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All Things Home
All Things Home

selecting the right height for nightstands

On Instagram yesterday, I was asked if there was a standard for selecting the right height for nightstands.  I thought that was a great question and one I never looked up, but I have typically chosen nightstands that felt like the right height for the bed they were paired with.  I like nightstands that are roughly the same height as the top of the mattress or perhaps a little bit taller.  This makes reaching for things easy when turning off an alarm in the morning, checking a text or call, grabbing a tissue, or turning a lamp on and off.  I decided to look it up to see if conventional decorating guidelines match my intuition on the matter, and they do.  There isn’t a standard height as there is for chair rail and countertops, but a guideline based on each individual room. I like a tall mattress.  It’s not right

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August 19, 2025 11 Comments
Art

oil painting video tutorial | white irises

After working on pet and animal portraits for most of this year, I decided to take a little break and paint some still life and landscapes.  First of all, I want the practice.  I don’t want to get rusty in those subjects, even though working on one kind of painting informs and often improves another.  These are also the most popular subjects for licensing, so I wanted to create some new works to submit and sell in my next original art sale.  I’ve been working on rural landscapes, oranges, and now irises.  While I’ve been painting, I set up my camera so I could make video tutorials for those who want to paint along.  So, here is a video tutorial on painting these white irises…   This painting is based on a photo I took while on a walk one morning this spring.  One of our neighbors keeps the prettiest

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August 13, 2025 5 Comments
1970 home renovation

power washing the patio

This project has been on my list since I did my Spring cleaning of the patio and pool deck in April.  The patio, particularly the old part, was so dirty and stained.  It’s the sort of project that keeps getting put off, though.  Not because it’s hard, but because it’s a pain to get the power washer out and set up and to move all of the furniture and heavy concrete planters.  We’ve been having great weather this week, though, so I finally convinced Marshall to help me get it done. Here is how the patio looked before… You can really see how dirty it was in this picture… When I took pictures of the patio, I tried to take them from an angle that would mostly hide the dirt, but you can still see it under the table and chairs… We moved everything out of the way, which was

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August 6, 2025 8 Comments
Antiques

antique purchases with mom

Most of you have my taste pretty nailed down!  When I asked which pieces you thought I bought while on my antique trip with mom, you were pretty spot on!  (You can read that post HERE.)  Truth be told, I wanted to buy everything I highlight, but I’ve hit that tipping point where I need to be very particular about what I buy.  Years of antiquing as a hobby and a business has my house pretty well furnished.  But, my kindred spirits get that it’s too fun to not mill around antique stores and markets now and then.  So, here is what I bought… Of course, the goose.  I love concrete pieces for the garden and this one was just too good to pass up, even with the repaired beak. The posture and patina are perfect.  My only hesitation was the break and strange repair (it’s like a putty or

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August 5, 2025 19 Comments
Antiques

antiquing with mom

After visiting the local art museum and grabbing lunch at a bistro, Mom and I went to one of my favorite antique stores.  Since purging ironstone and antiques earlier this year, I’ve been disciplined about not bringing a bunch of stuff back into the house.  I do love milling about in antique stores, second-hand shops, and markets, though, and I’m resigned to the fact that there will always be some amount of stuff coming and going.  It just needs to be intentional and in moderation!  So, I kept this in mind as we walked the aisles of Beaver Creek Antique Market. Right off the bat, my attention was grabbed by a concrete goose sitting on the counter.  Typically, pieces sitting on the counter were placed there by shoppers who intend to buy them.  The absence of a tag also made me think it was already claimed.  I asked about it

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July 30, 2025 23 Comments
All Things Home

proper heights for wainscoting

I don’t usually care for “decorating rules.”  They are typically preferences and gimmicks more than actual rules.  “Blue and green should never be seen.” is one rule that I threw in the garbage bin pretty quickly when I started decorating.  I want to ask the person who came up with that adage if they ever stepped outside with their eyes open.  The dominant colors in nature are undeniably blue and green, and it’s one of the most harmonious and beautiful combinations.  Now that I’ve poo-pooed decorating rules, I will say that there are design principles that seem to be universal across all art forms.  One of those principles is the rule of thirds.  Trios are more aesthetically pleasing than duos when arranging a vignette.  A photo or painting composition is stronger when the focal point or horizon line is placed following the rule of thirds.  Eye makeup looks better if

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July 15, 2025 11 Comments
1970 home renovation

options to improve a drop ceiling

Since it comes up every time I show our basement here, on Instagram, or anywhere on the Internet, let’s discuss the eyesore that is drop ceilings and some of the available options to improve them.  Let me first declare that I am anti-drop ceiling.  I understand their practicality, affordability, and necessity in some circumstances, but I am still not a fan.  And, in my house, I strongly dislike having a drop ceiling.  I would say hate, but I don’t think I quite cross that line.  I just really, really don’t like them.  So, for all of those who point out how ugly the basement ceiling is, I am in full agreement with you.  If anyone felt like I needed convincing, I don’t. If drop ceilings were in the main living areas of the home, they would’ve been ripped out shortly after moving in.  In this particular basement, however, there were

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July 9, 2025 17 Comments
1970 home renovation

removing english ivy two ways

There was a time when I thought English ivy was charming.  I mean, it is. When you see it growing up old brick homes, there is something beautiful about it.  Now that I have lived in a mid-century brick home that was half-eaten by English ivy, I no longer find it charming.  It stains the brick, it grows in windows and screens, it chokes out bushes and trees, and it’s incredibly hard to remove and control once it’s gone unchecked. A lot of ivy was removed from our home before it was put on the market.  We could see the remnants of it and have cleaned off the roots and staining as we’ve worked on the exterior of the home.  (You can read about how we removed ivy roots & stains HERE.)  And now we’re working on removing ivy from an overgrown bed on the left side of the house.

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June 30, 2025 6 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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