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Guest Room

All Things Home

small guest room updates

Painting the guest room is still on the to-do list, and it might be there for a while.  As is often the case, decorating the guest room isn’t usually a top priority.  I’ve always loved working on the guest rooms in our homes, though.  Since I’m not in these rooms daily, I feel I can take a departure from my usual color palette and try something different.  The style remains the same, but I step outside my predominantly blue and green palette.  In our previous guest rooms, I’ve featured yellow, and I think that will carry into this room as well.  I already have the upholstered bed and the pretty gold quilt, so it makes sense to work with that. This week, I swapped out the rug and made a couple of small tweaks while I continue to consider wall and trim colors as well as window treatments.  (Disclosure: The

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1970 home renovation

Guest room wallpaper removal

When we first looked at this house, I knew the wallpaper was going to be an issue.  Most of the wallpaper was at least 20-30 years old.  At least.  In addition, it was in almost every room.  Floor to ceiling.  I had never stripped wallpaper before, and I knew it wasn’t a fun job, but I was brimming with optimism and felt like it was doable if I tackled it one room at a time.  After removing wallpaper from the master bedroom walls the day we closed on the house, I quickly learned that the issue wasn’t removing the paper, but the glue.  (You can read about that HERE.)  The glue was the headache, and removing glue has been an ongoing project in this house for almost three years. I hired someone to remove the wallpaper in the hall, Marshall’s room, and the dining room.  (You can read about that

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Decorating

the sewing room makeover reveal

The sewing room makeover was another project I worked on specifically to share in my book – .  For that reason, I haven’t shared the full reveal on the blog yet, even though this room makeover was finished in 2020.  A few photos of the room are shared in the book, but it’s nice to share more detail about the makeover here on the blog so that I can share links to tutorials, projects, and sources.  It just tells more of the story for those who are interested! So, let’s start this room makeover by looking at what the room looked like when we moved in almost five years ago. It’s a pretty basic room with cream walls and trim and beige carpet.  We added the chandelier, swapping it out for a typical builder-grade fixture. I knew I wanted to make this room feminine and like a little jewel box,

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All Things Home

organizing | ordinary, everyday makeovers

There are some makeovers that have more to do with how a room looks than how it feels.  It feels better; it feels more like “you”, but when it comes down to it, the makeover was cosmetic.  It was about preferences and aesthetics and taste.  Then, there are makeovers that are more about how a space feels than how it looks.  It’s more about function and practicality.  It’s not dramatic or beautiful to anyone but you. Here are your two beautiful photos for this post and then I’m going to share an ordinary, everyday makeover I’ve been working on.  It’s not beautiful or photogenic.  It just feels better, functions better, and, in its own way, it looks better, too. I’m talking about the storage room that is off of the guest room.  This isn’t officially a closet, but we use it as one.  It is a space that could be

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All Things Home

farmhouse white chair makeover

A couple of months ago, I picked up this sweet vintage chair from a local antique shop for $25.  It was just the kind of chair I had been looking for to use at my sewing desk.  I don’t typically sit and sew for hours on end, so it didn’t have to be super comfortable.  My sewing desk is also vintage and smaller in scale, so I needed a vintage chair that would be sized appropriately to pair with the desk.  I liked the idea of how the cutout in the back of the chair would stand out against the pine desk.  It was a little grubby, though, and the paint could use a refresh, so I gave this chair a quick and simple makeover with Farmhouse White Milk Paint. I started out the makeover by wiping the chair down.  It had clearly been stored for years and would benefit

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All Things Home

sewing room walls & a cabinet

I finished hanging the fabric in the sewing room late last week.  I have enjoyed taking a more relaxed approach to projects…bouncing from one to the other, working on each in small pieces, but that did mean that it felt like I’ve been working on this sewing room for an eternity!  I made a final push and hung the remaining panels, so I could be done with it! A few panels in, there was a part of me that was a little nervous that the toile would be too dowdy and old fashioned, but that is not the case at all.  It looks sharp against the bright white trim and picture frame molding and it’s just perfect for a sewing room.  I have slowly started putting the room back together again and that included hanging this antique medicine cabinet above the sewing desk.  I had a Chippendale-style mirror hanging there,

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All Things Home

making progress in the sewing room

Well, I’ve been making slow and steady progress in the sewing room over the past couple of weeks.  In the afternoons, when I’m done with my work-work, I’ll head upstairs and work on it for about an hour.  My tendency is to plow through a project and get it finished as soon as possible, but I’ve learned in recent years that projects are more enjoyable when they are spread out and done in a leisurely way.  Fewer mistakes are made when I don’t rush.  I have to fight my propensity to rush, though, because I love productivity and crossing stuff off the list! But, the sewing room is a little easier to work on in pieces, because it’s not one I’m in a lot.  Out of sight, out of mind.  If I was sitting in the middle of it all day, it would probably feel more urgent. I decided to

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All Things Home

blue toile daybed makeover

I hope you had a good three-day weekend!  We ended up doing a lot of work in our yard when it wasn’t raining.  It was hard, muddy work, but we got so much accomplished!  We dug up a bunch of plants and bushes to replace with hydrangeas and hostas, we moved and raked out a big pile of gravel, we built up some areas that were eroding, and I transplanted some perennials to new locations.  I even took the time to sketch out a plan and make a list of the plants I need to transplant and purchase, so I won’t be overwhelmed when I go to the garden center.  I took a bunch of pictures of the before and our progress, so I’ll share those in another post.  Today, I’m sharing about decorating mistakes and the newly-toiled daybed. In decorating, mistakes are sometimes made.  It’s not a mistake in

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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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