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Family Room
All Things Home

Christmas room tour | family room

As a part of the Just a Girl “One Room Tour”, I’m sharing my family room all decorated for Christmas. If you’re coming from Decor Chick or Just a Girl for the first time, welcome.  (And, of course, my regulars are always welcome!) I decided to share my family room today, because it’s the room we spend most of our time in.  It’s where we play and do homework and watch TV.  In fact, I’m sitting on our family room sofa as I write this post…on my usual side, leaned up against my usual pillow. This is probably my least favorite room to photograph, though. The living and dining rooms get amazing light and they totally spoil me when it comes to photography.  This room faces north and it is just a tough one to shoot without bringing in lights and scrims and all of that gear that I would rather

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December 10, 2015 19 Comments
All Things Home

evolution of my home | part 5 | the family room

And now it’s time to take an in-depth look at the history of my family room.  This is an awesome space for entertaining and hanging out, but it’s a bit of a tough one when it comes to arranging furniture.  It’s long and narrow, with a bit of a strange traffic flow, so when I start getting the urge to shuffle furniture around, this room is usually where I start. Here’s how it looks now… …and this is how it looked when we first moved in.   It was beige, beige and pinkish-beige.  I couldn’t wait to de-beige. When I had the chance to paint the kitchen, I took the color into the family room.  I went with yellow, because I thought it would work with the green kitchen counters and the stone fireplace. I made curtains out of a multi-checked fabric, white twill slipcovers for some French chairs I

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July 1, 2015 34 Comments
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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June 8, 2015 38 Comments
Bathrooms

wood lovers, eat your hearts out

Thanks for all of the great comments on the family gallery I am working on and wrote about yesterday.  My mom and I worked on hanging the pictures tonight, so I’ll share photos of that soon. I also will write/film a tutorial on how I cut mats. Today, I have a treat for wood lovers.  I know some of you out there take issue with certain pieces I paint, but the thing is, I’m a wood lover, too!  I don’t buy a piece of furniture unless it’s solid wood.  I intentionally look for pieces that need some help…whether they have a damaged, hazy finish or chipped veneer.  I don’t always paint, though. I purchased this pretty side table off of Craig’s List for $35 a couple of years ago and have been meaning to fix it up.  The finish was flaking a bit and there were plenty of water rings.  I finally

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February 26, 2015 33 Comments
All Things Home

checkered rug

I’ve shared before that rugs are my nemesis, but I feel like I’m finally getting a handle on what I like and what works with everything else happening in my space.  I had a plain jute rug under the table in the family room (off the kitchen), but we rolled it up and put it in the basement when we set up the Christmas tree.  It was fraying and the color just looked a little bland, so I didn’t put it back.  As we’ve been living without a rug for a while, I came to the conclusion that it would be much better with one. But which rug?  hmmm… So, I’ve just been waiting until the right option comes around.  I often troll Joss & Main to see if anything jumps out at me and a few days ago, something did. It’s a jute rug, so it works with the

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February 23, 2015 20 Comments
All Things Home

hanging plates & swapping chairs

Today, I was supposed to be taking out the toilet in the upstairs bathroom with my dad in order to get things ready for the floor to be tiled.  Well, if you’re in the northeast, you know that it’s been brutally cold and there was some snow to boot, so the tiling had to be delayed until the temperature at least flirting with going above freezing. So, the toilet stayed put and I needed to shift gears.  I decided to do some picking up and cleaning, which always gets the creative juices flowing.  It usually ends up with me shuffling furniture around, deep cleaning nooks and crannies and getting things done that have been neglected. …and that’s just what happened today. I’ve been wanting to hang something over Jeff’s dresser in our room for months, but I’ve been so undecided about it.  I’ve had things propped up there only to take them down.

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February 18, 2015 49 Comments
Decorating

Christmas decorating | family room

I am not detail oriented when it comes to picking out a Christmas tree.  I figure one is just about as good as the next, so I don’t angst over it.  I had the guy at the tree farm hold out one and it was clear that the bottom was a bit mangled, so I asked if he could show me another one.  He lifted it up and gave it a turn to fluff the branches.  Jeff was standing behind me and the boys were yelling from the next aisle over that they wanted an 11′ tree.  I looked over the tree the gentleman was holding out.  “What do you think, Jeff?”  “I think it’s fine.”  He is even less detail oriented when it comes to picking out a tree than I am. “Okay, then.  That’s the one.”  We had it wrapped up and on the roof of the van

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December 3, 2014 19 Comments
Decorating

a girl can change her mind (and often does)

Soooo…the curtain saga continues.  I’ve confessed that rugs are my nemesis, but now that I’ve switched to sisal and jute blends, I’ve made peace with rugs.  It seems like curtains might be my new nemesis.  I think the struggle I have with curtains is that it’s not a design choice that’s easily (or inexpensively) changed.  In a room with one window…okay, it’s not that big of a deal.  But my family room and living/dining room have four windows each, which means eight full length panels are needed.  That’s at least 25 yards of fabric, plus the lining and a whole lot of time at the sewing machine. I’ve known for a white that I wanted to replace the curtains in the living/dining room, but the reasons above prevented me from doing anything.  I still love that fabric, but I’m ready for a change and I’ve learned a lot about making

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November 10, 2014 43 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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