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All Things Home
All Things Home

moments

Of course, if you walked through my house right now, you would see boxes lined up against the walls or stacked on free surfaces.  You would see a box half-filled with folded boxes and a smaller box filled with bubble wrap and folded newsprint, ready to pass along to the next person who is moving via Facebook Marketplace.  Things are precariously piled and quickly placed to get them out of the way.  I see all of this, too.  But what I have been noticing more than the mess is the moments.  Moments where it looks like my style.  Moments where curated items are collected in such a way that they are beautiful.  I went around with a camera on Friday and took pictures of some of these moments… Folded linen napkins and ironstone stacked in a cabinet until they find a more permanent home.  Pitchers are lined up on the

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September 26, 2022 59 Comments
All Things Home

outdoor fall entertaining with Walmart

Disclosure; This post is sponsored by .  As always, all words and opinions expressed are honest and my own.  I have partnered with many times over the years and I am excited to be working with them in our new home. An advantage to moving into a home in late September is that we are entering one of the most beautiful, outdoor-entertaining-friendly weather of the year.  It’s usually pleasant outside, not too buggy, not too muggy, and nature starts to put on a colorful display.  It’s a nice time to be outside, which is perfect when you want to escape from boxes that need to be unpacked and things that need to be put away. Since we sold all of our outdoor furniture when we moved here (including favorite BHG chairs from ), we decided to buy one really beautiful, well-made patio set to provide a place to sit, work,

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September 23, 2022 22 Comments
All Things Home

concrete pool restoration & inspiration

When we sat down as a family and talked about what we would want in a future house, the boys requested a pool.  They befriended a neighbor one court over in Minnesota who had a pool and often invited the boys and other neighborhood kids over for impromptu swims and planned pool parties.  It was a highlight for them during the summer and the idea of having our own pool to do the same was very appealing to them.  So, we put that on the wishlist, but let them know we might not end up with a pool.  It wasn’t a top priority.  I really did keep that request at the forefront of my mind when I was looking at houses and most of the homes we seriously considered had pools.  The house we ended up purchasing does have a pool, but technically, it’s just a big concrete hole in

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September 21, 2022 48 Comments
All Things Home

the first thing I bought for our new house | antique brass andirons

Before we get to the antique brass andirons, I need to thank you for all of the words of encouragement yesterday! I think it can be easy to glamourize moving into a new home, but it’s a tough process even if it’s a happy move into a lovely home.  Things felt more settled and normal yesterday and I slept like a rock last night.  Despite the stacks of boxes waiting to be unpacked, I made biscuits for breakfast, which made the kitchen smell and feel homey.  I sat at the table in the room that will be my studio and wrote a blog post.  I hung some of my clothes in the closet, did a load of laundry, and went to the grocery store. It was a few steps towards a new normal in this house and that felt good. Before we go forward into this new house and some

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September 20, 2022 31 Comments
a slice of life

settling into a new home

Crying seems to be inevitable in the early days of a move.  You’re tired.  You’re emotional.  You’re feeling raw.  You’re relieved to be settled yet you feel entirely unsettled, upended.  The familiarity of your things clashes with the unfamiliarity of a new place.  It’s the biggest purchase of your life and you have only spent a few hours walking through empty rooms.  This house that you filled a truckload of paperwork for and dreamed about is now an overwhelming reality. It’s your home, but it doesn’t feel like home.  It will, but not yet. We’ve been doing all of the usual moving-in things.  Having a washer & dryer delivered, opening boxes, putting things away, and then moving them a second and third time until it feels like they might be in the right place.  A steady stream of tradesmen has been coming through to give us estimates on new windows,

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September 19, 2022 90 Comments
All Things Home

And the house we bought is…

That little guessing game we played yesterday was so fun!  And, what I enjoyed most about it, was hearing your thought process in the comments about why you thought I picked certain houses.  So many of you understood the tension I felt in deciding between some good options and hoping to pick the best.  Ultimately, we picked the home that was best for our life, which is how a home should be selected.  Not for pictures or decor, but for the life you want to live there.  And the decor will come. The house we bought is house number two, which so many of you guessed right.  It’s the brick rambler built in 1970. Even though we had a few historic homes as viable options, let me tell you why we selected the one we did. As we were casually looking at houses when Jeff was going through the interview

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September 14, 2022 154 Comments
Decorating

house hunting with the Parsons

Thank you so much for all of your wonderful and encouraging comments on yesterday’s post.  We are very excited!  So, I have been waiting for weeks to spill the beans about our new house, but as with the purchasing process of our MN house, I didn’t want to share all of the details in real-time.  Job searches and house hunts are some very stressful life events full of twists, turns, steps of faith, and sometimes disappointments.  It’s just too much to bring blog and social media followers along.  We even kept things pretty general with our friends and family for a while to keep the riders in the rollercoaster to a minimum. But, behind the scenes, we were looking at houses with a realtor, making an offer, and then going through several different inspections since we were buying an “as-is” home.  I’ve also been working on all of the paperwork

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September 13, 2022 464 Comments
Antiques

Syracuse Ornamental Company Catalogue 1923

Last week, jeff wanted to get in on the antique store diversion.  He was just dying to walk around antique stores to carry my purchases, load a dresser in the van for my mom, and give me the side-eye when I wanted to buy anything.  Of course, I’m being sarcastic, but he actually wanted to drive me around and take me to some of my old favorite shops.  He has enjoyed seeing the things I’ve bought for our new house and is excited about helping me with future building and design projects.  He knows I sold a lot of stuff and supports me in spending the money I saved on things I love.  He’s a keeper.  Anyway, there were a lot of tempting things at On a Whim and the surrounding stores, but the only thing I bought was a Syracuse Ornamental Company catalogue from 1923.  The minute I spotted

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September 8, 2022 21 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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