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Kitchen

1970 home renovation

the new fridge

The day of the delivery was bittersweet.  After over a month of fetching milk, butter, cheese, eggs, leftovers, and such from the garage fridge, we were going to have a working refrigerator in our kitchen again.  That was the sweet part.  The bitter part was knowing  I would no longer have a built-in fridge that blended in seamlessly with the cabinets.  When designing our kitchen, one of the things I wanted most was hidden appliances.  Aside from the range, that would be a feature.  I worked on configurations and cabinet options to ensure that even countertop appliances like the toaster, electric kettle, and microwave were behind closed doors. I knew that a panel-ready fridge that wasn’t a standard size would likely be a headache when it needed replacing, but I figured we wouldn’t have to deal with that for many years.  Three years later, the fridge is completely dead, and

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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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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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All Things Home

start where it’s easy | organizing

I shared a couple of weeks ago that I feel maxed out when it comes to my stuff threshold.  (You can read that post HERE.)  Given that we have an enormous basement and this house has ample storage, we still have plenty of room to accumulate more, but I find that I want even more empty space and fewer things that we don’t really need or use.  I’ve already started pulling pieces from some of my collections to sell, but it is hard to let go of things collected with such intention over a couple of decades!  I love what one reader said about stuff in reply to my post.  She likes to envision the way she manages her stuff as a river.  There is water flowing in and water flowing out.  If the outflow slows or stops, the water can become stagnant.  I’ve been pretty good at getting rid

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1970 home renovation

kitchen backsplash update

Since our kitchen renovation almost two years ago, the question I often receive is about our backsplash.  Or lack of a backsplash to be more specific.  If you followed along during the kitchen renovation, you know I was taking my time with each decision.  (You can read more about that HERE.)  I only made a decision when it needed to be made and let the rest of the decisions wait.  I already had to make a hundred big and little decisions and definitely experienced the decision fatigue that’s common with home renovations.  The backsplash would be installed after the counter and cabinets were in place, so I could wait to select the tile after the kitchen was essentially finished.  And, that’s what I did. Right now, my walls are plasterboard with Sherwin William’s premium interior latex paint, Emerals, in a matte finish.  I have found the paint to be every

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Decorating

Christmas Kitchen 2024

I shared our Christmas living room 2024 yesterday and, if you missed it, you can see it in THIS POST.  Today, I’m giving a little tour of the kitchen and eating area. Last year was the first year I had the chance to decorate our newly-renovated kitchen for Christmas, so I had a great time with it.  This year, I kept most of the decor the same since I really loved it.  There are a few differences, though. antique baker’s table | hardwood floors | Ilve range | brass pot rail | quartz counters I used the same wreath I made last year (you can find details HERE), but the velvet ribbons didn’t store very well, so I changed those out.  I used the same dried orange slice garland along the pot rail.  I made it last year and stored it in a zip topped back in the basement and

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All Things Home

kitchen paper towel holder alternative

I decided years ago to ditch the paper towel holder in my kitchen.  I don’t have anything against them, but I just never found one I really loved.  I found one or two over the years that were tolerable and I used them because you need to have a paper towel holder.  One day when I was rearranging the accessories on the kitchen counters at our PA house, I tried something different.  I grabbed a vintage locker basket, dropped two paper towel rolls in, and I liked it.  The locker basket put an end to tippy paper towel holders that never felt quite right for my style.  I used it for years in our PA house, MN house, and when we first moved to our current house in Maryland.  As I started playing with the final touches of the kitchen renovation, the locker basket didn’t feel right in this kitchen,

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All Things Home

a rug, the first dried hydrangeas, & a cloche

Do you remember the jute rug in the kitchen eating area with the scalloped edge?  I loved the detail around the border, but I have some sad news. After about a year in a heavy traffic path, the scallops around the corners started to come loose.  I learned this is the kind of run that is best used in a room where people and animals won’t be walking over the corners throughout the day.  I probably should’ve noticed the wear and rotated the run to extend its life, but it was becoming a bit of a tripping hazard.  The fortunate thing about jute rugs, though, is they are inexpensive, so I don’t have anxiety about them wearing out.  Most of my jute rugs have lasted for several years and the ones I had the longest (about 8 years) I sold with our last house and imagine they are still 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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May 20th, 2026 at 1pm EST

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