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All Things Home

simple, natural fall mantel | autumn decorating

In the very early years of my blogging career, I connected with Layla of the Lettered Cottage. I was smitten with her design aesthetic and eye for styling. We both wrote tutorials for HGTV.com (you can find mine HERE) and wrote and contributed photography for several of the same editors and magazines. We met at a few blog conferences over the years and even partnered on the very first Chapel Market hosted by her community in Alabama. As another fun piece of history, one of the colors in the MMS Milk Paint line, Layla’s Mint, is named after her. It was a color I custom-mixed for a secretary desk for her kitchen and we added it to the line soon after. (That color is still available HERE.) So, when Layla asked if I would like to team up to share fall decorating inspiration or a project with our readers, I

September 26, 2024 11 Comments

1970 home renovation

two years | 1970 home renovation

Can you believe we just passed the two-year mark of living in our current house? I feel like, between years two and three is when our MN home started really feeling like ours and I think the same is true for this house. While the Minnesota house just needed some updating and a huge injection of personality, our current Maryland house needed a complete renovation. Even though we weren’t looking for a mid-century ranch, we felt like this home was a little gem and, since it’s in a desirable neighborhood, was worth the energy, time, and investment to renovate. We also liked that it hadn’t been updated and was being sold as-is so we could be the ones to renovate to our specific tastes and needs. It was going to be the biggest home makeover project we’ve ever tackled and we knew it would be hard at times, but we

September 24, 2024 20 Comments

Decorating

adding doors back on a hutch | dining room makeover

The dining room makeover has been at a standstill since I painted the ceiling last weekend because I have been in bed sick for several days. I am up and about now but still moving slowly and not feeling the greatest. It’s just normal virus stuff – congestion, sore throat, cough, and aches. I’ve missed my daily walks and making progress on projects, but I’ve been enjoying some period dramas, interesting documentaries, reading books, and spending hours snuggling with the cats until I feel up to returning to my normal routines. Last week when I finished painting the dining room ceiling, though, I decided to make an additional small change. When we first looked at this house, I imagined the dining room as a library/dining room with built-in shelves lining most of the walls. Once we started settling in and using the house a bit more, I wasn’t sure that

September 16, 2024 8 Comments

1970 home renovation

painting the dining room ceiling

Well, I finally did it. I’ve been dragging my feet for over a year, but I painted the dining room ceiling. I have been hung up on working on this room just because I knew the ceiling had to be done first and I just really didn’t want to do it. It wasn’t the painting I was dreading, but all of the prep work of moving things out and making sure the furniture and floors were protected. I’m usually pretty casual when it comes to using dropcloths, but when painting a ceiling, I have to be more careful. Saturday morning was dreary and cold, so I almost talked myself into a low-key day, but I was ready to have this job behind me. I knew it would be a relief, so I pulled out the dropcloths, removed all of the small stuff from the room, got out the paint and

September 9, 2024 26 Comments

All Things Home

a bench, a fountain, and garden lights

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Lamps Plus. As always, all words and opinions expressed are honest and my own. Do you remember some of the lighting fixtures I’ve gotten from Lamps Plus for our house so far? We updated the 50-year-old exterior lights with the classic Stratton Street Lights… We added a lot more light to the long, interior hall with the Possini Euro Star fixtures… …and freed up the living room side tables by adding the Mendes Antique Brass wall sconces over the sofa. As we’ve been turning some of our attention to the house’s exterior this spring and summer, I started looking at some of the items offered in the “plus” categories of Lamps Plus. What initially led me to them was the search for a teak bench similar to the one we bought in PA and took with us to Minnesota. I loved that bench, but

September 3, 2024 22 Comments

All Things Home

a rug, the first dried hydrangeas, & a cloche

Do you remember the jute rug in the kitchen eating area with the scalloped edge? I loved the detail around the border, but I have some sad news. After about a year in a heavy traffic path, the scallops around the corners started to come loose. I learned this is the kind of run that is best used in a room where people and animals won’t be walking over the corners throughout the day. I probably should’ve noticed the wear and rotated the run to extend its life, but it was becoming a bit of a tripping hazard. The fortunate thing about jute rugs, though, is they are inexpensive, so I don’t have anxiety about them wearing out. Most of my jute rugs have lasted for several years and the ones I had the longest (about 8 years) I sold with our last house and imagine they are still in

August 27, 2024 22 Comments

All Things Home

two antique watercolor boxes

We’re going back to April when I first took these pictures and started this post-draft. You see, my birthday is in April and, even though I just turned 46, I still celebrate my birthday like I did as a teenager. It’s not just my birthday, but my birthday month which means I can splurge on a few things and buy goodies I happen to come across in very specific searches on Etsy. It means treats, gifts, cards, and well-wishes are welcomed the entire month of April. I’ve already shared a few things I bought with my birthday money or received for my birthday as well as some treats I bought for myself, but there are two more things I haven’t shared yet. I found both of them at the end of March and bought them in anticipation of my birthday month. They are both antique art supplies, which probably doesn’t

August 12, 2024 7 Comments

1970 home renovation

Landscape Mural Design & Colors

I’m getting things lined up to start “dining room mural take two.” I painted the mural in my last dining room with very little planning. I just had an idea in my head and used MMS Milk Paint and some acrylics that I had on hand. I was just going to throw the paint on the wall to see how it worked. It’s just paint after all and I could always paint over if it wasn’t working. I kept it very loose, drippy, watery, and light, so I was able to finish it in just a couple of days. For this mural, I decided to use Farrow & Ball paints so there is cohesion with the paint colors (Light Blue and Card Room Green) used in adjoining rooms. I also like the idea of having a palette of colors instead of mixing my own colors. I’m sure some amount of

August 6, 2024 15 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

simple, natural fall mantel | autumn decorating

two years | 1970 home renovation

adding doors back on a hutch | dining room makeover

painting the dining room ceiling

a bench, a fountain, and garden lights

a rug, the first dried hydrangeas, & a cloche

two antique watercolor boxes

Landscape Mural Design & Colors

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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power washing the patio

painted garden obelisk

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