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Running a Business

Miscellaneus

I needed Faith

I had a little idea a few months ago. It was just an idea to have milk paint colors I loved in cute packaging. I kicked that idea over to Homestead House Paint Co. and they thought it sounded like a good idea. Well, I announced this little idea on my blog and it has exploded! We’re about to launch the paint line with 80 retailers around the US and a few in Canada and one in the UK. Plus we have about 150 potential retailers who have sent inquiries. All of this is awesome and terrifying and overwhelming and exciting and it’s finally pushed me to hire someone to help me. (It’s about time, I know!) Meet Faith, my new Business Manager… How perfect is it that her name is Faith? If you aren’t aware, Miss Mustard Seed is a reference to a verse in the Bible about

August 13, 2012 No Comments

buying & selling antiques

Shop Lucketts {in your jammies]

If you’ve even popped in on my blog once or twice before, you’ve probably read something about Lucketts…about me going there or selling out of there or getting ready for Lucketts or loving Lucketts or all of the above. If you aren’t aware, Lucketts is only the most amazing antique store in the world. Well, in my opinion (and I think a few other people feel that well also.) For those who are far away and feel taunted by my frequent posts about the place that is near and dear to my heart, well, the talented and lovely ladies behind The Lucketts Store have come up with a way for you to Shop Lucketts from the comfort of your home…in your jammies. (You know, you could show up at Lucketts in your jammies and that would be okay, too, if that’s your thing.) Anyway, here’s the whole idea behind

August 1, 2012 No Comments

Photography

growing as a photographer

I know photography is an area of blogging that be overwhelming. You may drool over gorgeous, magazine quality photographs on other blogs and feel like you can never do that, so there’s no point in trying. That’s how I felt when I first started my business, then my blog. I just raised the white photography flag and took pictures on automatic. This was the result of that mentality…   Nice. Yes. Those are pictures I took and sent along to my designer to use for my website. She politely encouraged me to work on my photography skills. I had taken a photography class a few years ago, so there was really no excuse. I understood the way a camera worked, but I had focused most of my early photography efforts on cats and kids and things outside in pretty natural light. I hadn’t tried to stage and photograph my home. These

July 28, 2012 No Comments

buying & selling antiques

in the lobby

Well, I’m all cozy and snug in my new retail space in the lobby at Lucketts! There’s still a lot that I want to do, but I was able to get some pieces in the space and figure out my game plan. Some girls got my space settled while I was out of town and they put these two huge, beautiful bookcases on either side of the hardware counter. They looked absolutely perfect there, so I changed my game plan and bought them to keep in the space. (I’ll probably paint them eventually.) The plan is to fill the shelves and bins with my paint, companion products, books, t-shirts, bottles of glitter and some antique goodies. I’ll put a feature piece (probably a dresser) up on the hardware counter and on the wall where the Lucketts Green dresser is. I decided to bring my legs in so

July 9, 2012 No Comments

buying & selling antiques

moving…again

My journey at Lucketts started in December of 2010. I met Karen that fall and she asked if I would like to sell furniture out of her space. Ummm…YES! It’s only been my most favorite antique store for the last 10+ years. So, I moved some pieces into her space. In April of 2011, a pavilion opened up and they asked me if I wanted it. A space of my own! Definitely, yes! In July, just a few months later, I moved into my huge room on the third floor. I finally started to get settled and painted the room. I then realized the space was too big for me to keep up with. I was working on my book and I had to put the retail side on hold. So, I moved back down into the room with Karen, except then I had a dedicated alcove

June 14, 2012 No Comments

buying & selling antiques

table legs & glitter

I went out shopping on Thursday, mainly in the hopes of finding an island and chandelier to use in my space at Lucketts, but I found three great (really cheap) dressers, a cute child’s antique wheel barrow, some old boards (for signs) and a bunch of table legs. Why in the world would I want table legs? I saw them and at first thought, “Those are so cool, but what would I do with them?” I wasn’t sure, so I left them and kept looking. I couldn’t help revisiting the table legs before I left and a thought hit me. “I could use them to show my paint colors at Lucketts!” Bingo! There were only 11 and I have 12 colors, so I’m on the lookout for one more. I’m leaving white (“Ironstone”) out for now, since most people aren’t concerned about what white is going to look like. I’ve been

June 9, 2012 No Comments

Before and Afters

didn’t make the cut

I had to do a lot for my book. A lot. It was so much more work than I anticipated. Weeks of writing, hundreds of pictures, hours of photo editing, weeks of rewriting, dozens of projects and days of staging. After all of the work, some of what I did didn’t make the cut. That’s a good thing. When I’m writing for my blog, I don’t have to carefully edit myself, because I can write another post tomorrow with new content. With the book, we had to edit everything down to the best I wanted to share and the most important words I wanted to say. So, a lot of great, but not perfect-for-the-book stuff hit the cutting room floor, so I’m going to scoop some of it up and share it on my blog. Exhibit A: A dated china cabinet, but one with really cool lines and lots of potential. I

June 7, 2012 No Comments

Antiques

Big Purchases

I shared when I posted FFF this week that I made a couple of big purchases on Thursday, so I thought I would show them off. Here’s one… See that big hardware counter with all of the metal bins? Yeah, that. Woohoo! I bought it from my friend, Karen. She’s told me so many times that she would never sell that piece, so when she mentioned to me that it was for sale, I jumped on it. “Put a hold tag on it, so I can measure it when we go down there tomorrow!” I became very paranoid that someone else was going to buy it. I had to make sure it would work for where I needed it and it will. Perfectly. My husband is going to build a shelf to go on top of it to make it even more substantial. It’s going to be painted black with a

June 3, 2012 No 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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From original paintings and art prints to Pup Club releases and curated goods, each piece is created or chosen to bring warmth, creativity, and character into your home.

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A handpicked collection of items styled and shared throughout posts, projects, and social feeds. Every product is thoughtfully chosen to reflect a timeless, collected aesthetic.