Miss Mustard Seed’s Country Cottage

Surprisingly, most of the Parsonses’ décor has been acquired through Craigslist or antiques shops. Items that don’t merit a second glance from most collectors have been magically transformed with a few coats of milk paint or a ruffled slipcover. Though her bargain hunting began from necessity, it’s now Marian’s preferred mode of acquisition. Husband Jeff gets in on the action, too, bringing his woodworking talents to projects that require more than cosmetic changes, like the dining room table. The bottom is a repurposed potting bench, and the top is an old barn door, cut down to fit. Gathered around it are four whitewashed cane-back chairs that were burgundy in a former life and a pair of end chairs upholstered in monogrammed grain sacks.