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All Things Home
All Things Home

my go-to supplies for cleaning antiques

I have bought and sold (and kept) a lot of antiques over the years.  Thousands and thousands of pieces!  So, I have learned through trial and error about cleaning and polishing up just about anything I find.  As I was cleaning my most recent antique finds I purchased during our trip to visit family in PA, I thought I would share some of my favorite supplies and products for cleaning antiques.  Many of these cleaning methods can work for things you already own that need a little sprucing up as we’re talking about deep cleaning through the month of April. This is my most recent collection of antique finds… Before we get into cleaning, I have to say that I was very restrained and left a lot of well-priced ironstone behind!  I had to keep reminding myself that I’m not shopping for a market or online sale.  I’m just shopping

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April 6, 2021 44 Comments
Antiques

back home & another antique watercolor box

Despite a trip to the ER after a day in the car (my youngest son has a stomach bug or severe car sickness and needed fluids), we had a wonderful trip out east to visit our family.  We made our first stop in North Carolina to visit Jeff’s parents and his sister’s family before we drive up to Pennsylvania to visit my parents.  We spent a ton of time in the car, but it was all worth it so we could see family.  We hadn’t seen Jeff’s parents since December 2019 and my parents since last summer. I took a break from writing here on the blog, but I did sneak some painting in.  Painting outdoors from life (known as plein air painting) is such a challenge for me compared to painting in the studio.  I struggled through this one and didn’t love the end result, but it was a

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April 5, 2021 58 Comments
All Things Home

trusting what comes out of your hands

For those who missed my announcement last fall, I wrote a book.  I’m going to be sharing even more specifics about it very soon, but it is a home decor book with my home being the lead character and my decorating ideas and tips being the bulk of the content.  When I was working on the book, it all came easily.  I feel like this book has been brewing inside of me for years and it just poured out.  I wrote 17,000 words over the top end of the range requested by the publisher and that was even after I completely cut out a couple of chapters. The photoshoots and styling felt natural and fun.  The home projects we tackled didn’t always go smoothly, but I enjoyed the process of creating and making and I’ve been thrilled with the end results.  None of the work weighed on me like a

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March 26, 2021 55 Comments
All Things Home

April’s Theme – Deep Spring Cleaning

February sort of flowed into March, so I didn’t set a theme for that month.  This whole theme thing is going to be pretty loose, anyway, but I loved how we were working on projects together throughout February – my posts encouraging you and your comments encouraging me.  It felt like more of a conversation and I really enjoyed that, so I’d like to set a theme for a few months this year.  We can work on things together, spur and sharpen one another, but it won’t be the only thing I post about.  I’ll share about it once or twice a week depending on the subject, but try to gear my content around the theme. So, April’s theme will be Deep Spring Cleaning! Several ladies mentioned this as an area where they needed to focus and I need it, too!  I felt so reactionary last year…unexpected homeschooling, stocking up

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March 23, 2021 No Comments
All Things Home

how to make a gathered sink skirt

I actually made this sink skirt and shot a tutorial for it over the summer, when I was working on a flurry of projects for my book (coming this fall.)   It was supposed to be a tutorial for the book, but I decided not to add it in.  There were a few reasons for that… 1 – I couldn’t get a really great shot of it, because the bathroom is so small, the lighting is poor, and the mirror would reflect the brightly lit foyer. 2 – I wasn’t sure if it really was a good project.  I sort of made it up as I went along, literally using materials I had leftover from other projects. 3 – Because I was making it up as I went, it’s not perfect. 4 – I wasn’t sure it would be practical long-term.  I even planned on making a new one almost immediately

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March 17, 2021 37 Comments
All Things Home

newly organized studio reveal

As I shared on my blog last week, I took several days to continue the organizing efforts and focused them on my studio.  I had honestly been avoiding my studio the entire month of February.  I knew it would be tedious work and I knew I would have to dramatically rethink the way I purchased art supplies.  This wasn’t going to be about organizing things in neat piles, bins, and drawers with labels.  I already had that.  This was going to be about touching everything and considering the necessity of keeping it vs. selling or donating it.  This was about taking a good hard look at how I create and deciding which supplies are an asset and which ones were just clutter in my studio. I have to admit that I got off to a slow start, but once I started to feel the liberation that comes with letting go,

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March 15, 2021 40 Comments
Art

Online Painting Classes

If you haven’t guessed, I almost always have an ambitious list of things I want to accomplish each year.  Some things end up getting kicked down the road simply because I only have so much time and I have to focus on things that are a higher priority.  My little pet projects are the ones that typically get neglected.  One of the pet projects I wanted to finally do this year was to offer online art classes.  This included making new ones, but also putting the free art classes I made last year into a format that was easier to navigate.  I am happy to report that I did it! The first new class available is a master study of Fabritius’ Gold Finch! Here is my version that I did for the class… I absolutely loved working on this painting and filming it for the class.  I review all the

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March 11, 2021 31 Comments
All Things Home

organizing the art studio | brushes, pastels & rearranging

One of my goals when organizing the art studio was to greatly simplify the amount of stuff that’s sitting out in the open.  I waffle between wanting to see all of my supplies, so I don’t forget them and because they are beautiful, and wanting to have completely clear surfaces.  The former usually wins out and the studio ends up feeling messy to me as a result.  Now, you have to understand that my mess-tolerance is pretty low, so a mess to me probably looks pretty normal to some people!  But, I do like stuff and can let things get a little too cluttered.  Tidy, but cluttered. In order to tackle the clutter, I needed to clean out the drawers to make much better use of them and be honest about what I use most and what really needs to be at-the-ready.  I also have to be honest about what

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March 10, 2021 34 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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