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Office

All Things Home

office shutters

I was combing through some photos taken earlier this year while I was working on cleaning up my hard drive and making backups and I realized I had pictures of a project that I never shared!  I took the picture right before my mom visited in March, so there were more exciting things to write about, like the guest room makeover and the picture frame molding in the living room.  This project wasn’t as dramatic, so the pictures remained unedited and the project was never shared. I did share that we installed plantation shutters in the large window of my office… This window faces the street, so it felt like a fishbowl and some sort of window treatment was required for privacy.  But, we left the small window, which faces the side of the neighbor’s house, untreated. I wanted a shutter on that window, too, though, so the windows looked

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All Things Home

new pulls for my desk

I just can’t leave well enough alone.  That quality is what actually led me into decorating in the first place, so I am thankful for it, but it does mean I’m always looking for ways to customize and/or improve something even when they are perfectly fine as is. Well, one thing I wanted to customize as soon as it was delivered to my house was .  I love the shape, finish, and style of it, but I didn’t like the hardware.  Fortunately, that’s a relatively quick and inexpensive thing to change.  So, I did! Here is what it looked like before… …and here is what it looks like with the new hardware… I chose antiqued brass bin-cup pulls because they still work with the mission-style of the desk, but they look a little softer and less rustic than the original pulls. I bought THIS 10-pack of pulls from Amazon for

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All Things Home

Timeless Home Office Makeover

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by .  I was provided with furnishings for this room makeover in exchange for advertising.  As always, all words and opinions shared are honest and my own.  (The cool thing about this sponsorship is that I had these items in my shopping cart and I’ve just been waiting for the right time to pull the trigger on purchasing them.) I’m so excited to finally share the full reveal of my office! During Christmas break, I sat down at my vintage teacher’s desk in this very office and wrote a list of things I wanted and needed in my workspaces.  Both my studio and home office weren’t working as well as I knew they could.  I moved a business that was in a 2500 square foot studio primarily into two rooms in our new house in MN and I was starting to feel it. For my office,

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All Things Home

office details

Welp, yesterday was yet another snow day in Minnesota!  We didn’t have much snow through December and even into January, but we have been having one of the snowiest Februarys on record and another storm is expected this weekend.  I actually love getting snow, but I am getting weary of having everyone home during the day while I’m trying to work.  I love my boys, but I need that time!  I do enjoy watching their excitement about the snow days, though, waiting with anticipation to see if Rochester Schools end up on the list of cancelations.  And it won’t last forever.  Spring will eventually come. Anyway, today I’m showing another wall in my office.  I shared the bookcase earlier in the week… …and this is the adjacent wall.  It’s between one small window and the french doors that serve as the entrance to the room. I knew I would move

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All Things Home

hanging art on a bookcase & styling tips

Since Jeff did all of the furniture moving for me last week I have been working on moving back into my office and studio.  Don’t worry!  I’ve been pacing myself, taking lots of breaks, and working mostly with my left arm.  It’s been slow going (like moving one or two books at a time), but I can’t tell you how awesome it’s been being productive again.  I just am the sort of person who needs that in my day. So, one of the things I worked on over the weekend was moving into the new bookcase in my office.  It’s the from .  It’s sold out right now but will be back in stock in June.  (They also have this bookcase in a and .  Use code “GEORGE” to get 15% off for President’s Day.) Anyway, this bookcase has been sitting in my cart on Birch Lane’s website for weeks,

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All Things Home

home office plans

I’ve already shared the plans for two spaces we’ll be working on this winter and spring (the guest room and studio) and today, I’m sharing the plans for my home office. This is a space made up of a mix of pieces, most of which were brought from our last house and my former studio.  I bought the shelf second-hand off craigslist almost a year ago and the small table used for my printer at a flea market.  While it all looks good, I’ve realized I don’t have the kind of storage and function I really need in a home office. I found myself increasingly frustrated with the workflow in my office that I finally sat down and made a wish list of things would address the issues… Larger desk surface, so I can have my larger monitor and a couple of “working piles” out and still have free desk space.

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All Things Home

plantation shutters

I’ve been “adulting it” since I was 18 years old…meaning living in a place not owned by my parents, paying my own bills, etc.  And, over those 22 years, I’ve learned the things I like and the things I don’t like when it comes to setting up house.  I don’t like wall-to-wall carpet.  I like hardwood floors.  I don’t like fluorescent light bulbs.  I like daylight incandescent bulbs and maybe some halogen and LED.  I don’t like electric stoves.  I like cooking with gas. I also don’t like blinds.  I like curtains and shutters. Ugh…blinds.  Blinds with their tangled cords and dusty slats. One thing I marveled over constantly while in Europe was their ingenious shutter designs that were a part of the house.  They weren’t an afterthought purchased at the hardware store to replace the sheets that were tacked up until something more permanent could be installed.  They folded

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All Things Home

hiding ugly office stuff & hanging sconces

Before I go into today’s post, I have some exiting news!  Free Spirit Fabrics has been acquired and that means my fabric lines will still be produced! That means I need to hunker down and start working on colorways for the second collection again.  I’m so excited that Bunnies Birds & Blooms will be available, but I’m even more excited for this second collection to launch.  The wheels are turning again… Now, onto today’s post… I’m still chipping away at my office here and there.  I have been looking for baskets for the top of the cabinet to use for storage and to raise the visual height of the piece.  I also wanted to hide the internet modem and Orbi unit. My no-spend February turned into a low-spend February when I bought the cabinet off of craigslist and since then, I’ve stuck to the spirit of my low-spend challenge.  I

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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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