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All Things Home

Montauk Blue Slate Tile in the Foyer

The tile in the foyer is finished and we are one step closer to having the foyer and powder room makeovers complete!  So, there is still more to do before a reveal, but I thought I would share how this space is looking currently and also the details on the Montauk blue slate tile as well as our grout choices. I wanted to use a material that fit the traditional style of the house, but also worked with my aesthetic, which lands somewhere in an American farmhouse style meets European influence vein.  What came to mind to meld all of those styles AND to stand up to shoes and boots during a Minnesota winter AND a dog AND two boys were slate and brick.  I had considered a limestone, too, but I just couldn’t picture it. After talking to the professional who was going to install it and getting Jeff’s

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All Things Home

hand painted bread sign

Let me start off by saying this was supposed to be a tutorial, but it won’t be.  The reason is that I mindlessly deleted all of the process photos!!  Ah!  I try to keep my camera card “uncluttered”, so I delete all files once they are uploaded.  Well, I got a little overenthusiastic in my decluttering and deleted these files before I put them on my computer.  Not only did I delete these pictures, but also pictures for a freelance tutorial.  I redid those because I had to, but this will just be the tutorial that wasn’t meant to be. Anyway, I’ve been looking for something to hang over my range, but I just haven’t come across anything that is just right.  I even did some thorough shopping of my house and tried a few different platters, trays, breadboards, etc.  I would hang one and leave it for a day

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All Things Home

Christmas Dining Room 2018

I shared my dining room tree early last week, but it was before I really had the chance to dig into decorating for Christmas.  Last week, I took a lot of time to slowly work on our main living spaces and, in the process, I decided I wanted to rework some things in the dining room, including the tree. I decided that I just couldn’t handle the LED lights.  The glow coming off the LEDs was better when I added some vintage-style incandescent lights, but it was still there and I found myself not wanting to even turn on the tree.  So, I removed the lights from the top part of the tree (it was pretty laborious, so I didn’t do the bottom sections) and I decided to redo the entire thing while I was picking it apart.  As I sorted through my Christmas decorations, I found some vintage-style reflectors that had

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All Things Home

Blue & White Christmas Living Room 2018

I know this is a crazy busy time of year for everyone and I must say that this week has been a doozy for the Parsons’ family.  We have been slammed with stuff to do and appointments and obligations from every side…family, work, church, school.  That’s why I’ve been quieter than usual on my blog.  It was just not possible to get a post out mid-week.  We’re expecting a winter storm this weekend here in MN and I’m sort of hoping we get even more snow than expected, so we have a good excuse to stay in our jammies and cocoon ourselves from the world for a couple of days.  (I also hope to get a chance to paint, because I have not been able to since before we left for Thanksgiving and I miss it!)  But, today, I am a part of the Farmhouse Christmas Tour with an amazing

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All Things Home

Christmas Living Room 2018

I know this is a crazy busy time of year for everyone and I must say that this week has been a doozy for the Parsons’ family.  We have been slammed with stuff to do and appointments and obligations from every side…family, work, church, school.  That’s why I’ve been quieter than usual on my blog.  It was just not possible to get a post out mid-week.  We’re expecting a winter storm this weekend here in MN and I’m sort of hoping we get even more snow than expected, so we have a good excuse to stay in our jammies and cocoon ourselves from the world for a couple of days.  (I also hope to get a chance to paint, because I have not been able to since before we left for Thanksgiving and I miss it!) Anyway, today, I am a part of the Farmhouse Christmas Tour with an amazing group of bloggers…

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All Things Home

Living Room Updates

As much as we’ve gotten done since we moved into this house a little over a year ago, I still have stacks of pictures yet to be hung and bare walls.  It can sometimes take a while to figure what finishing touches each room needs.  I finally took a bit of time this week to tweak the walls in the living room. I already hung my Manet copy on the wall to the right of the large window and I liked how the touch of black tied into the curtain rods… To balance that out, I hung a vintage clock and a pair of family silhouettes on the left side… Jeff held up the silhouettes, so I could get an idea of how they worked before I put the nails in the wall.  While he was holding them in place he asked, “Who are these people?” “That’s your dad and your uncle.”

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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

hall/foyer update

Believe it or not, fireplace season has started in Rochester, Minnesota!  My boys love switching the fire on, turning the chairs to face the firebox, and basking in the warmth.  And I love watching them do it. We also had our first snow.  I thought it was just going to be a few flurries, but it snowed almost all day and we ended up with about two inches by the end of the day!  People keep telling me this isn’t usual, but we got snow in October last year as well, so I think they are just in denial. I happen to love winter and snow, so I was enjoying it immensely.  I will admit that there is a small part of me that feels like we only experienced fall for about 2 1/2 weeks.  I hope it will reemerge for just a little longer.  Our leaves haven’t even finished

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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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