever caught their eye.  I remember shells drying on the deck railing of the beach house and we would spend a quiet evening or rainy afternoon making animal sculptures out of some of the found shells.  When we cleaned out my Oma and Opa’s attic after my Opa passed away, we found about 10 five-gallon buckets filled with shells she had collected over the years.  I kept some, but couldn’t possibly keep them all.  Also, searching for the shells and making memories while doing it is a big part of the appeal.  So, I’ve carried on the shell-collecting tradition whenever I’m at a beach that permits it.  (It is illegal to collect shells, rocks, sand, beach

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Antiques

the duck casserole

During our secondhand shopping trip a couple of weeks ago (when we found the amazing teak patio lounge chairs) I also came home with another special find.  It wasn’t quite as amazing as getting $6,660 worth of patio furniture for $150, but it was still a good buy. So, as we were meandering through an antique store, I spotted this ceramic duck casserole and was a little surprised at my interest in inspecting it closer and checking out the price.  There was something sweet about it and it made me smile.  I’ve learned to listen to the inklings I get when shopping (most of the time.) Eh, you should put that back.  You don’t have a good spot for it.  There is something special about that.  Go back and get it! Typically, when I spot something I like, but I’m not 100% sure about it, I will leave it and

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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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