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Furniture Makeovers

Before and Afters

evolution of my house | part 2 | the dining room

This is part two in a series that’s a more in-depth follow-up of my 2015 summer home tour.  Showing the entire house in one post made me realize what a change this home has undergone and I thought it would be encouraging to others if I share the slow process from “before” to “after”.  If you missed part one, the evolution of my living room, you can check it out HERE. Now, onto the dining room,which sits adjacent to the living room through a large arch.  Because these rooms open to one another, I’ve always painted them the same color and treated the windows the same.  Here’s how the dining room looks today… Here’s how this room started out.  You can see Jeff snapped a picture before he ripped up the carpeting.  You can also see that the room had the same shiny pine trim as the living room, dingy

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furniture feature friday | favorites & link party

 Good evening, all!  I don’t know about you, but I’m still trying to get used to our summer schedule.  I’ve had a busy spring, so it’s nice to finally get to slow down a bit and sleep in a bit later and relax our schedule.  Anyway, I enjoyed looking through your entries from last week and I think I found some great features to share with you.  Here they are… I am just smitten with this gloriously chippy washstand shared by Terry of The Curator’s Collection.  She bought the piece from her neighbor and spent an entire day cleaning it up!  I think it was worth it, though.  It’s a special piece. You have to check out how this $12 yard sale workbench started out.  Cheryl from Patina General did a lot more removing, in this case, than she did adding and the result is really beautiful.  It sold so fast that she

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furniture feature friday | favorites & link party

 Good evening, all!  I don’t know about you, but I’m still trying to get used to our summer schedule.  I’ve had a busy spring, so it’s nice to finally get to slow down a bit and sleep in a bit later and relax our schedule.  Anyway, I enjoyed looking through your entries from last week and I think I found some great features to share with you.  Here they are… I am just smitten with this gloriously chippy washstand shared by Terry of The Curator’s Collection.  She bought the piece from her neighbor and spent an entire day cleaning it up!  I think it was worth it, though.  It’s a special piece. You have to check out how this $12 yard sale workbench started out.  Cheryl from Patina General did a lot more removing, in this case, than she did adding and the result is really beautiful.  It sold so fast that she

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furniture feature friday | favorites & link party

Hello, MMS readers, this is Kriste! Marian has been hard at work around the house for the shoot this week so I offered to check FFF off of her list. If I’m being honest, I really enjoy flipping through all of the posts and may have volunteered a bit for my own benefit as well! I absolutely LOVE this trunk by Evelyn and Rose. A pretty mix of Shutter Gray and Grain Sack, this is just the most beautiful neutral, soft blue you can get.  And the distressing is absolutely spot on.  It all looks so natural and organic! Next up is this little DIYer from Lovely Weeds. I have to admit, my love of succulents may have driven this pick a wee bit. Marian and I have been working on our indoor gardening skills lately, and I think this would be such an organic way to add some fresh

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furniture feature friday | favorites & link party

Hello, MMS readers, this is Kriste! Marian has been hard at work around the house for the shoot this week so I offered to check FFF off of her list. If I’m being honest, I really enjoy flipping through all of the posts and may have volunteered a bit for my own benefit as well! I absolutely LOVE this trunk by Evelyn and Rose. A pretty mix of Shutter Gray and Grain Sack, this is just the most beautiful neutral, soft blue you can get.  And the distressing is absolutely spot on.  It all looks so natural and organic! Next up is this little DIYer from Lovely Weeds. I have to admit, my love of succulents may have driven this pick a wee bit. Marian and I have been working on our indoor gardening skills lately, and I think this would be such an organic way to add some fresh

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Furniture Makeovers

Thank you, Wisconsin

Trips are a funny thing for me.  I am such a homebody and I dread the whole “experience” of flying somewhere, but once I arrive, I enjoy it immensely.  I love meeting new people, seeing a place I’ve never been before, eating at recommended restaurants…  And I must admit that book signings and workshops and TV appearances are fun, too. Going to Wisconsin was the same way.  Laura from the Ironstone Nest had been asking me for years to come visit her store and I kept pushing it back.  I was just thinking about the whole leaving home and flying on a plane part and wasn’t looking ahead to the fun stuff.  Another retailer in Wisconsin, Brenda from Harvest Home, asked if I would come as well and that nudged me into saying yes. And I’m so, so glad.  It was such a full, wonderful, inspiring trip and they truly

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Before and Afters

corner cabinets in shutter gray

While I was finishing up the slipcovers I shared yesterday, Kriste worked on giving a few pieces in my dining room a fresh coat of paint. (She was standing in front of the sink, mixing paint, and the light was so pretty, so I had to snap a picture.) I wanted to give the corner cabinets and buffet in the dining room a little makeover. The first time I ever used a tinted wax was on these corner cabinets and it got away from me a bit.  Well maybe more than a bit.  The end result looked streaky and I’ve wanted to fix them for a while, but again, there was always something more important to do. The interior was painted a cream, but the original reddish stain on the cabinet had bled through, so it had a pink tinge in a few places.  Again, something I wanted to fix, but not enough to

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All Things Home

hemp sheet slipcovers

One project that’s been on my to-do list for a couple of years was making new slipcovers for the wing chairs in the family room.  When things linger on a list that long, it’s because I don’t really want to do them.  I know how to make slipcovers and I love the results, but I make them out of thriftiness, not out of a zest for making slipcovers.  I usually do my slipcovering and upholstery in spurts, but between Lucketts and getting my house ready for this shoot, I’ve been on a sewing/stapling marathon.  I think I’ve done 20 chairs in the last 2 months.  Whew! These wing chairs might be in an important shot, so I really wanted them to look their best.  The drop cloth slipcovers have held up well for about 8 years, but they are examples of my “early work”and they were starting to look a little slouchy

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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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