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Art Supplies

refinishing a vintage paint palette

I spent much of last week working on some freelance writing projects, so I didn’t have a chance to make more progress on the basement family room makeover. I am planning to install the chair rail this week, though, and get some more painting done. This is a slow and steady project, but I do want to keep some forward momentum going! Since I don’t have an update on the basement, I thought I would share a little project I worked on a couple of weeks ago – refinishing a vintage paint palette. I realize this is sort of a niche thing and not everyone has a vintage paint palette sitting around that they want to refinish and use, but refinishing wood is refinishing wood. This would work for a cutting board, a tabletop, a dresser… anything that is wood. I purchased this palette off of Etsy because I loved

August 17, 2021 8 Comments

All Things Home

the story of the antique copper bundt pan

Whenever I share my kitchen on social media or the blog, I almost always get comments about my pot rack and the collection of copper I’ve amassed over the past decade or so. My love of quality cookware started with an epic Tuesday Morning find – a set of stainless steel pots and pans for 90% off. My love of copper, though, started with an epic yard sale find – an antique copper bundt pan for $25. I don’t think I’ve ever shared the story of when I found it here on the blog and it popped in my mind over the weekend, so I thought I would share it today. This is the gorgeous antique copper bundt pan I’m referring to… When Marshall was a baby, we had no expendable income. And, when I say no expendable income, that is very literal. We could pay the essential bills, but

August 16, 2021 54 Comments

Decorating

Evolution of our Kitchen Makeover

Now that we’ve been living in our home in Minnesota for four years, I thought I would share how some of the rooms have evolved since we moved in. I did an “evolution” series on my last home (you can see the kitchen evolution post of our previous home HERE) and received so many great comments and feedback in response. It was fun for readers to see the transformation all in one place while also appreciating how long a real-world makeover can take. Some rooms come together quickly, but most rooms in most homes just evolve over the years. Room makeovers aren’t really a before and after, but more of a then and now. They will continue to be dynamic and evolve. So, here is our kitchen makeover as it happened over the past four years. This photo was taken the very first day we were in the house. (You

August 11, 2021 24 Comments

All Things Home

cleaning a smoke smell out of wood furniture

When you buy used furniture sometimes musty, dusty, pet, and smoke smells come with it. When it comes to severe pet and smoke odors, I’ll usually pass on a piece. They are notoriously hard to completely remove from furniture, especially upholstery. But, there are times when a piece sneaks through my filters or I’ll make an exception if I think I can remedy the issue. Jeff picked up this Facebook Marketplace find for me and, while I told him to check for sturdiness and a few other things, I didn’t tell him to check for odors. As soon as we brought it in, I would have to address the lingering stale smoke smell that came with this beautiful antique quartersawn oak table. So, I thought I would take you along and share how I go about cleaning a smoke smell out of wood furniture. This is the table I spotted

August 3, 2021 18 Comments

All Things Home

basement family room makeover | 1800’s chandelier

Nothing quite says “relaxed basement family room” like an 1800’s chandelier dripping with crystals. Am I right or am I right? Okay, not really. In fact, when I shared the very meticulous sketch for this particular area of the family room, I drew out what is clearly a lantern-style light fixture. Not an 1800’s crystal chandelier. Clearly, a lantern fixture. Buuuut, I looked around online for a lantern-style light fixture I loved quite thoroughly and they were either more than I wanted to pay or not quite the look/style I imagined. A couple of weeks ago, I shared this quote from on Instagram … I actually had a chandelier and I hadn’t even thought of using it! The main reason I hadn’t thought of using it is it wasn’t what I envisioned. And, it seemed like sort of a crazy idea to try it. Those of you who have followed

August 2, 2021 100 Comments

All Things Home

four years…

July 24, 2021, was the four-year anniversary of the day we moved into our house in Rochester, Minnesota! It was a whirlwind move that truly was an incredible story (you can read about it HERE.) On our first night in the new house, we just had the contents of our vehicles, a few new purchases (like a carpet cleaner), and some borrowed air mattresses. All of our furniture was set to arrive the following day and not be fully unloaded until the weekend, so there was a lot of sitting on the floor or standing around bar when it came time to eat. The tricky think about eating on the floor with a dog in the house is that he thinks the food is fair game! So, for our first dinner, we ordered Fazoli’s (Italian fast food) and sat out on our deck to eat. We picked Fazoli’s because it

July 29, 2021 17 Comments

All Things Home

basement family room makeover | decisions

Over the last few weeks, you’ve seen me meander through decisions about my basement family room makeover. And, let me say, I am so glad I have given myself the freedom to change course and switch directions, I believe that freedom – that relaxed, unhurried approach, will end up making for a better room. Not that my initial plan was bad, but I needed to shift gears based on the materials I was able to source and what felt right in the room as changes started to be made. As a reminder, this was the plan at the beginning… And here is where we are now… The first photo was the inspiration. It was theory. The second photo is the reality. It’s fabric I have in hand that is the right texture, color, and feels right for the room and the direction I’m heading. The best part is that these

July 27, 2021 34 Comments

All Things Home

basement family room makeover | the stairs

After reviewing a lot of your feedback on Monday’s post and thinking about it a bit more, I am pretty sure I know the direction I’m going to go with painting the trim in the basement family room. Again, the good news is there is no rush and I can take it one step at a time, changing my mind as I go. Thank you for all of your feedback, though. It was all helpful! Speaking of changing my mind, I actually returned the checked curtains I bought from Target. are the curtains I got… I don’t have any complaints about them. They are great curtains for the price, the fabric looked good in the room, the size was right, etc. I just wasn’t feeling them. They seemed a little too light for the look I was going for. I have some blue linen that I have draped from the

July 21, 2021 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

refinishing a vintage paint palette

the story of the antique copper bundt pan

Evolution of our Kitchen Makeover

cleaning a smoke smell out of wood furniture

basement family room makeover | 1800’s chandelier

four years…

basement family room makeover | decisions

basement family room makeover | the stairs

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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