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1970 home renovation

tips I learned from the pros stripping wallpaper

I told you I would only write a couple more posts about stripping wallpaper, so let’s just get one out of the way. This post is prompted by the people asking if I snooped and picked up some tips from the pros who were stripping off our wallpaper and glue. The bad news is that they didn’t have some magic product or technique that made the paper and glue magically fall off. It was still messy, laborious, tedious, and challenging just as it has been for me and every other human who has had the misfortune of having to strip wallpaper. There is just no way around it. I did pick up a few things, though, that I thought I would pass on. If you missed it, you can read how my mom and I removed the wallpaper glue in the primary bedroom HERE. We’ve since been using a steamer

January 24, 2023 30 Comments

1970 home renovation

new bedroom windows | window world review | 1970 home renovation

This is a non-sponsored review of working with Window World to replace the three windows in our Master Bedroom. Since I wrote this post, we have been repeat customers, and I’m now working with them as a blog sponsor. When we first started our home renovation projects, I felt like we had more than enough saved and dedicated to comfortably do all of the projects we wanted. As I’m sure many of you have experienced in the past, that money can go a lot quicker than you expect. Some projects have come in delightfully under our expectations, but the ones that have been over have been way over. The floors cost about double what we anticipated. And the roof, which we weren’t planning on doing for a few more years, came in about 30% higher than what we expected. All of the little projects, materials, and required tools have also

January 17, 2023 56 Comments

Antiques

$40 dining room table & chairs

Since we moved into our house in September, I have been hunting for a dining table and chairs. The dining room has been a bit of a storage room, so it hasn’t felt like too much of a priority. I was looking forward to eating in there, though, and using the table for puzzles and projects. And I was looking forward to it looking and feeling more like a proper room. It was funny…we had our electrical panel replaced and the electrician looked a little stumped when he was trying to label that room. From the studio, I called over, “It’s the dining room!” I found a few on Facebook Marketplace and at local used furniture and antique stores, but they were either too expensive, not quite the right style or the table or chairs were rickety. I knew the right set would come along at some point. I just

January 16, 2023 47 Comments

1970 home renovation

the jewelry of the house | grandeur hardware

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Grandeur Hardware. As always all words and opinions expressed are honest and my own. The projects on our house slowed down a little bit over the holidays, but we’re starting to ramp up again with more wallpaper removal, a few new windows, the installation of recessed lights, dining room built-ins, and a kitchen renovation. While there are so many big things to do, we’re also working on some of the little details like sewing and hanging curtains and replacing some rickety old doorknobs with some luxurious solid brass doorknobs by Grandeur Hardware. I was excited about replacing some of the key doorknobs in the house, those to bedrooms and bathrooms, but I underestimated how stunning they would be in person. We have very simple hollow core doors, which we’d eventually like to replace, but just adding a beautiful knob with a classic Carré short

January 12, 2023 21 Comments

Artistic Endeavors

customizing a boring sketchbook/notebook

Over the Christmas break, I wanted to take some time for creative play. It’s a meandering that doesn’t have a real purpose but almost always ends up being productive. I was eyeing my sketchbooks in a pile by my desk and decided it was time to do something with those black, faux leather covers. I know, for some people, the exterior of a sketchbook or notebook isn’t a big deal, but I have found that aesthetics are important to me when it comes to creative work. If a sketchbook feels in tune with my style, it’s more enjoyable to work in. The other end of that spectrum is if a sketchbook is too expensive and feels too precious, then I am not as free in it. I put way too much pressure on myself to do “good work” that the purpose of the sketchbook, which is practice, play, and experiment,

January 9, 2023 21 Comments

Antiques

new antique fireplace tools

The first thing I bought specifically for our house was a pair of antique “cannonball” andirons. My mom and I went to an antique store as a diversion from a tense period of waiting for our offer to be accepted and I received a call from our realtor on the way that the deal was done. So, I was shopping with more intention and excitement. I spotted this pair of andirons and they immediately spoke to me. As with most antiques I feel drawn to, I can’t always explain why one piece speaks to me and another doesn’t, but my mom pointed out that they look like the andirons that were in my Oma’s fireplace and I think perhaps her mother before her. It was intuitive and familiar and, in this case, I had an explanation. I knew we had a woodburning fireplace for the house and, while I

January 5, 2023 34 Comments

All Things Home

making & using paint sample boards to select colors

Yesterday, I worked on making some paint sample boards to nail down the colors I’ve been mulling over for the main living areas of our house. Usually, I would just slap a swatch on the wall, but this house has slowed down my typical go-for-it approach. The biggest obstacle has been all of the wallpaper and wallpaper glue still on the walls. Several steps have to happen before I can even paint a swatch! I also need to live with and learn the light in this house, which is so different from our last house. I can’t just assume that what I know works will actually work in this house. I have to take time to relearn what I think about color. So, making paint sample boards was the way I could make some decisions. The colors I have selected to test out are Light Blue, Oval Room Blue, Calke Green, Card Room

January 4, 2023 30 Comments

1970 home renovation

kitchen cabinet shopping & selections | 1970s home renovation

This is the year of the kitchen makeover and I am so, so excited about it. Every house we have lived in has had a kitchen that was too good to completely redo. We’ve always been fortunate to have solid cabinets, a great layout, and good bones, so I have always focused my attention on cosmetic changes. I was ready to gut a kitchen, though, and design one from scratch with what I choose. This 50-year-old kitchen gives me the opportunity to go kitchen cabinet shopping for the first time ever. Let me say, any room that is as hard-working as a kitchen and lasts for 50 years was well done. These cabinets are solid wood from the back to the sides to the shelves and they are still sturdy. But, the kitchen is getting tired. Most of the drawers on broken or on their last leg. The finish on

January 3, 2023 46 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

tips I learned from the pros stripping wallpaper

new bedroom windows | window world review | 1970 home renovation

$40 dining room table & chairs

the jewelry of the house | grandeur hardware

customizing a boring sketchbook/notebook

new antique fireplace tools

making & using paint sample boards to select colors

kitchen cabinet shopping & selections | 1970s home renovation

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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