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All Things Home

installing a stair runner

I shared several weeks ago that I wanted to add a carpet runner to our steps.  We have 1940’s stairs that are shallow, by today’s standards, and entirely wood.  That combination has led to more than one topple down the steps by pretty much everyone in our family.  Adding a runner wouldn’t help with how shallow the steps are, but it will at least cushion any future falls.  It also makes the pokey stairwell look more like an intentionally decorated space. I started with three Stockholm Dash & Albert 2.5 x 8 woven cotton runners.  They have so many beautiful patterns to choose from, but the colors in this design worked best in my space. I received the runners a while ago, but wanted to wait until the upstairs bathroom tile was completed before I installed them.  The weather was not being very wet-tile-saw-friendly, so the tile had to wait.

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All Things Home

reinforcing a chair back

If you’ve been following along the past few weeks, you know I’ve been doing a lot of upholstery.  Upholstering is a skill I learned out of necessity.  I had a slate blue & mauve overstuffed freebie chair that wasn’t working with the fabrics I wanted to use, so I sort of reupholstered it.  I was too afraid to really pull the chair apart, so I did a totally made-up half-slipcover-half-upholstery sort of thing.  “Slipholstery”, if you will.  It was a bit of a mess, but I was so proud of that chair.  It gave me the courage to purchase other chairs that needed to be reupholstered. I started working on more yard sale finds and I learned on each one along the way.  I’m still learning.  I still have a lot of limitations when it comes to upholstery and I still make some things up as I go along, but my

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All Things Home

green toile chair makeover

I hope you like chair makeovers, because I have chairs galore in the studio! This is another one I found on Craig’s List.  It was quite a bargain, because a couple of the legs were loose.  This would’ve been a much harder fix on an older chair, but this one had bolts that just needed to be tightened. We stripped off the old upholstery and removed the piping around the bottom edge of the seat.  I added an additional layer of batting, because I wanted to upholster down to the curvy trim.  I think it looks better that way and works with the lines of the chair. The wood frame was shiny and pretty banged up, so I decided to paint it in MMSMP Linen, which is a creamy white.  I sanded the glossy finish first and added the Bonding Agent. While I want to do everything in blues, grays and whites,

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All Things Home

French chair makeover

I have a lot on my plate for the next couple of months and my mind has been churning trying to sort and prioritize.  When I hit these busy seasons, it helps me to get things checked off the to-do list, so I decided to get going right away on things this morning.  Before heading to the studio, I worked some more on the wallpaper mural in the upstairs bath.  Hanging wallpaper is tedious work, so I can only take it in doses.  I just have a few more rows to hang and then it will be all done.  I’m loving how it’s looking, though! I was a bit scattered when I arrived at the studio.  I wanted to work on about ten things at a time, so I sort of scurried from one thing to the next.  Kriste is great at helping me settle down.  She organized the furniture

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Before and Afters

French chair makeover

I have a lot on my plate for the next couple of months and my mind has been churning trying to sort and prioritize.  When I hit these busy seasons, it helps me to get things checked off the to-do list, so I decided to get going right away on things this morning.  Before heading to the studio, I worked some more on the wallpaper mural in the upstairs bath.  Hanging wallpaper is tedious work, so I can only take it in doses.  I just have a few more rows to hang and then it will be all done.  I’m loving how it’s looking, though! I was a bit scattered when I arrived at the studio.  I wanted to work on about ten things at a time, so I sort of scurried from one thing to the next.  Kriste is great at helping me settle down.  She organized the furniture

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All Things Home

checked chair

I have been in an upholstery mood lately and I’ve learned I need to take advantage of that sort of mood and get some upholstery done.  Kriste worked on stripping a couple of chairs we had hanging in the stash and I started upholstering this beauty.  One of my regular shoppers at Lucketts sent me pictures of it, asking if I would be interested.  Well, of course!  So, we negotiated a trade.  Jeff’s face was a riot when he saw someone bringing a piece of furniture to our booth instead of away from it.  Especially a chair with grass hanging out of it.  But he didn’t see what I saw.  I saw the gorgeous patina on the wood frame and the old straw and horse hair stuffing.  I knew I could bring this old girl back to life and she would be worth it. I’ve also been really into checks lately.  I’ve added

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All Things Home

french twins reveal

This reveal is a little anticlimactic, since you’ve already seen what one finished chair looks like and they are twins, so the other one looks pretty much the same.  As with all identical twins, though, there are some subtle differences, so I thought it was worth giving them both a proper introduction. I’m going to totally brag on my student Kriste and say that she did 99% of the upholstery work on one of these.  Can you tell which one? She did an amazing job and you can’t tell which one was done by the experienced upholsterer and which one was done by the rookie.  She did the one of the left, if you’re curious. We have a lot of chairs in the hopper to work on for Lucketts, so I’m glad to have her on my team!   Here is how the chairs started.  They weren’t bad at all,

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All Things Home

how to custom mat a photo | video tutorial

I’ve shared before that I grew up an Army brat.  Some kids really hate the instability of moving around, but I thrived on change and, despite crying when they were ripping up flower beds to work on WWII era pipes, I loved living on a military base.  We could walk everywhere and had so much freedom as kids.  There were also tons of programs to get involved in.  I did theatre, baton twirling, tap dancing, basketball, soccer, baseball, ballet, tin-punching, rafting, hiking, ice skating and was a part of a ski club…it was a really cool way to grow up.  My mom also got involved in the classes they offered for military wives.  One of those classes was learning how to frame and custom mat a photo. I remember my mom taking family pictures to the frame shop to work on and, eventually, we had a beautiful gallery wall.  So,

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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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May 20th, 2026 at 1pm EST

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