From House to Home

In her new book, Marian Parsons offers a mix of project blueprints and her own experience to help you tailor your home to reflect your personality and needs.

- DANI GRACE

Many beautiful, photo-filled home décor books end up collecting dust on our coffee tables after a perusal for design inspiration. But this new book is one that will spark ideas for home and room makeovers and then continue to be regularly used.

One way to transform your dining room from a boring, boxy enclave into a scene straight out of an Italian countryside, Marian suggests, is with a hand-painted mural from a local artist.

Sometimes your ideal arrangement for a room doesn’t work out. Adding casters and sliders to the bottoms of your furniture, like Marian did in her art studio, makes quick changes possible.

Marian compares the successful creation of a living space to a magnet: a place that attracts and draws people in to congregate. Plenty of space for kids to play paired with comfy furniture and throw pillows invites people of all ages to this living room.

Marian Parsons, known on her DIY and home design blog as Miss Mustard Seed, helps readers design their dream interiors in keeping with their personalities and needs through her new book, Feels Like Home: Transforming Your Space from Uninspiring to Uniquely Yours. Marian translates her 20-plus years of décor know-how into a utilitarian guide with nine project tutorials and myriad nuggets of advice to inspire and motivate homeowners. “This book isn’t asking anything of you or telling you what’s beautiful or what’s ugly, what’s right or what’s wrong,” she writes. “This book, first and foremost, should be a resource that inspires and encourages you.”