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Decorating

All Things Home

DIY & ready-made tie-up shades

I’m bringing you a “twofer” in today’s post – a tie-up shade tutorial and a ready-made version! So, a few months ago, I made three linen shades with my mom for my studio.  I did the cutting, pinning, and sewing, and she did the ironing.  With the two of us working together, we were able to get three done quickly, but we didn’t have time to finish the remaining three before she left.  I’ve been dragging my feet since January, feeling like the project would eat up a couple of days of my time.  I finally got to work on them and finished all three in about three hours!  It’s so ridiculous how I can build projects up in my own head when they really won’t take that long. Anyway, while I was stalling, I spoke with Decor Steals about making a reproduction shade for those who don’t sew or

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All Things Home

installation of the new kitchen counters

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by HanStone.  All opinions and words are honest and my own. Monday was the day and it was like counting down the days to Christmas.  I think HanStone needs to make an advent calendar to countdown to counter install day.  Filled with dark chocolates and bite-sized samples of coordinating backsplash tile. Anyway, before the install could happen, our fabricator and installer had to come to the house to measure for the new counters.  We used a local company, The Pinske Edge in Rochester, MN.  (And, just to explain, the material for the counters was provided by HanStone as a part of the sponsorship, but we paid for the fabrication and installation.) On the day of measuring, I had to clear off the counters, so they could have full access to those as well as the walls and cabinets.  I was expecting a guy with a

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All Things Home

Plans for the steps

I hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day weekend!  I know this particular holiday can be bitter sweet for some, remembering mothers or children they have lost or never knew or had.  But I hope some joy could be found, even for those who are mourning. I celebrated mother’s day by being a mom/wife…cooking pancakes for the boys, making one of Jeff’s favorite meals for an early dinner, supervising chores and Nerf wars, cleaning the house, and yes, even doing some laundry.  I received a button necklace made with only blue and green buttons and white beads.  I was also given a bouquet of white roses, a card with a singing cat, and a piece of my favorite lemon cake.  And I was given some quiet time to paint in my studio.  All around, a pretty nice day. So, today I’m sharing about some more plans I have… One of

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All Things Home

adding layers to the living room

As I mentioned in my post about painting the stairwell walls, I decided to change the color of the living room from Wickham Gray to Stonington Gray.  It’s a very subtle change, but it will ultimately flow better with the rest of the first floor.  Wickham Gray was looking a little green in comparison and, since you can see the foyer and kitchen from the living room, it was feeling off. I needed to finish painting the trim in that room, which would involve moving the furniture and taking the curtains down, anyway, so it made sense to change the color at the same time. You can see the subtle change in color.  Stonington is on the left and Wickham on the right… It’s a little bit warmer, darker, and feels more sophisticated for some reason. (I need to keep telling my boys to turn off the fire!  They really

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All Things Home

faux boxwood topiaries

I have been a fan of topiaries for years and am always drawn to buy them, even when history tells me I won’t be able to keep them alive for more than a few months.  In our new house, my studio is a sunroom, so it is a sanctuary for plants during the winter and I’m having more success with plants than I ever had before.  The light in the studio couldn’t save these topiaries I bought last summer when we first moved in, though.  I didn’t bring them in before the first frost and they were toast.  Even if I had brought them in before the frost, I couldn’t handle the smell!  They stunk up the studio and I was almost glad the frost got them, so I had a good excuse to pitch them. Over the winter, I put a pair potted of evergreens next to the door

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All Things Home

dining room | new arrangement & plans

This squared-shaped dining room has been a little tricky to figure out, but I think I’m getting a little closer. The primitive blue hutch has felt wrong from the beginning, but it’s what I had and I needed time to live in the space and think about it before I bought anything new or made any big decisions.  After thinking about it for a while, I decided to try something free…swapping around the furniture.  I had an oak sideboard that I moved up to the master bedroom, really as a place-holder more than anything else.  I decided to move it back downstairs and try it out in the dining room… Obviously, everything is low and the space is a little naked, but I really like this option better than the hutch.  It seems to open up the room a bit more and the pieces of furniture, while found secondhand on

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All Things Home

painting the stairway wall

A couple of weeks ago, I finally started painting the wall and trim in the back stairway.  It had been bugging me for a while, but the idea of painting those spindles and taping off the carpet seemed like an annoying, tedious project and I kept putting it off.  I knew that once I pinned myself down to start working on it, it wouldn’t be as bad as I had built it up to be in my head and that was exactly the case.  Why was I so whiney about taping off carpet when it took about 3 minutes?! I find myself doing that often…talking myself out of starting on a project, because I’m fairly certain it might be torture (or require a small amount of patience.)  There have only been a couple of times in my full DIY career that have turned out to actually be miserable, so I

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All Things Home

training rosemary topiaries & other garden things

We almost broke into the 60’s in Minnesota last weekend, so I had gardening on the brain.  We’re still waiting for all of the snow to melt and the ground to thaw, but the warmth and sunshine gave me the itch to get my hands dirty.  It’s going to be a while before I can start on the yard, so I decided to repot some of my houseplants that needed more elbow (root) room and give everything a haircut. First up were the rosemary plants that have been flanking my kitchen sink for a few months.  I’ve never had much luck keeping rosemary alive for very long, but plants love all of the rooms on the back side of our house, which faces south.  We get beautiful light all day long, so they can grow and stay healthy. They were both looking like they needed more soil and I have

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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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