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Decorating
All Things Home

Painting Checkboard Floors | Part 1

I’ve had the painting-checkerboard-floors itch for a long time!  Back in 2012 I was contemplating finishing my dining room and living room in a two-toned stained checkerboard pattern (you can find that post HERE), but Jeff didn’t love the idea and talked me out of it.  I was slightly relieved because the prospect of doing all of that geometry made me nervous.  I just wasn’t sure I had the patience or attention to detail to pull it off well. When we moved into this house, I knew the studio would be the perfect candidate to finally try a checkerboard floor, but there was just so much to be done that it seemed to be silly to crawl around on the floor taping off squares for an entire day.  I just needed to get paint on the floors and then deal with more elaborate ideas later. Can you believe this is

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February 24, 2020 32 Comments
All Things Home

reworking the office shelves

Buying used books on Amazon and regular visits to means that the bookshelves in my office and studio are always in flux.  I’m constantly having to arrange and rearrange to accommodate new acquisitions.  So, a couple of weeks ago, I took some time to get the shelves in both my office and studio tidied up. Yes, I organize my books by color and size.  It just looks neater on the shelf to me and I can still find what I’m looking for, because books that are similar in topic are stored on different shelves in different rooms.  All of my art and design books are in my studio and my home and business books are in my office.  This method isn’t going to work for everyone, but it works for me! I also decided to hang my guitar next to the bookshelf.  I find that I’m more likely to pick

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February 21, 2020 13 Comments
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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February 19, 2020 No Comments
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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February 17, 2020 31 Comments
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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February 14, 2020 12 Comments
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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February 12, 2020 24 Comments
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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February 11, 2020 53 Comments
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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February 7, 2020 50 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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