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Living Room

All Things Home

back to school deep cleaning

Now that our fall schedule is under way, I really needed to dust off my day planner and start making some lists of things I dropped at the beginning of the summer and was ready to pick back up again, so I worked on that some last week.  I scheduled meetings and cleaned out my inbox and took care of some paperwork.  It felt good to be sitting at my desk again, ready to dig into ideas and opportunities. But before I could really get going, I needed to do some serious cleaning.  My fellow neatniks will understand that it’s really hard to get focused work done when the state of your home is below your cleanliness tolerance level.   Those who get it, get it.  Those who don’t, think we are a little crazy.  Maybe we are.  But, we will be crazy in a clean house, thank you very much.

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All Things Home

adding layers to the living room

As I mentioned in my post about painting the stairwell walls, I decided to change the color of the living room from Wickham Gray to Stonington Gray.  It’s a very subtle change, but it will ultimately flow better with the rest of the first floor.  Wickham Gray was looking a little green in comparison and, since you can see the foyer and kitchen from the living room, it was feeling off. I needed to finish painting the trim in that room, which would involve moving the furniture and taking the curtains down, anyway, so it made sense to change the color at the same time. You can see the subtle change in color.  Stonington is on the left and Wickham on the right… It’s a little bit warmer, darker, and feels more sophisticated for some reason. (I need to keep telling my boys to turn off the fire!  They really

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All Things Home

small changes

I knew that attending Junk Bonanza would be fun, but I didn’t realize what a creative pick-me-up it would be!  (Well, after I slept for 12 hours and lounged around for half a day.)  Once I was rested, that creative spark got me going.  I was ready to rip up carpet and jack out some tile!  But, those are all pretty big projects that involve some amount of planning, a budget, and permission from my husband!  So, I figured I should take that energy and work on changes that were small and free and wouldn’t get me into any trouble. The first change I made was something I’ve been thinking about for a while… I swapped out Eulalie’s frame! She’s been in a gold leaf frame from the very beginning and that worked great in my last house, but it felt a little off in this room.  I think it

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All Things Home

living room curtains

Man, it has been a long, productive day and I am pooped!  Of course, I decided to start exercising the day I had a bunch of physical work planned.  That was brilliant.  I use the word “exercise” loosely, though, because it was pathetic how out of shape I am.  I am still babying my shoulder and about 10 minutes into interval training, modifying everything, feeling stiff as the Tin Man, I realized I just needed to stretch and work on core strength.  I switched gears and did some Pilates and that felt great, but I have been sore all day as I painted window trim and shoe molding and moved furniture back into the dining room and my office. I still have a lot of work to do on those two rooms and a lot of cleaning up to do after having the entire contents of two rooms dumped into

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All Things Home

seasons of home | christmas living room

Disclosure: As a part of the Seasons of Home series, this blog post was sponsored by HomeGoods/TJ Maxx.  All words and opinions are my own. Of all of the rooms in our house, the living room is the most finished at this point.  There are still things on the to-do list and I am still getting acquainted with the space.  But, I really enjoyed finding a spot for our tree and, more than anything, decorating a fireplace mantle!  I haven’t had one of those for years!   I found the marble stocking hangers at my local HomeGoods/TJ Maxx.  I love how the gold base and hooks work with Eulalie’s frame and the marble is a nice, neutral touch. I nestled a mix of fresh and faux greenery along with some pinecones around the hangers.  I love using some fresh greens, so their scent fills the room. The little trees were

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Living Room

living room updates

As I shared yesterday, I worked on cleaning out the dining room and that turned into polishing up some other areas in the house that have been unfinished.  One of those spots was the wall with the pine hutch in the living room… I hung my small collection of German stag antlers on either side of it and also moved the antique high chair next to it.  That corner seemed a little empty, but I was at a loss as to what to put there that wouldn’t block the return.  The high chair seems to work and ties in nicely with the dark wood backings for the antlers. I also rearranged the ironstone inside the cabinet, since it was looking pretty picked over as I’ve plucked pieces to use in other parts of the house. I really like antlers paired with the pine hutch, because it has a very European

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Kitchen

Living Room & Kitchen Fabrics

I will say, I am very optimistic when it comes to my to-do list!  I already have a bolt of fabric hanging out in the master bedroom, ready to be made into curtains and pillows, as well as a French daybed that needs miles of custom double-welting sewn. not to mention the pillows for that. But, I still ordered fabric for curtains, pillows, and upholstery for the family room! I think, once I make up my mind about something like fabric, I want to buy the materials, so they are at the ready when I’m in the mood to sew and/or upholster, which isn’t a daily occurrence. So, here are the fabrics I decided on… I know.  Blue and white is a shocker! Here’s the deal.  I have loved blue and white for the better part of two decades, so I’m sticking with it.  I’ll stray from that color palette

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Before and Afters

painting the living room built-ins

I knew it was going to happen.  Jeff knew it was going to happen.  YOU knew it was going to happen… And, it happened. Yep, buckets and buckets of paint happened in this room. So, let’s back up and chat about how I got from point A to point B. First, I painted the walls in Benajmin Moore’s Wickham Gray.  Yes, poor Mr. Wickham, that rake, has a delicious color named after him.  In my Jane-Austen-loving-world, anyway.  I used Benjamin Moore’s Aura paint in Matte, which is pretty much the only thing I will use for walls.  The coverage is great, it’s durable, and the finish is beautiful. For the cabinetry, I wanted a bright white and went for a custom-mixed, slightly off-white.  It still reads as bright white, but it’s not quite as stark as bright white out of the can, if that makes sense.  I used Benjamin Moore’s

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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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