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Living Room
All Things Home

a goat bell for a horse

When I was out shopping last week, I found a little goat bell.  It was inexpensive, I think $4.00, so I picked it up.  I initially envisioned using it as a Christmas decoration, with some evergreens, etc., making it into a small wreath. The leather was really dry, but a little Hemp Oil hydrated it and made it pliable again. As soon as I finished photographing the bell, a thought hit me…  I bet this would fit on my rocking horse!  How cute would that be? And sure enough, it’s a perfect fit. I will add some live greens to make it a bit more festive for Christmas, but I love it as it is, too. Some things are just meant to be… For details on the horse and how I painted it, check out THIS POST.

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November 23, 2016 27 Comments
All Things Home

fall living room

You’re all amazing.  I just need to say that.  All of your comments in reply to my “things have changed” post were like a huge hug to me.  I know that sounds cheesy, but they really were.  What’s interesting is that after I posted that, it was such a relief to me and it pushed me through that “stuck” feeling I’ve been struggling through the past few weeks.  I took the pressure off of myself and creativity bloomed. Lesson learned. Well, for today, anyway!  I’m sure I’ll have to learn it again and again. So, with the creative spurt, I decided to do a little fall sprucing in the living room.  Fall decorating for me is just putting a few natural elements out, mixed in with things that are out every day.  I used to be someone who had four or five bins of decorations, but I realized it just wasn’t

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September 19, 2016 53 Comments
All Things Home

living & dining rooms | Christmas 2015

My favorite rooms to decorate for Christmas are the definitely the living and dining rooms.  It’s hard to believe how dark these rooms were when we first moved in over nine years ago and now how light-filled and fresh they feel. For Christmas, I just add some fresh greenery and a few wool pom-poms.  That’s about all these rooms need. I shared video tutorial HERE showing my trick for dressing my chandeliers with fresh greens. The tie-top pillows I made last week ended up on the living room sofa… I was on the hunt for a potted blue spruce to put in my antique white bucket, like I did last year, but…no luck.  So, I asked Jeff if he would pick up a cut tabletop tree next time he was out and about.  I put it in a pitcher of water inside the bucket and it suits me just fine. On the other

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December 18, 2015 27 Comments
All Things Home

trading horses again

Remember my rocking horse?  The one I bought from Restoration Hardware and then painted with MMS Milk Paint to make it look chippy and old?   Well, in typical Marian fashion, I sold it. I wasn’t planning to, but a client asked if I could custom paint the same horse for her.  I agreed to the job and we tried to schedule a time for her to drop her horse off at the studio.  As we tried to schedule and reschedule, it occurred to me that it would save her a trip if I just gave her my painted horse, since she wanted hers to look exactly the same, and I could take the unpainted one and paint it again. Are you tracking with me? So, when I was in Virginia for the Holiday Expo, we met and traded horses. An interesting thing…  I really don’t mind buying and selling pieces, but

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December 3, 2015 55 Comments
All Things Home

living with raw wood floors

Back in November of last year, I had finally worked up the DIY gumption to sand down the oak hardwood floors in the front of our house.  Once the work was all done, I decided to live with raw wood floors for a while. The polyurethane finish I had applied only a few years earlier was peeling off, taking the dark stain along with it.  I could literally peel it up in sheets with my fingers…like cheap nail polish, which might be fun when you’re 13 and bored in algebra, but it’s not fun when you’re an adult and it’s happening to your floor. I knew it would be a miserable, dusty, messy, move-all-of-the-furniture, kind of job, but I talked Jeff into it and we got it done.    I had no idea what finish I was going to apply, so I decided to move the furniture back and wait until

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September 15, 2015 57 Comments
All Things Home

a mirror, new plants & a sneak peek

When I was shopping for the Lucketts Spring Market, I found this amazing mirror at a nice price.  I think it was about $20.  I was planning to sell it, but I was just so smitten with it that I decided to keep it.  I didn’t know where I was going to put it, so I was breaking my own “rule”, but I figured I could sell it down the road if I couldn’t find a perfect spot for it.  I at least wanted to give it a try. I forgot about it after Lucketts, but brought it home during the photo shoot a few weeks ago.  The stylist asked if I had anything large to hang on the wall and this mirror came to mind.  We didn’t end up using it for the shoot, but it reminded me that I wanted to find a home for it. I decided

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July 9, 2015 35 Comments
Living Room

evolution of my house | part 1 | the living room

First of all, thank you so much for all of the sweet comments in response to the home tour I posted earlier this week.  It was fun for me to share the entire house (except one bathroom and Jeff’s office) all in the same post.  Looking over it, I realized how much work we’ve done in the (almost) nine years we’ve lived here.  I know we’ve done a lot, but it hit me afresh. For those who haven’t been reading my blog since the early days, I thought I would share the evolution of each space.  I hope it will be fun to see my “phases”, but also encouraging to see that my rooms didn’t come together overnight.  It took me a lot of trial and error to pinpoint my style.  I also had to make do with what I had until I could “trade up” for something I liked

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June 18, 2015 40 Comments
All Things Home

bolster pillow cover

I said in my last post that I was going to be sewing up a storm and I definitely did.  I finished four accent pillows and two pillow cases and glued the welting on the second bergere chair.  A photo shoot is happening in my house next week and I’m using it as an excuse to get things finished that have been on my to-do list for a long time.  I’m going to start making new slipcovers for the wing chairs in the family room tomorrow.  I slipped those about eight years ago, in drop cloths.  They’ve held up really well, but they are starting to show the wear. So, one of the pillow covers I made today was for the bolster on the living room sofa.  It’s been hanging out naked for the past few months and it was time to get it appropriately dressed!    I’m working at such a

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June 3, 2015 13 Comments

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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