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Running a Business

Before and Afters

boxwood highboy

When I bought this piece, I honestly didn’t think too much of it. My parents went to pick up a few pieces from a seller on Craig’s List and they sent me a picture of this one that was for sale, but hadn’t been listed. Sure. Throw it in the truck. I’ll do something with it. This is what it looked like when I got it… I really did hit the jackpot on this Craig’s List listing. A man had a bunch of furniture he was planning to refinish, but got partway into a few pieces, like this highboy, and realized it wasn’t for him. So, he sold them off at a good price. I love it when I can get five pieces from the same place! One stop shopping. That day, anyway. I sanded down this piece and then painted it in two coats of MMSMP Boxwood (I’ve been

May 10, 2015 17 Comments

All Things Home

the bergere chairs & design ramblings

Well, the bergere chairs are finally done! They were some of my earlier upholstery subjects. I was still at the stage when I would take apart a chair and then I would wonder what in the world I was thinking and how I was going to get it all back together. At the time, these were the most complicated pieces I had worked on, so I chickened out and didn’t take them apart all the way. That meant the fabric on the seat back and arm interiors was just tucked in at the bottom. Now that I’ve gotten better at upholstery, I redid them in antique hemp sheets and grain sack…double welting and all. And here they are… It makes me a little sad, but after several years of enjoying them, I’m ready to let them go to a new home. They will be for sale at the Lucketts Spring

May 8, 2015 11 Comments

Before and Afters

the dresser with the tree…

Just a quick reminder/clarification before I get into the post. The Friday event of the Lucketts Spring Market is a ticketed event, so you have to have a ticket to attend and tickets will not be sold at the gate AND the tickets are sold out. So, if you don’t have a ticket for Friday, Saturday morning at 8:00 am is the earliest you can show up. For details, visit the Old Lucketts Store website. Surprise, surprise. I have another furniture makeover for you today! And, believe it or not, there is still a lot more. Jeff walked in the other day, took a look around the studio and said, “I’m going to call U-Haul to get a bigger truck.” This piece is one that took me a while to figure out. I don’t mean this in a nutty kind of way, but I try to work with the piece of furniture when

May 7, 2015 31 Comments

Before and Afters

Mustard Seed Yellow Buffet

It may (or may not) surprise you to know that one of my favorite pieces of furniture ever was the piece I painted to introduce the Mustard Seed Yellow color in my milk paint line. The way the piece chipped, the original amber knobs, the dark wood top, the hand painting… it just all came together perfectly. When I brought this buffet into the studio, I immediately thought of that piece and decided to make this one over in a similar style. It’s a really old, pretty buffet made of oak, but the finish on it was almost black. I stripped off the top and finished that with two coats of Hemp Oil. The base of the cabinet was sanded and painted with three coats of Mustard Seed Yellow (a group effort by me, my mom and Megan.) I then added some decorative painting in Ironstone, distressed it and finished it

May 6, 2015 40 Comments

All Things Home

a sea of furniture & 500+ pieces of ironstone

Some of you have noticed and commented that I have been sharing a lot of furniture pieces that I’m going to be taking to Lucketts and you’re right. Last year, I brought about 12 large painted pieces to sell (dressers, cabinets, tables, etc.). This year, we’re at about 25 and that’s not even including all of the chairs and benches, which are pretty large in number, too. The studio has been flooded with a sea of furniture… And, on top of all of the furniture, we’ve been shopping about once a week to find lots of ironstone and other smalls to sell. We packed up the ironstone earlier this week and it took three of us several hours to get it all packed. Kriste and I estimate that we have over 500 pieces of ironstone. And that’s probably a conservative guess. We have stacks and stacks of plates, bowls and platters. We

May 4, 2015 31 Comments

Before and Afters

Lucketts Green Highboy

I told Kriste today that we’re in “final push mode.” This is the time when preparing for Lucketts that it gets hard for me. I’m getting tired. I feel like I’ve done enough, but there’s still more on my to-do list to see my plan through. So, I just need to work through the list and scratch things off one at a time until it’s done. The push today was to get the painted furniture finished and were we able to get all but one piece finished, which was quite an accomplishment and a boost. I have five pieces I still need to style and photograph, but tonight I’m sharing a highboy dresser I finished late last week. This is another piece of furniture that was delivered right to my doorstep. Here’s how it started… It was a pretty piece with sturdy bones and a finish that was just a little

April 30, 2015 29 Comments

Before and Afters

the china cabinet on my doorstep

Usually I have to hunt for my furniture, but lately a few pieces have been finding me. That was the case with this china cabinet… An antique store owner who I’ve shopped from a few times stopped by my studio a few weeks ago. He knocked on the door. “I have something in the truck that I think you might like.” He showed me the china cabinet, quoted a price. I nodded and he carried it in for me. How easy was that?! Now, I have to do something with this china cabinet… After painting several of them over the years, I’ve sworn that I would never buy another one to paint. They are a royal pain in the rear to work on. The tight interiors, the fretwork up against the glass…all, a royal pain in the rear. So, I put it out of the way against a wall and

April 20, 2015 59 Comments

Before and Afters

boxwood empire dresser

Sooo…there is a dresser that’s been hanging around in the studio for months. It’s a beautiful empire piece with some amazing graining on the drawers and I just wasn’t ready to paint it. I pushed it against the wall and waited until inspiration struck. I was thinking about the dresser one evening and it hit me… Boxwood. It would look stately and fitting for the lines and size of the piece. I’ve had some extra help in the studio the last couple of weeks. Cari, aka “The Machine” is back to help with stripping chairs. And, we’ve had a new helper, Megan from Mercy in the Middle. She attended one of my painting workshops and later reached out and asked if she could come help us get ready for Lucketts. We clicked at the workshop, so I said yes. Anyone who volunteers to be covered in dust and splattered with paint is a friend in

April 2, 2015 33 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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