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dining table makeover

Independent of one another, two of my friends from church asked me if I could give them advice on refinishing a table. It occurred to me that I have a table I want to refinish, too, so why not make a day of it and refinished all of the tables together? Projects are always more fun when fellowship is involved and, as an added bonus, we have boys who are the same age and they could play together while we worked. Projects are also more fun with the kiddos are occupied and happy! Since I was working with friends on their tables as well as my own, I didn’t take the time to do a tutorial for this one, but I’ll share links to tutorials I’ve written in the past when I used the same techniques. Here is the table before… It wasn’t in bad shape, but it had a

July 30, 2018 42 Comments

All Things Home

making an “antique” hook rail

I think one of the hardest areas in a house to keep clean and tidy, aside from the kitchen and bathrooms, is the foyer. It’s natural to walk in and dump everything that your carrying, kick off your shoes, and then go about your business. Our foyer, even though it’s two stories, is relatively small as far as square footage on the floor is concerned. There is just a small space by the door and, of course, a pile of shoes quickly collects there and it gets even more out of control over the winter with all of the wet and salty boots! There also wasn’t a place to hang purses, coats, hats, and Sebastian’s leash, so the doorknobs in the foyer (to my office and the coat closet) were always engaged as hangers for those items. I’ve been looking around for an antique-style hook rail that would fit next

July 25, 2018 37 Comments

All Things Home

milk paint mural tutorial

One of the reasons I decided to DIY my own dining room mural was so I could share how to do it with others. Well, I realized about 10 minutes into it that I was totally flying by the seat of my pants and I didn’t know if it would even look good in the end! It’s hard to teach something when I’m just making it up as I go. This project had been on my mind for a few months, but I kept dragging my feet on actually starting it. As I would begin to formulate a plan and gather colors, memories of a failed attempt at a chinoiserie mural haunted me and intimidated me. Years ago, pre-blog, I decided to paint a white-on-blue chinoiserie-style (sort of an asian toile) mural in our master bedroom. I knew just how I wanted it to look in my head. Jeff was

July 19, 2018 32 Comments

All Things Home

milk paint landscape mural

A few weeks ago, I shared my plan to paint a soft landscape mural in my dining room. The dining room is one of the smallest non-bathroom rooms in the house and it’s square with a large window and two large doorways, making it a little awkward. I feel like it needs something that is a show-stopper in order to make it a special room and I think a mural can be that show-stopper. When I shared my idea, I also shared my inspiration – Susan Harter Mural Papers. Every mural that I found on Pinterest and Google image searches seemed to be by her. I just love the soft colors and traditional style of her murals, so that was the direction I wanted to go. Well, one of her clients alerted her to my post and she reached out to me directly. We got along like two peas in

June 29, 2018 50 Comments

All Things Home

dining chair upholstery tutorial

I almost completely forgot that I left this chair makeover tutorial hanging after I shared how to make the slipcover for the seat! I was traveling and visiting family and wasn’t reminded about part two until someone mentioned it on Instagram. Anyway, I dusted off the video footage and got everything edited, so I could share how to strip and reupholster the back of a wood frame chair, like this one… It doesn’t matter if your chair has a different shape. If the back is framed in wood, this tutorial will work for you. If you’re new to upholstery, this is actually a great project to start with, because you don’t have any tricky places where fabric panels meet. Here are the supplies you’ll need… Upholstery Staple gun by Porter Cable Porter Cable Pancake Compressor 3/8″ staples Staple pulling pliers & Staple puller Fabric Foam/batting, if it needs to be replaced

June 10, 2018 15 Comments

All Things Home

dining chair slipcover tutorial (updated)

I recently made slipcovers for my kitchen chairs and, I reserved the last one for the purposes of making a tutorial as I worked on it. I posted a dining chair slipcover tutorial HERE a few years ago, but the style is slightly different and the tutorial is in pictures and written directions. You can check that out, though, if you learn better that way. This tutorial is all on video, because I think that’s an easier way to show you everything I’m doing. The style of the slipcover is tie-on with a ruffled skirt. You can make variations of this slipcover to have a longer skirt, a micro ruffle, a pleated skirt, or even something that looks cleaner and more modern, like a kick-pleat. You can also change out the ties to be thinner, use ribbons or twine, etc. The principles are all the same. Here’s is what my

June 1, 2018 15 Comments

All Things Home

DIY & ready-made tie-up shades

I’m bringing you a “twofer” in today’s post – a tie-up shade tutorial and a ready-made version! So, a few months ago, I made three linen shades with my mom for my studio. I did the cutting, pinning, and sewing, and she did the ironing. With the two of us working together, we were able to get three done quickly, but we didn’t have time to finish the remaining three before she left. I’ve been dragging my feet since January, feeling like the project would eat up a couple of days of my time. I finally got to work on them and finished all three in about three hours! It’s so ridiculous how I can build projects up in my own head when they really won’t take that long. Anyway, while I was stalling, I spoke with Decor Steals about making a reproduction shade for those who don’t sew or

May 21, 2018 50 Comments

All Things Home

distressing the farmhouse table | all about the “chippy look”

I hope you had a wonderful weekend! Jeff was on a backpacking trip, so I busied myself with the boys and doing some work around the house. The combination of warmer weather and creative inspiration from Junk Bonanza has me excited and motivated to cross things off the to-do list and start to add some more layers to rooms that have the “bones” in place. I’ll share more about what I’ve been working on in future posts, but today, I wanted to share the next step in the Farmhouse White table makeover. After the second coat of MMS Milk Paint in Farmhouse White (you can read about that HERE), I let it dry and waited to see if it would chip as I thought it would. It did! And the chipping was perfect, because it was pulling up the not-s0-pretty brown paint to reveal that yummy green, which looks to

April 30, 2018 9 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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Tutorials

dining table makeover

making an “antique” hook rail

milk paint mural tutorial

milk paint landscape mural

dining chair upholstery tutorial

dining chair slipcover tutorial (updated)

DIY & ready-made tie-up shades

distressing the farmhouse table | all about the “chippy look”

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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