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All Things Home

All Things Home

Hand Painted Mora Dresser | Part 2

In case you missed part one of this dresser makeover, you can check it out HERE. At the end of yesterday’s post, I said I would show how the dresser turned out as well as how I distressed and finished it, so this post is fulfilling that promise. And here it is… I did a light distressing with 120 grit sandpaper, just to “knock down the newness” of the fresh paint.  I also wanted to soften the decorative painting.  You can see how I did it in the video… I also replaced the broken caster, added new glass knobs, and finished the piece in MMSMP’s Hemp Oil… This piece still followed my tradition of scrolly decorative painting on drawer fronts, but I changed it up a bit by adding the folk art animals as well as some different strokes. I love the rabbit and I think I need to play

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All Things Home

Hand Painted Mora Dresser | Part 1

Last week, I finally got around to painting a dresser that’s been hanging out in my garage since October!  I put it off originally because the winter weather set in, but then this spring has been busy and it’s been out of sight, out of mind.  Jeff cleaned out the garage a few weeks ago and I promised I would paint the dresser and get it out of there. Well, I finally did and I made a video of the process. So, here is how the dresser started… It’s a pretty little piece, but the finish was a bit dinged up.  A part of me wanted to sand it all down and do some kind of a whitewash or bleach the wood or something, but a reader of me asked if I would paint it specifically for her.  Since I was just going to sell it, anyway, I was happy

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All Things Home

quartz counters one year later

Last May, we had Hanstone Quartz countertops (in the pattern Monterey) installed in our kitchen and I thought I would give an update now that we’ve been using them for over a year.  Of course, a review after 1o years or 20 years would hold more weight, but well…I don’t have a time machine, so you’re getting a one-year review! The original posts about these counters were a part of a sponsored collaboration with Hanstone, but this follow-up post is not. I will go ahead and destroy any suspense that may have existed and let you know that I love these counters and they were a great decision.  If you remember when I was in the process of selecting new counters, quartz felt like a bit of a compromise. I had my heart set on marble.  Or so I thought.  What I actually had my heart set on was the

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All Things Home

office shutters

I was combing through some photos taken earlier this year while I was working on cleaning up my hard drive and making backups and I realized I had pictures of a project that I never shared!  I took the picture right before my mom visited in March, so there were more exciting things to write about, like the guest room makeover and the picture frame molding in the living room.  This project wasn’t as dramatic, so the pictures remained unedited and the project was never shared. I did share that we installed plantation shutters in the large window of my office… This window faces the street, so it felt like a fishbowl and some sort of window treatment was required for privacy.  But, we left the small window, which faces the side of the neighbor’s house, untreated. I wanted a shutter on that window, too, though, so the windows looked

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All Things Home

a new home for the $50 dresser

Last week was such a blast.  I ended up spending it with my dear friend, Shaunna.  We became fast friends about 9 years ago when we met at the blogging conference, Blissdom. We are two peas in a pod, as they say.  We’re just alike enough and just different enough. Shuanna flew up to Minnesota, so we could spend the week working on our new collaborative project, which we’ll be launching within a couple of weeks.  There was lots of laughing and a lot of deep creative conversations.  By the end of the week, I was simultaneously full to the brim and drained.  I can’t wait to tell you what we’ve been up to. Until then… I took the weekend to rest and catch up.  I slept in, journaled, did my morning walk, hung out with Jeff & the boys, painted, and got back into some of my normal routines. 

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a slice of life

Maison

I will admit to being a bit of a book junky.  You would think, then, that I love frequenting the local library.  But, the books I read are typically for reference, so I want to be able to make notes in them and fill them with sticky bookmarks.  I want to be able to revisit them again and again.  So, one of my favorite places to hang out is the local Barnes & Nobel.  A trip there is almost always included in an afternoon out of the house or when Jeff & I are on a date night.  And I often come home with a bag heavy with a book or two and maybe a magazine. In our most recent trip, I came across a delightful book I had never heard of – Maison.  My interest was immediately piqued because it was a collaboration between a watercolor artist and an

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All Things Home

july 2019 garden update

Well, things in the garden are finally blooming and looking much better after a harsh winter and a late spring.  A couple of weeks ago, I wasn’t sure that this garden was ever going to fully wake up, but the cycle of the season is carefully built into each plant and they know what to do even if I don’t. The petunias and vinca vine in the concrete urn are starting to spill over, just as I hoped they would and the hostas are filling in nicely around them.  I can see I might need to split them again in a year or so, which is fine with me since I have some other places I’d like to plant them. My Annabelle hydrangeas are blooming and beautiful!  I was nervous about them, since I just planted them last year and the winter was so cold, but they are doing great. 

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All Things Home

blame the used furniture

This story involves Jeff finding a snake in our kitchen, but that’s not where the story starts. Last week, I purchased a beautiful antique dresser off of craigslist for $50.  I was cruising the furniture section on a whim and spotted it.  I could tell from the shape and finish that it was an oldie and, since it was less than a mile down the road, I decided to jump at it. This isn’t the spot where it’s going to, by the way, but we just put it there until we find a permanent home for it (there are several spots in the running.) The wood has the most lovely patina on it… …and I love the unique details, like the shape of the feet. I even like the patched-together top.  I believe this originally had a marble top, but perhaps even had a hutch top.  Although there is no

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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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