Before and Afters Archives | Page 5 of 51

Before and Afters

All Things Home

hutch makeover in tuscany

I must admit, when we got on a plane headed to Florence, Italy, I wasn’t ready to leave Paris, yet. I loved our time there and it was tough to pack up our belongings and leave that apartment. I was excited about Italy, but Paris would be hard to top. Well, Tuscany was not going to be upstaged or underestimated. It charmed me throughly with mountains, walled cities, narrow cobblestone streets that opened into piazzas, olive groves, and sun-kissed paint colors. I can’t wait to tell you all about it. As I did with Paris, I’ll tell you about the trip in stories instead of in one long narrative. Today, I am going to tell you the story of a hutch hidden in an attic in Tuscany that needed a little TLC. Do you see the red building on the left side of this tiny street in Barga? This ancient

September 27, 2018 34 Comments

All Things Home

makeover of the paisley chairs

I know some of you really loved the red paisley chairs as they were and, I agree, they were pretty. I’m sure they were beautiful for the first few decades they spent on this earth, but now they were only pretty if you didn’t look too closely at them. They were stained, watermarked, smelled a little musty from years of accumulated dust. It was time. And, well, the red just wasn’t working for me in this space. I wanted to stick with my cool blue, white and green color palette, with warmth coming from the wood finishes. Whenever I looked around this room, these chairs stood out as unfinished and not-quite-right. I think that’s mostly because I always envisioned them in a different fabric in my mind’s eye. So, I finally took the time to remove those thousands of nails and even more staples and then reupholstered them in this

August 3, 2018 78 Comments

All Things Home

painting the interior of the primitive hutch

It was on my “annoying project list“, so I got the interior of the primitive hutch in the dining room painted when I was knocking out all of the other annoying projects. Painting furniture is normally like therapy for me, but painting the interiors of hutches and cabinets is my achilles heel. It always takes more paint and more time than one would think and it usually involves awkward angles and hand cramps. The darker wood interior wasn’t working in the full scope of the room, though. When viewed as a standalone piece of furniture it was fine, but once I finished everything around it, it became the darkest thing in the room. It’s nice to have a balance of light and dark and some contrast, but this was more like a black hole. It didn’t add anything to the room, but detracted from everything else. So, knowing it wasn’t

August 1, 2018 51 Comments

All Things Home

dining table makeover

Independent of one another, two of my friends from church asked me if I could give them advice on refinishing a table. It occurred to me that I have a table I want to refinish, too, so why not make a day of it and refinished all of the tables together? Projects are always more fun when fellowship is involved and, as an added bonus, we have boys who are the same age and they could play together while we worked. Projects are also more fun with the kiddos are occupied and happy! Since I was working with friends on their tables as well as my own, I didn’t take the time to do a tutorial for this one, but I’ll share links to tutorials I’ve written in the past when I used the same techniques. Here is the table before… It wasn’t in bad shape, but it had a

July 30, 2018 42 Comments

All Things Home

repainting the primitive blue cabinet

The primitive blue hutch has been one of my favorite pieces of furniture for several years, but it is a little too primitive for my current home. The shape is simple enough, so I think it has more to do with the color and distressed, worn paint. I have been debating painting it for months and I finally did it! Here is how it looked originally… And how it looks now… I know the blue paint on the cabinet looks like it’s old, but it had been repainted before I acquired it (I could see the roller marks) and I repainted it when I brought it home (to tone down the blue a little bit.) All of that to say I wouldn’t have painted it if the paint was original. The new coat of paint is Shutter Gray mixed with some Lucketts Green and Linen MMS Milk Paint. It made

July 8, 2018 88 Comments

All Things Home

kitchen chair makeovers

Remember the French-style chairs I purchased for our kitchen eating area last fall? Here’s a reminder of what they looked like… I knew when I purchased them that I would eventually make a slipcover for the seats and reupholster the backs. I can have some light-colored upholstery in the house, but I knew it was not going to survive in our main eating area long term. And it didn’t. Even Jeff pointed out how spotty they were getting and that’s saying a lot. They finally got so bad that it was time. I used a checked fabric called Zippy in the color Lakeland by P Kaufmann for the seat slipcover and the front of the back. The back of the chair is upholstered in an antique grain sack. Now, I goofed on the fabrics a bit. Not a big deal, but I was actually planning on using the larger scale

May 17, 2018 66 Comments

All Things Home

pine desk refresh

One thing that has been on my shopping list for a while is a desk for the master bedroom. Since Jeff has an office at the church, he doesn’t need one at the house. He occassionally does work at home and requested a desk in our room, since it’s a quiet room, pretty well removed from the rest of the house. I didn’t know exactly what I was looking for, but I knew I would know it when I saw it. I was thinking it might be along the lines of a simple writing desk, but when I came upon this pine desk in a local antique shop a couple of weeks ago, it caught my eye and I thought it would work in the space… It had some short-cut repairs, was missing a knob, and it was dirty, but it was solid, had a nice shape, and a pretty

May 10, 2018 52 Comments

All Things Home

farmhouse table reveal & sealing chippy paint tutorial

The farmhouse table is finished and I’m so happy with how it turned out! If you remember, it was painted brown. I could see some original green paint showing through and I was hoping to reveal that through some chippy Farmhouse White MMS Milk Paint and that is exactly what happened. If you missed the other posts about this table transformation, you can check them out here… Prepping the table for paint Hemp Oiling the top & applying the second coat of milk paint Distressing & getting the “chippy look” Now, the table was distressed and ready for a finish. I chose Tough Coat, since that is our best finish for sealing in chippiness, so the paint doesn’t continue to flake. Here is a tutorial showing how I sealed the table base… This table was a great piece and I’m glad I was able to give it a fresh look

May 2, 2018 34 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.

next art sale

May 20th, 2026 at 1pm EST

Now Available for Preorder

Move Slow & Make Things

A book about creativity, intention, and making things with care. Sign up to receive updates, preorder details, and exclusive bonus content.

From the Studio

Artful pieces for your home and everyday life.

From original paintings and art prints to Pup Club releases and curated goods, each piece is created or chosen to bring warmth, creativity, and character into your home.

From the Studio and Home

Shop the Feed

A handpicked collection of items styled and shared throughout posts, projects, and social feeds. Every product is thoughtfully chosen to reflect a timeless, collected aesthetic.