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All Things Home

All Things Home

make-do spring decor

As the seasons begin to change, you’ll typically find me perusing a few of my favorite stores, looking for new pieces to mix in with my everyday items or ideas to get my creative wheels turning.  Other than Christmas, I’m not big on seasonal decorating.   It can get expensive and, if not checked, you can end up with a lot of stuff that needs to be stored for 10-11 months each year.  I would rather focus my decorating dollars on things that are evergreen and, instead of hauling out bins of cliche decor, I’ll bring in a few fresh seasonal elements, rearrange, and utilize pieces that speak to the season.  A plaid throw can speak to fall.  Some pale green dishes can speak to spring and summer.  Pinecones in a wooden bowl speak to winter.  It’s just a simpler, more economic way to decorate. When I do buy or make

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All Things Home

organizing the dining room

If you’re going to join my live painting class/demo, I’ve scheduled it for Friday, April 3, 2020, at 2:00 CST.  HERE is the event in Facebook to let me know if you’re joining live.  It will be recorded and you can watch it later if you’re not able to make it. Remember, this is just for fun.  No pressure about having all the supplies or the right supplies.  We’re just going to paint and learn.  It’ll be my first time doing a live oil painting demo, so we’ll muddle along together! I’ve had “organize the dining room” on my to-do list for a loooong time.  Months.  It hasn’t hung out on the list because it’s a big project, it’s hard, or even that I’m avoiding it.  It’s just not that important when the mess is behind closed doors that I don’t open very often.  I only go in them when

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All Things Home

Tidying the Laundry Room & Bottling Cleaners

A few weeks ago, I was in a cleaning and organizing mood.  I am the sort of person who’s in that kind of mood pretty regularly, but this was on another level.  It started with getting all of my cleaning supplies sorted out and turned into reorganizing the laundry room shelves.  I keep cleaners, sponges, brushes, etc. all over the house, so that cleaning is easy.  Under the sink of each bathroom is a bottle of glass cleaner, toilet cleaner, a toilet brush, sponges, a couple of rolls of paper towels, all-purpose cleaners, scouring powder or paste, paper towels, a few clean microfiber dust cloths, and a small box of garbage bags.  (I share some of my favorite cleaners in THIS POST.)  In the master bathroom, I also have dishwasher tabs and a big bottle of white vinegar for cleaning the jet tub.  In a three-story house, this means I

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All Things Home

ruffled-edge farmhouse crochet dishcloth tutorial (for beginners)

I’m so excited to share another crochet tutorial!  I know a lot of you are learning crochet or dusting off that skill to keep your hands and minds busy during this time at home.  I, for one, thought I would have so much extra time, but it just hasn’t turned out that way!  What I need to do for my business day-to-day hasn’t slowed and Jeff and the boys are home, which requires more help on schoolwork, cooking, feeding, and tidying-up.  We’ve also been more intentional about spending quality time together – playing games, going on walks, and just paying attention to one another.  Teen and pre-teen boys aren’t the best at expressing themselves, so them asking you to come watch them do pull-ups might be their way of asking for reassurance.  In a way, this time has been so sweet.  We haven’t been running from one thing to the

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All Things Home

Furniture Dilemmas | Connie’s Queen Anne Highboy

Let’s talk about furniture, shall we?  That seems like a welcome diversion! Today, I’m going to share the step-by-step how-to for painting and finishing a piece like Connie’s Queen Anne highboy…. Here is how it looks in the context of her room…   Isn’t that a lovely space?  It reminds me a lot of my Opa’s house.  And I mean that in a good way, not in a way like it looks like an “old person’s” house!  It looks welcoming and traditional, but tasteful and stylish.  It’s collected and comfortable.  I think it also has something to do with the fact that they had a similar rug and an almost identical gooseneck rocker.  Anyway, I love her room! The dresser in the corner was a piece handed along to her and she feels like it’s a little dark in the room and just another heavy wood piece next to that

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a slice of life

swedish & german brushes

I am a brush-lover and have been for many years.  And my soft spot for brushes goes beyond those used for paint.  I love pretty brooms, dish brushes, make-up brushes, basting brushes, new brushes, old brushes…you get the idea.  When I sold in a retail space and at markets, I was on a mission to find some pretty brushes to sell beyond the antique and vintage brushes I would pick up here and there.  I imagined bouquets of dish brushes in ironstone pitchers.  I eventually found and started carrying Redecker brushes from Germany.  Not only did I sell them online, out of my studio, and at Lucketts… …but, I kept a whole hoard of them for myself to use in my home.  I’ve slowly been working my way through that stash, holding onto each brush until the wood is split and the bristles are nubs.  Now that I’m down to

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All Things Home

studio shelf reveal

Hey, everyone!  I’m sitting down to write this post as events this weekend have been canceled and, what was going to be a busy weekend is occupied with playing cards, making a chicken pot pie, housekeeping, and listening to the boys play Toby Mac in next room.  Jeff is taking a rare Sunday off to go fishing with a friend.  The quiet morning is welcome in this busy season, but it is a reminder that things are not normal. Friday was our 21st wedding anniversary and Jeff and I ate breakfast out together and he took me to a Scandinavian store in Minneapolis I’ve been wanting to visit.  (I’ll share about that in another post.)  When we got back into Rochester, we felt like it would be a good idea to do our regular grocery shopping and also pick up a few extra things.  We weren’t in a panic, but

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All Things Home

cleaning & reviving old wood

A few weeks ago, I took some time to hit some of my favorite local antique and thrift stores.  I had been inside a lot during my shoulder recovery and then catching up on work through January and I just needed to get out…not to go to the grocery store or to run the boys to an activity, but to meander without much purpose.  While I was out, I ended up buying a couple of old wooden spools for $1.  I thought they would be nice to wrap yarn or twine around that had come unraveled.  They were dirty and the wood was dry, though, so I took some time to clean them up and get them hydrated. The first thing I did was scrub them with dish soap and water.  I know some people are nervous about getting wood wet, but it really is the best way to clean

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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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