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My House
Kitchen

built-in fridge update

If you followed our kitchen renovation, you might remember that we went with a built-in panel-ready fridge.  I never thought we would be able to fit one into our budget, but when I had the opportunity to work with Ilve’s US distributor on the range as a part of a blog/social media collaboration, they asked if I would also be interested in working with Forte on our fridge, dishwasher, and range hood.  I knew that choosing a relatively unknown Italian brand for our appliances would be a bit of a risk, but one of my top priorities in this kitchen renovation was concealing the appliances.  Forte offered a panel-ready dishwasher and fridge, along with a built-in range hood we could fit into a custom-made surround.  It seemed like a risk worth taking, especially since I would receive the appliances in exchange for sharing about them on the blog and social

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May 4, 2026 26 Comments
Exterior

April garden notes

Most of my April gardening work has been tidying up the beds, pruning old blooms off the hydrangeas, raking leaves, and weeding.  Oh, the maple saplings and onion grass have been prolific this year, so pulling them out of the beds has been my primary objective.  Instead of spending a couple of long days weeding, I decided to work in small chunks.  Every day, after my morning walk, I put on my gardening boots and gloves and would fill one bucket, sometimes two.  I worked my way around the house in this manner and just finished the last bed last week.  I know from experience that overwhelming projects can be easily completed in bite-sized pieces, but it still always surprises me.  Jeff has been taking the same approach with trimming bushes and hedges.  He also put weed and feed on the lawn and cleaned up along the curb. When we

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April 27, 2026 11 Comments
All Things Home

madame mére

I finished yesterday’s post about the Uffizi portrait gallery with a bit of a cliffhanger.  I didn’t include the setting, though.  This was at Isle of Palms a few weeks ago.  Several extended family members live near Charleston, so we visit them (or they visit us) while we’re there.  So, my aunt interrupted my story about people walking right past a Rembrandt with an intriguing offer.  “If you love portraits, I have a proposition for you.”  Now, I had no idea where she was going with this start.  Maybe she had a portrait to show me or had a question or request.  I wasn’t left in suspense for long.  She started telling me about a few antique oil portraits she had in a closet, and she wanted to pass them along to someone who would love them.  She also offered some details about the size, age, and subject of the

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March 31, 2026 22 Comments
Master Bedroom

Reversible Quilt inspired by Antique Provence Quilts

I don’t remember which magazine it was in, but I can still vividly recall the spread.  It was an article about antique quilts from Provence, featuring a woman who had been collecting them for decades.  She had stacks neatly folded in an old armoire and used throughout her home.  I read and reread that article and pored over the pictures several times.  I probably still have the magazine somewhere in the basement, in a bin of favorites I just couldn’t bring myself to recycle. I loved the patterns, the muted colors, the simple quilted designs.  They were lovely. It was a similar magazine article that introduced me to ironstone over 25 years ago, but I didn’t have the same luck building a collection of Provence quilts.  I don’t recall ever seeing one “in the wild” to even weigh purchasing it. Photo via Textile Trunk on Instagram   Well, someone at

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February 3, 2026 10 Comments
1970 home renovation

2025 Home Project Recap

When I first started putting this post together, I felt like we didn’t do many home projects in 2025.  We did a lot of landscaping and had new windows installed, but did we do anything else?  Well, once I started to look back through the year in pictures, I realized we did a ton of work on our 1970 house in 2025.  We did most of the big renovation projects in our first two years in the house, so this year felt a little quiet in comparison, but we still made some great progress. Here is what we ticked off the list over the past year…   new windows We have been replacing the windows on one side of the house at a time, and with the front and right side done, we needed to replace the old windows along the back and left side of the house.  We were

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January 27, 2026 6 Comments
All Things Home

Christmas Kitchen 2025

I’m squeezing in the last room decorated for Christmas just before Christmas Eve.  When I started sharing Christmas content in November, it felt really early, but now I remember why I do!  I end up crunched for time in the last week and don’t have the time to share everything I had planned.  Sadly, I have a few project ideas that I didn’t photograph.  Those will get kicked to next year.  Anyway, I wanted to show you how the kitchen looks this year.  In most ways, it’s very similar to how I’ve decorated this room for Christmas the last few years, but I always make a few small adjustments. Before we get into the pictures, I wanted to share a dose of reality.  A woman from our church asked me this week how I keep my house so pristine all the time.  I had to smile and reveal the secret. 

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December 23, 2025 15 Comments
All Things Home

Christmas dining room 2025

I wasn’t sure I’d get my dining room decorated before Christmas this year, but I took some time Friday morning to finish it up and photograph it.  Until then, the tree was up, but I was using the table and corners for incoming packages, storing bins of decor as I worked on other rooms, and wrapping presents.  So, I tidied up the mess and finished decorating.  We have our Christmas brunch in this room, so it’s nice to have it ready! velvet curtains | curtain rod | rug | tablecloth | pillows | mural details To add a seasonal touch up high, I put a faux pine garland mixed with an eucalyptus garland on top of the antique cabinet.  To me, it’s an easy surface to decorate that doesn’t interfere with functionality and is well out of reach of the cats. velvet curtains | curtain rod | rug | pillows

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December 22, 2025 36 Comments
All Things Home

Christmas 2025 Living Room

If you missed it, I shared the details about our 2025 Christmas tree HERE.  In this post, I’m sharing how the rest of the living room looks dressed for Christmas this year.  Here is the view through the doorway from the kitchen… curtain rod | curtains | rug | pillows | sconces | paint color I do need to say that we don’t usually have this many pillows on our sofa!  I learned a long time ago that sofas and chairs photograph better when they are generously styled with pillows, quilts, blankets, and throws.  This is the room where we watch movies and hang out, so the sofa is usually in disarray, styled for comfort instead of photos! Anyway, it is fun to play around with the styling and make the room look nice, even if those pillows will be on the floor as soon as I give the guys

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December 16, 2025 16 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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