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home improvement

1970 home renovation

1970 kitchen renovation | installing cabinet hardware

Last weekend, Jeff and I took some time to put the hardware on the cabinets We have put a lot of hardware on furniture and cabinets over the years, so we knew this was a task we could manage ourselves. We were also working with two different styles and a few different hardware sizes, so I wanted to ensure I could take my time to determine the correct placement on each cabinet and drawer. It would be somewhat tedious due to my own uncertainty on a few things, so it would be better for us to install it ourselves instead of dragging someone else into the lets-try-it-in-the-center-again process. As a reminder, THESE are the crystal and brass knobs I selected for the cabinets and a few of the drawers and THESE are the unlacquered brass pulls I ordered for the drawers, appliances, and select cabinets. I did a lot of

June 5, 2023 29 Comments

home improvement

my favorite tools for painting (homes)

When I typed out the title of this post, I realized I needed to make a distinction. “My favorite paint tools” was a bit too broad given that I do a few different types of painting! In this instance, I’m hot off the heels of priming the new trim in the hallway and the ceiling and walls in the kitchen and it seemed like a good time to share some of my favorite tools for getting a professional result. Speaking of the kitchen, it is really starting to come along. I primed and painted the ceiling on Wednesday and Thursday to prepare for the electricians to install the new recessed lights on Friday. Oh man, having a clean, white ceiling and lots of light looks amazing. With just two overhead light fixtures, this room was sooooo dark. Bringing in natural, task, and ambient lighting was a top priority. It’s possible

May 1, 2023 18 Comments

1970 home renovation

tips I learned from the pros stripping wallpaper

I told you I would only write a couple more posts about stripping wallpaper, so let’s just get one out of the way. This post is prompted by the people asking if I snooped and picked up some tips from the pros who were stripping off our wallpaper and glue. The bad news is that they didn’t have some magic product or technique that made the paper and glue magically fall off. It was still messy, laborious, tedious, and challenging just as it has been for me and every other human who has had the misfortune of having to strip wallpaper. There is just no way around it. I did pick up a few things, though, that I thought I would pass on. If you missed it, you can read how my mom and I removed the wallpaper glue in the primary bedroom HERE. We’ve since been using a steamer

January 24, 2023 30 Comments

All Things Home

how to remove wallpaper glue from walls

When you do an internet search for “how to remove wallpaper glue from walls”, you end up finding all sorts of articles that suggest all manner of mixtures to rewet glue and remove it from a wall. I read a lot of those articles as I needed to wash wallpaper glue off of the walls of our primary bedroom and was hoping to get it done before having new hardwood floors installed. I learned, though, that most of these articles aren’t written by people who have or are in the process of washing wallpaper glue off of their walls. It’s missing the angst that comes along with doing this unenjoyable and discouraging DIY project. It’s also missing the combination of products, materials, tools, and techniques that actually work to remove the glue and prepare the walls for painting. Since I just spent the better part of last week doing this

October 4, 2022 37 Comments

All Things Home

painting a metal gas fireplace surround

So, remember the family room makeover? It’s still there, but it has dragged on for quite a while! It’s a project that moves in fits and starts. I’ll make huge progress and then I’ll get distracted by other things for a while. That’s not a bad way to work on a project, though, especially one that’s strictly cosmetic and not causing any real interruption to the household. I can take a break and come back to it with fresh energy and perspective. It’s allowed me to make decisions one step at a time and I certainly haven’t felt rushed! This past weekend, though, it was warm-ish (for February in Minnesota), sunny, and I was itching to tackle a list of undone projects including finishing the details of a project I worked on back in October – painting the metal fireplace surround. I painted the mantel and tile, but the reveal

February 28, 2022 2 Comments

All Things Home

how I manage home decorating/renovation projects

A few weeks ago, I received this e-mail from a reader and I thought I would share it along with the answer to how I manage my home renovation projects. Here is an excerpt from the e-mail… “I know you’re extremely busy, but if you haven’t already done so, I would really love to see a blog post on how you arrive at your project list(s). Do you sit in a room and add everything that ever needs to be done, and then add more as things come up? Or do you just start a running list as ideas come to you? Do you keep track by project (i.e., everything that needs to be painted), or by room? How do you decide what gets moved up and down on the list? How do you resolve competing priorities for projects including decisions re: resources (money, time, motivation)?” Now that I have

October 29, 2020 24 Comments

All Things Home

how to paint a granite fireplace surround

One of the downsides to buying a house that is new-ish and in nice condition is that it’s hard to rip out and replace things that are perfectly nice. In the other homes we’ve owned, I’ve been able to take the approach of “we can’t make it any worse, so let’s just go for it!” In this house, we can make things worse and also make them look cheap and shoddy in comparison to the quality of the home. So, I was hesitant to do any sort of DIY treatment to the granite fireplace surround in the living room. There was nothing wrong with it, but it just wasn’t my taste. I can’t tell you how much research I’ve done over the past three years on how to paint a granite fireplace surround before I finally took the plunge! I wasn’t even sure I wanted to paint it, so I

August 17, 2020 33 Comments

All Things Home

Edging & Painting the Concrete Patio

Last Thursday, the weather was lovely. It was sunny, wasn’t too hot, and there was a light breeze. It was the perfect day to get the patio under our deck painted. Oh, this patio was so sad and neglected. It felt so good to finally give it some attention! Before we could paint, we had to get it all cleaned up. We did the majority of that during one of our family workdays. We burned the sticks, bagged the trash, put things in the garage that we wanted to keep (like the cinderblocks) and power washed the dirt and debris off. It looked so much better after a good cleaning, but the power washer (we have ) did not remove the paint splatters from when the previous owners painted the deck. The best option was to prime and paint to achieve a nice, clean surface. I started by edging around

June 16, 2020 16 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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