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Family Room

Before and Afters

painted "swedish" bench

I always have a hard time getting refocused after a big event or project.  I seem to work at my best when there is a date looming, but at the same time, I dislike the pressure of deadlines.  So, I’m conflicted.  I love and hate due dates.  To combat the unfocused work approach, I decided to knock out a few projects that have been on my list for some time.  I grabbed the bench at the table in our family room and dragged it out to the car, so I could take it to the studio to paint.  (I have a knack for moving furniture by myself when I’m determined enough!) Remember this pine bench that we gave to my mom as a mother’s day gift when we lived in Germany? I like the shape of it, but the pine was a little too yellow and shiny for me.  I

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Artistic Endeavors

jelly cupboard, organizing & family room fabric

I have been on a streak with finding amazing empire pieces.  I currently have five in my stash!  Now, these aren’t usually this easy for me to come by, but I’ve just been catching Craig’s List and my favorite furniture haunts at just the right time.  It’s also helped to have my dad, who should win some sort of Craig’s List award for his success percentage  when it comes to getting pieces I want.  I just send him the link and he contacts the seller and shows up at my house with the piece.  I give him refusal rights if something looks really bad in person, but that hasn’t happened, yet. Last week, he dropped this piece off at my studio… It’s a really pretty antique empire jelly cupboard.  It’s just a little dirty and rough, but very solid.  What looks like wood grain is actually brown paint.  I admire

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Family Room

the right lamp shade

A few months ago, I bought this pretty alabaster lamp at an antique store.  I loved the shape of it… It came with a shade, but I didn’t think it fit the lamp very well.  I ended up hanging onto it without a shade in the basement for a while and finally moved it up to my desk when I was working on the family room.  One day my mom and I went out shopping and I was planning on hitting Target to find a shade.  We weren’t able to make it to Target (we always run short on time when we’re out and about), but we did make it to Lowe’s.  I took a quick look at the lamp shade assortment and immediately knew this was the right one when I spotted it. And I picked up a lamp harp and a simple nickel finial to go with the

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Family Room

Showing off the wainscoting…

I showed off my new family room wainscoting a few days ago, but the hutch in the corner was bugging me a little.  Even as we were moving the furniture back, I said to Jeff, “I think this hutch looks too squished into that corner and it hides all of the wainscoting.” “Oh no.  I think it looks fine.”  I think that was code for I don’t really want to move furniture right now. A few days later, I was ready to move the hutch and other things around, so he helped me. We moved the hutch by the front door in the living room and brought in the small MMSMP Grain Sack dresser that was under the living room window.  I topped it off with the small antique hutch.  I like how it opens things up more and allows the wainscoting to be seen and appreciated. I tried a

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Before and Afters

Family Room Wainscoting

I spent all day in bed yesterday…down and out with a virus or something.  I was still dragging this morning, but was feeling well enough this afternoon to get my photo shoots done.  Unfortunately, a photo shoot is much more involved than just snapping a few pictures.  I had to finish some details in the room, clean and then style.  I just chipped away at it slowly to get it done. Get ready for a lot of pictures!  Here’s what the family room looks like now…   And here’s a look at how far this room has come since 2009…     I don’t have pictures of the other side of the room, because it had a the jump-a-roo and other baby/kids toys. We removed the fireplace a couple of years ago to make a space for a wall-mount flatscreen TV.  The fireplace was massive and didn’t work, so I

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Family Room

photo shoot, a fever & finds

We had less than half of the trim completed in the family room and I had a photo shoot coming up, so today, Jeff and I were determined to finish it.  Part of it was the deadline, but another part of it was putting ourselves out of our miserly.  Having a half-finished DIY project hanging over your head gets old.   So, today we worked on getting it done.  I woke up with a stuffy head and I was dragging, so I opted to give myself a day off of my workout and I dove into caulking and priming. This project took so much longer than I expected and at 1:30, I was just starting to paint the trim.  Cari was here for the day to help get ready for Lucketts.  Cari will henceforth be known as “the machine.”  She’s amazing.  She spent most of her time prepping four pieces

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Family Room

Showing off the wainscoting…

I showed off my new family room wainscoting a few days ago, but the hutch in the corner was bugging me a little.  Even as we were moving the furniture back, I said to Jeff, “I think this hutch looks too squished into that corner and it hides all of the wainscoting.” “Oh no.  I think it looks fine.”  I think that was code for I don’t really want to move furniture right now. A few days later, I was ready to move the hutch and other things around, so he helped me. We moved the hutch by the front door in the living room and brought in the small MMSMP Grain Sack dresser that was under the living room window.  I topped it off with the small antique hutch.  I like how it opens things up more and allows the wainscoting to be seen and appreciated. I tried a

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Before and Afters

"spackle dries in three minutes…"

Jeff and I got more of the family room wainscoting done last week and I got things cleaned up and “done” along that wall yesterday.  Here’s how it’s looking… This is where we were in December…one curtain panel (the other was on the way), the French daybed wasn’t upholstered, etc… And here’s where we are today… With the wainscoting done, I started to play around with wall art options in my head.  Do I want to leave the walls blank?  Hang something above?  Below?  I finally settled on a row of ironstone platters on each side of the window, above AND below the trim detail.  About halfway through putting nails in the wall and stepping back, I wasn’t sure if I liked it. Then I heard my dear friend Shaunna’s voice in my head.  “I mean, spackle dries in three minutes, y’all.” When she visited me a few weeks ago,

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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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