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All Things Home

a slice of life

quick turkey avocado burgers

Back in January, I started taking pictures of what I was eating through the day…mostly breakfast, lunch, and some snacks, and sharing it on my Instagram Stories.  I didn’t plan to continue doing it, but I’ve received so many comments from people who have found it inspiring and encouraging, so I’ve kept sharing.  As a side benefit, it’s helped hold me accountable, too.  I want to eat healthy, pretty meals that I’m proud to share. I have been making some progress in the weight loss department, but being sick has slowed down my weekly workouts.  I hope to get back to them consistently when I get back from my trip to Florida next week (to have a mini creative retreat with Shaunna.)  I haven’t been following any consistent plan, but have been trying to eat whole foods, more protein, healthy fats, and lower carbs.  I also try to “eat my

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All Things Home

vintage/farmhouse-style glass cozy crochet tutorial

Years ago, I was shopping for inventory for the Lucketts Spring Market and found a ziplock bag containing some cream crochet work.  I wasn’t sure what they were initially, but I’ve learned how to hunt and peck to try to find things others might overlook.  I’m the one crawling into the depths of an antique booth, opening all of the cases and boxes and bags and looking at the bottom of piles!  When I pulled the pieces out, I knew immediately what they were.  Socks!  Not the kind you wear on your feet, but the kind you put on your glass. You see, I grew up using socks that my great-grandmother made.  We used them to identify our glasses and to prevent water rings on wood furniture.  I even still have a few of them in a ziplock bag in my butler’s pantry. But, I loved the style of these

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All Things Home

restyling the dining room hutch

When I restyled the shelves in the living room (you can find that post HERE), I ended up raiding the dining room hutch.  Doesn’t accessory or furniture shuffling always cause a chain reaction?  One thing gets crossed off the list and you end up adding two or three more things to the list! Here is how the dining room hutch looked before I raided it… Since I removed almost all of the antique blue and white transferware, I was left with white ironstone and some reproduction jadeite pieces I purchased at Walmart (links are below). I knew I wanted to use those pieces, but mix in some other elements…perhaps wood, silver, or glass.  So, I started playing around, bringing in different elements and sitting them on the shelf to see what looked right to my design eye.  I wanted it to look harmonious, but collected.  I wanted these pieces to

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All Things Home

Fabrics & Wallpapers | Rochester House

I shared my paint colors last week and decided to share the fabrics and papers I’ve used so far in our MN house.  I’m not asked about them as often as the paint colors, but I probably get a question about my curtains or some other fabric about once a week. The fabrics in my living room and eating area are probably my favorites!  The large-scale check used on the sofa and bergere chairs is Check Please in Lakeland.  I first spotted this fabric online, used on a reupholstered chair, and it was love at first sight.  When we moved, I knew I wanted to use it in our house.  I bought it first to use on a pair of chairs I purchased off craigslist that were upholstered in a red paisley fabric.  You can read about that makeover HERE. It was fortunate that had the exact fabric available as

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a slice of life

German Cucumber Salad Recipe

One thing I grew to love during my childhood spent in Germany was German food!  Oh, my mouth waters just thinking about it the warm pretzels with fresh butter, spaetzle with brown gravy, potato pancakes topped with fine applesauce, and crispy schnitzel.  I also loved German cucumber salad. Several years ago, I received this recipe from a German woman who gave it to me after we got into a conversation about German food.  I’ve made it multiple times over the years and it’s always a winner – fresh, crispy, and tasty. Lately, I’ve been working on eating healthier.  Specifically, I’m eating whole foods, watching my portions, lowering my carbs and sugars, and increasing protein and healthy fats.  (And it’s even better with homemade mayo.)  This cucumber salad fits right into that plan, so I’ve been making it every couple of weeks to eat with lunch or dinner (or even as

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All Things Home

switching to linen towels

I have quite a hoard of linen towels, both new and antique.  There is just something irresistible to me about linen.  For the most part, though, those beautiful towels have sat in stacks.  I approached them with the mindset that they were somehow too precious to actually use.  I am pretty regularly preaching that you should use the things you love daily instead of saving them for special occasions, but the idea of stains and frays on my pretty linen towels was a deterrent. Well, I finally gave myself a good talking-to and decided to use some antique linen towels in our half-bath. Guess what?  They wash well, they are more absorbent than one would think, and they dry much quicker than terrycloth. So, I decided to make the switch to using linen towels in the kitchen and see how that went.  They are so much thinner than terrycloth…would they

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All Things Home

Crochet Potholders Tutorial for Beginners

I have another crochet project for you this week crochet potholders for beginners! A couple of weeks ago, my mom requested that I figure out how to make a pair of potholders similar to the ones my great-grandmother made her over 50 years ago.  I didn’t even have to ask which potholders she was referring to.  I knew the pair well, as I witnessed them being used and used them myself my entire childhood.  Through every move, in every military housing kitchen, those potholders were a constant. These crochet potholders were thick, white, and made with tight stitches and a loop on one corner that was frayed from time and use. So, I went to my yarn stash to see if I had a cotton yarn that would be suitable for the project.  I selected the Cotton XXL by Yarn Bee.  I have worked with it enough to know it

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All Things Home

My Paint Colors | Rochester House

One of the most commonly asked questions on social media and here on the blog are about my paint colors, so I thought I would share them all in one post!  That’ll make it easy for me to refer people to one source, especially because some of the colors are custom-mixed.  I’ll also take this opportunity to talk about what it means to have a color mixed at 50% and why I like utilizing that option. All of the colors are Benjamin Moore unless noted. For the walls, the type of paint I used is Aura in a matte finish.  For cabinets and trim, I used Advanced in Satin. Let’s start with the color I’m asked about most – Stonington Gray!  I have typed that response so many times that my phone auto-fills the words for me!  It is definitely a blue/gray, but the color is a bit of a

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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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