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Family Room

Family Room

Family Room "Foyer"

Now that we’re getting the trim done in the family room, I feel motivated to finish off the room a bit more.  We’ve had blank walls and temporary pieces of furniture in there for a while.  As soon as the paint was dry, I moved a cane chair against the wall and a flat willow basket for shoes.  I also hung an antique oil painting on the wainscoting.  It made the area feel less like a blank wall and more like an intentional foyer space for the side door.  But then we had a warm, sunny day on Sunday and, well 40’s felt pretty warm, so the Spring nesting thing started to bubble up and I got the urge to move furniture.  I’ve been thinking for a while about moving my vanity into the family room to use as my desk.  I stopped using my vanity after we finished our

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Family Room

Family Room Wainscoting

The family room is the first room I stepped into in our house and I’m sure that was planned by the realtor.  I was charmed by the 1940’s part of the house – the glass knobs, original creaky floors and plaster walls, but it was the modern addition containing the family room, kitchen and master suite, that sold us on the home.  The family room is at the back of the house and has high ceilings and lots of space.  With as much as it has going for it, the room is lacking a bit in the architectural detail department and I think a big room needs that.  Or at least benefits from it a lot. I knew I wanted some kind of 3/4 height wainscoting, but I wasn’t exactly sure of the style.  When we took a little getaway to Charlottesville, VA we stayed in a charming inn and

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Family Room

Vintage Pillow Cases & Sofa Update

When I went shopping earlier this week, I found an amazing pair of vintage pillow cases.  I’ve never seen any as long as these.  They’re probably a good 12-18″ longer than the pillow.  They were exactly what I’ve been keeping my eyes opened for.  My pillow, which is down, is always popping out of the case through the night.  I have tried at least eight different cases and they all did the same thing.  So, I was looking for one that was longer or one that had an envelope closure.  Jeff was having the same problem with his pillow because it’s a flat memory foam pillow, so he was using a flannel Snoopy pillowcase I had since I was a kid.  Of course, I always got a little twitchy when I made the bed and saw the Snoopy pillow peeking out from all of my pretty pillows.  But, the man’s

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Antiques

The new sofa has arrived!

Today was the day!  For someone who usually hauls their furniture from a thrift store, yard sale, auction or antique shop, it’s a luxury to have a piece that’s finished delivered right to my home and placed in the very spot I want it.  I’ve only experienced that one other time – with the bed in the master bedroom. (For those who are catching up, I bought the Brooklyn Sofa from Pottery Barn a few weeks ago.)  Last night, I started getting nervous about it.  It’s a huge purchase and I am fickle when it comes to furniture.  Would it look as good in reality as it did in my head?  I started to imagine that it would look hideously orange in my space or too big or too small or just all wrong…  Or, that it was perfect, but had a huge slice in the leather or a leg

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Decorating

Living with what you love

The past few years have been a whirlwind for me.  Moving…two baby boys born 19 months apart and a new business right on the heels of that.  I’ve been so busy that cleaning out closets, cupboards, drawers, the basement, the attic spaces, etc. has been neglected.  Earlier this year, I looked in my kitchen cupboards and noticed there were still baby bottles on the shelves and my boys still had jammies in their dressers that were 2T (they are 5 and 7 now!)  It was time to make time to get things cleaned out and under control.  So, over the past few months, I’ve been cleaning, purging and organizing.  As I’ve shared, the more I get rid of, the more I want to get rid of more.  Getting rid of the obvious like the baby bottles and 2T jammies has turned into selling pieces of furniture I really love, but

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Family Room

benchgallery

Lest you think my primary job has been scooting furniture around my house, things have been moving a bit more than usual.  I moved furniture around when I did the family room reset.  Then I rearranged again to accommodate our Christmas tree and again when we gave our sofa away and the new one didn’t come and again when we took the tree down.  Now I’m moving things around to sell some pieces and make space for Jeff to work in my old office.  My mom’s even getting in on the action and is moving things around in her house, so she offered a displaced bench to me. As you have probably caught on, I’m not very sentimental about furniture, but there are a few pieces that are very special to me.  My Oma’s rocking chair that she had when she was a child.  We have a picture of her

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Family Room

mom’s bench

Lest you think my primary job has been scooting furniture around my house, things have been moving a bit more than usual.  I moved furniture around when I did the family room reset.  Then I rearranged again to accommodate our Christmas tree and again when we gave our sofa away and the new one didn’t come and again when we took the tree down.  Now I’m moving things around to sell some pieces and make space for Jeff to work in my old office.  My mom’s even getting in on the action and is moving things around in her house, so she offered a displaced bench to me. As you have probably caught on, I’m not very sentimental about furniture, but there are a few pieces that are very special to me.  My Oma’s rocking chair that she had when she was a child.  We have a picture of her

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Before and Afters

French Daybed Reveal

I apologize for missing FFF last night!  My site was down, which you might have noticed if you were trying to link up.  So, we’ll suspend our furniture link party until after the holidays.  Just save up those furniture projects for a couple of weeks. A few months ago, I bought a caned French daybed from a used furniture shop. I think I paid $175 for it and it was in amazing condition with a full down cushion!  The upholstery wasn’t bad at all, but it was a yellowish-gold with a metallic shimmer to it, which isn’t really my thing.  The cane was all intact and the finish was nice, so I knew I wanted to leave those alone.  I did, however, want to reupholster it. I presented a few fabric options and was planning on going with the plain hemp fabric, but then did a “room reset” and changed

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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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