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My House

Decorating

a chandelier, watering live evergreens & blue checks

The living room is in the front of our house, which faces south.  Most of the day, the room gets beautiful light..streaming through the dining room and front windows in the morning and in long, golden beams through the west-facing windows in the afternoon.  At night, though, this room is dark.  That is because it has no overhead lighting.  The house was built in the 1940’s and having lots of junction boxes and outlets was just not the thing to do.  I’ve wanted to add pot (recessed) lights and junction boxes for light fixtures to the old part of the house for years, but with plasterboard ceilings and no easy access the ceilings, it would be a major, messy project.  I think lighting is so important for a room, but lines have to be drawn somewhere when you’re fixing up a home that you’re not planning to live in for very

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Decorating

a girl can change her mind (and often does)

Soooo…the curtain saga continues.  I’ve confessed that rugs are my nemesis, but now that I’ve switched to sisal and jute blends, I’ve made peace with rugs.  It seems like curtains might be my new nemesis.  I think the struggle I have with curtains is that it’s not a design choice that’s easily (or inexpensively) changed.  In a room with one window…okay, it’s not that big of a deal.  But my family room and living/dining room have four windows each, which means eight full length panels are needed.  That’s at least 25 yards of fabric, plus the lining and a whole lot of time at the sewing machine. I’ve known for a white that I wanted to replace the curtains in the living/dining room, but the reasons above prevented me from doing anything.  I still love that fabric, but I’m ready for a change and I’ve learned a lot about making

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Decorating

blue spruce in a bucket

I have mentioned it a couple of times already…I am really excited to decorate for Christmas this year!  It’s just like old times when the countdown would begin leading up to the day after Thanksgiving and I could finally haul out the bins and put the Christmas music on.  For the past few years, I’ve been burned out on Christmas decorating.  Decorating for retail spaces and freelance projects all throughout the year left me unenthusiastic about decorating my own home.  This year, I only had a few Christmas projects in April and have otherwise been able to enjoy the seasons in their proper time. Kriste has been talking about getting her Christmas tree this weekend and I snickered a bit.  Well, I went to Wegman’s with the family today and saw a cute, squat live blue spruce and I immediately plopped it in the cart.  Jeff looked over at me, palms to

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Before and Afters

painted "swedish" bench

I always have a hard time getting refocused after a big event or project.  I seem to work at my best when there is a date looming, but at the same time, I dislike the pressure of deadlines.  So, I’m conflicted.  I love and hate due dates.  To combat the unfocused work approach, I decided to knock out a few projects that have been on my list for some time.  I grabbed the bench at the table in our family room and dragged it out to the car, so I could take it to the studio to paint.  (I have a knack for moving furniture by myself when I’m determined enough!) Remember this pine bench that we gave to my mom as a mother’s day gift when we lived in Germany? I like the shape of it, but the pine was a little too yellow and shiny for me.  I

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Decorating

time-saving tips for painting a room

I shared the other day that I painted three ceilings and one room in just a few hours…while the boys were at home…in my jammies.  Truth be told, I could’ve painted the living room and the hallway, too, but I was getting a little sick of looking at a roller!  So, several readers asked how I get things done so fast and I thought I would share my tricks. These tips will help you get a room painted faster, but before you plan a painting marathon, remember that I paint a lot!  When you do something a lot, you get better and quicker at it.  So, be patient with yourself if you’re a novice or a once-in-a-while painter. Here are my time-saving tips… 1.) Do as much prep work the day before as you can.  Take down the pictures, remove switch plates, curtain hardware, etc. and fill in the holes

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Favorite Finds

get your beautyrest

As I’m sure you’ve noticed, there’s been a lot of shuffling going on in the guest room.  I hand painted a bed in a Bavarian style and started decorating the entire room around it.  Then, after I had it for only a few months, I sold it. Now, I like change and I’m fickle when it comes to decorating, but I’m not quite that fickle.  I really loved this bed and it was hard to sell it, but there was a good reason… I had the opportunity to partner with Beautyrest and get a luxurious, queen-sized mattress for our guest room – a Beautyrest Black mattress.  I selected the Kate model. Our guests have been sleeping on a low-end full sized mattress for about 12 years.  We’ve padded it with memory foam and did everything we could do to disguise the cheap quality, but there wasn’t anything we could do to

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Favorite Finds

Pine Cone Hill 20th Anniversary Bed & Giveaway

I mentioned earlier this week that a big giveaway was coming up…the biggest one I’ve ever had on my blog.  Well, this is it. I started working with Pine Cone Hill and Dash & Albert a few years ago when they sent a rug to borrow for my home office makeover.  It was being photographed for Flea Market Style magazine and they asked me to pick out a rug with some pop.  I fell in love with that rug and was able to purchase it after the shoot.  From that point on, I’ve partnered with Annie Selke companies for various things.  They outfitted my new master bedroom bed not long ago and have sent me some beautiful rugs, pillows and poufs for various photo shoots and makeovers. When Pine Cone Hill asked me to design a bed to feature in the month of October to help them celebrate their 20th anniversary, it was a no-brainer.

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Dining Room

joss & main #holidayhostess event!

I know it’s not even Halloween, yet, but it’s about time to start thinking about the holidays and the parties, guests and decorating that comes along with it!  I’ve partnered with Joss & Main to kick off their Holiday Hostess events that will be running over the next few weeks.  It’s a great lineup of bloggers including the ladies from Stone Gable, French Country Cottage and Finding Home. For my event, I featured my dining room and guest room… I decked out the dining room in my usual blue and white with natural accents like preserved boxwood and pinecones.  This is meant to be a “transitional” table that eases you and guests into the holidays.  It’s not full-on-Christmas-in-your-face, yet, but it’s festive.   The subtle holiday decor carries into the guest room…   Most of the decor is seasonally neutral, but I added some swags of boxwood at the foot

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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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