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My House

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

October 15, 2018 45 Comments

All Things Home

rearranging the studio

The very nature of a creative space dictates that it has to be dynamic. My furniture and belongings are accustomed to being maneuvered and shuffled around, but that’s doubly true for the stuff in my studio. Each new artistic endeavor or novel idea can put new demands on the space. It usually starts in stacks and messy corners, but then it has to be managed. Accommodations must be made, so the new venture has room to live, and be nurtured, and grow. And all of that is a wordy way to say I did some cleaning and straightening in my studio that turned into furniture scooting. And it was long overdue. This space is my sanctuary, and it’s perfect with its big windows, planked walls, and painted floor. The issue is that I ask a lot of this room. It has to be a functioning art and photography studio, and it has

October 3, 2018 34 Comments

All Things Home

subtle seasonal dining room

The week after I got back from Europe, summer was still hanging onto Rochester, but it finally released its grasp. The trees are turning fiery hues at their tips, there is a refreshing chill to the air, and I donned my favorite leather boots in church this weekend. Fall is here. Having missed a week and a half of September, it feels like autumn will be shorter this year than usual. For that reason, I’m not going to spend too much time or money decorating for it. I’d rather put our decorating dollars towards the work we’re having done in the foyer (painting and new tile flooring) and my time playing catch-up on work that was neglected during the more relaxed pace of summer. I couldn’t let it pass without some recognition or subtle nod in the home, though! While out running errands last week, I bought a couple of

October 1, 2018 33 Comments

a slice of life

where julia shopped

One of the things on my to-do list when visiting Paris was to buy a copper sauce pot, either a useable antique one from the flea market or a new one from E. Dehillerin, the kitchen supply store that was Julia Child’s favorite. The copper at the flea market was mouthwateringly gorgeous, but it was way out of my price range. Most of the pots were in sets that were thousands of dollars and many of those needed to be re-tinned to be functional. Beautiful as they were, I decided to wait to purchase a new one. And I am so glad I did. I found the perfect copper pot… Shopping at E. Dehillerin was quite the experience, though! After a morning cruise on the Seine and a couple of hours at the Louvre, we walked over to E. Dehillerin, which was “just a short walk away”. Well, it

September 21, 2018 69 Comments

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.

September 5, 2018 34 Comments

All Things Home

antique german wardrobe

Before I share the wardrobe, I have to confess that I have been completely distracted by my obsession with my upcoming trip to France and Italy. I very rarely use the word obsessed about anything, but it’s true. I have been engrossed, consumed, and beset with all things having to do with this trip. It’s where my daydreams drift and what I’m reading about and the topic of my phone calls and what I’m thinking about when I’m shopping or cooking or painting. The future beyond the trip is just a small blip on my radar right now. Everything else is about creative workshops in Barga and leather shopping in Florence and museums in Paris. So, you have to just give me some latitude… I do have something non-trip related to share today, though. Remember the antique German wardrobe I found at Gold Rush a couple of weeks ago? Well,

August 31, 2018 53 Comments

All Things Home

foyer & staircase plans

If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been focusing my home improvement efforts on the main floor of our home over our first year here. I’ve done a little bit of painting in the basement and worked on the master bedroom (mostly because of our collaboration with Sleep Number), but aside from that, our money, time, and elbow grease have been focused on where we live the most… the kitchen, kitchen eating area, living room, dining room, my office and studio, and soon we’ll be turning our attention to the space that connects it all – the foyer (which also includes the stairs and half bath.) I assure you, my house is not decorated for Christmas! This is from last December and it’s just the best picture I had of the foyer through the front door! Yes. It’s too soon. Anyway, here is what it looks like without the garland (that was

August 23, 2018 48 Comments

All Things Home

fluffing & organizing

I usually blog in “real time”, but I did a slew of projects one right after the other over the past few weeks that I missed a few of the smaller things that happened in between the bigger things. Giving something a total makeover is the flashy part, but sometimes it’s the little details that follow, the fluffing and organizing, that really make the space sing. After the butler’s pantry makeover, painting the kitchen island, and painting the blue hutch in the dining room, it was time to rearrange some of my ironstone and transferware collection to tidy up these newly-transformed open shelves and to sort through and organize things that were shoved into a cabinet when we moved in. I’m fine with storing some things to rotate, but I don’t think it does justice to a pretty piece to have it behind closed doors for months or years. So, I

August 20, 2018 26 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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My House

hall/foyer update

rearranging the studio

subtle seasonal dining room

where julia shopped

back to school deep cleaning

antique german wardrobe

foyer & staircase plans

fluffing & organizing

next art sale

May 20th, 2026 at 1pm EST

Now Available for Preorder

Move Slow & Make Things

From the Studio

Artful pieces for your home and everyday life.

From the Studio and Home

Shop the Feed

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