Mar

20

behind the scenes of a photoshoot

If you’ve been following along on instagram, perhaps you’ve noticed we’ve been doing lots and lots of cleaning, purging, painting and polishing all in preparation for our kitchen’s big day: a photo shoot for Better Homes & Gardens Kitchen & Bath Makeover magazine.

setting-up-the-kitchen-shoot

We’ve pinched ourselves a few times … our diy kitchen in a real magazine? Now that’s crazy.

setting-up-for-the-bhg-photo-shoot

We’re completely flattered and it was just the motivation we needed to finish all of the almost finished projects in this space.  You know, those lingering things like touch-up paint and deep cleaning and a new bench slipcover. And while you’re at it, you might as well clean out the pantry and reorganize your cupboards and paint the back door. Needless to say, we’re exhausted. But our kitchen has never looked better.

Since this whole magazine-photo-shoot thing is new to me, I thought I’d show you behind the scenes and share how it works.

kitchen-photo-shoot-computer-setup

The crew {Linda the stylist, John the photographer and Mark the assistant} arrived bright and early and got right to work setting up equipment and adding props. Linda wanted the shelves to be organized with mostly our things so I had them set up ahead of time and was so surprised that she pretty much left them as I styled them. She did switch out our clear glasses for pink goblets {clear glass does not read in photos – who knew!} and added flowers, produce and a few counter top props. The art director asked for accents in pink and green which makes the space look so pretty and springy.

preping-the-shelves

Linda set everything as she wanted and then John and Mark went to work snapping photos.

preping-for-the-kitchen-shoot

Another thing I never knew about photoshoots: all of the lights are turned off.  John explained that the difference in tone between artificial and natural light is hard to merge and so he only shoots with natural light.  His camera is set up on a tripod with a remote and he views everything from his computer, making adjustments to his camera settings via the computer. That was fascinating to watch.

kitchen-shoot-with-computer

We did a total of seven shots and it was an all day process. If you do the math, that’s about one hour per photo. John is a true artist who pays very close attention to every detail to get the shot just right. They would take a photo, test the color, make little adjustments to props {move a pear, smooth the curtain, turn the cake} until the photo was composed perfectly.  I think that’s why I love magazine photos so much: they are very intentional and meticulously styled.

checking-the-photo-on-the-computer

The day went very smoothly and the photos turned out beautifully. It will be such fun to see our well-used kitchen grace the pages of a real magazine.

cheers

And when all was said and done, a celebratory toast was in order.

We will keep you posted on the exact issue but it’s looking like spring/summer 2014.

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Mar

15

tufting and nailheads and linen, oh my

After eying it for months in Ashley’s home, I finally emailed her and asked if she cared if I copied her. I just loved her sofa so much.

tufted-linen-sofa-with-mirrored-side-table

Thankfully, she didn’t mind. And she was super sweet and shared her source and someday we’ll meet and I’ll feel especially bonded because we have the same sofa.

linen-sofa-from-the-front

Isn’t it lovely?

linen-sofa-with-tufting-and-nail-head-trim

The linen color is a light oatmeally/beige with a little bit of gray. Very neutral and bright.

linen-sofa-from-the-side

The arms and back are generous and sturdy.

 And surprisingly very, very comfortable. Plus, there are no lose cushions to fluff.

linen-sofa-with-colorful-pillows

The seat is deep and down-filled. Basically you never want to get up once you sit down.

tufted-linen-sofa-with-nailhead-trim

Even the details are fabulous with tiny nailhead trim and tufting along the front.

tufted-linen-sofa-full-shot

Is this the most practical of all sofas for a family with young children? Probably not. But I can’t say I’m the most practical person and I am okay with that.  This couch sits in our living room where we spend a lot of time so of course it will not stay perfect for forever, but I’m prolonging it’s loveliness for as long as possible by restricting food and shoes and crazy roughhousing {we have plenty of other places for those things}.

tufted-linen-sofa-with-pink-tulips

We purchased the sofa from Andella Home and they were wonderful to work with.  Ours is the 90″ Audrey Sofa {how fitting, right?}.

Great news for you:

andella-home-+-jdc

One more cool thing about Andella Home: shipping is always FREE. Love that.

If your living room wants to be matchy-matchy with both mine and Ashley’s, we say go for it.

You will love this sofa.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

just in case you’re curious, a few sources for you:

striped throw . floral pillow fabric . yellow trellis pillow . ikat spot pillow fabric

Posted by | 30 comments
Mar

13

wallpapering with gift wrap {tutorial}

I often get an idea in my mind for a room {like, wallpaper for the back wall of the laundry room} and I search and search for what my imagination pictures.  Sometimes I find what I’m looking for; most of the time I don’t. Or maybe I find it, but it is way beyond my budget.

Which is why I am a DIYer.

And it’s also why I used giftwrap on my laundry room walls instead of real wallpaper.

The idea was originally executed in the nursery with my very favorite metallic peony gift wrap. I had searched for a real wallpaper that was similar and never could find it, so I ordered a stack of gift wrap and glued it to her bedroom wall.  This was all done before I began blogging {which means no photos} so I thought I’d take the opportunity to share with you how I did it this second time around in our laundry room.

wallpapering-with-giftwrap

Before we begin, here’s the most important tip: use thick paper.

The thinner the paper, the more likely it will wrinkle and look funky. My friend tried wallpapering a closet wall with a cute roll of glossy giftwrap and it did not work. So do your best to find thick paper without a sheen. And if you can find one with a repeat pattern or a random one that you don’t need to match up {like in Audrey’s room}, this project will go much more smoothly.

Okay, so let’s talk about what you’ll need:

supplies-needed-for-wallpapering-with-gift-wrap

:: gift wrap {either sheet or roll}. remember: thick!
:: wallpaper paste {I ordered this as my hardware stores do not carry wallpaper paste}
:: foam roller, tray, foam brush
:: scissors, pencil, exacto knife
:: clean rag
:: optional but helpful: yardstick, glue dots, squeegee

STEP ONE: tack up your first section of paper using glue dots {or an extra set of hands}. Roughly pencil any areas that need to be trimmed, being sure to leave a few inches overlap to be precisely trimmed later.

how-to-wallpaper-with-giftwrap

STEP TWO: roll a thin coat of wallpaper paste to the top section of paper and adhere to wall, smoothing with hands, clean rag or squeegee.

wallpapering-walls-with-giftwrap---first-sheet-up

Continue to add paste in sections going down the length of the paper. I ended up just rolling it onto the wall and then pressing the paper down.

STEP THREE: trim around edges using an exacto knife

wallpaper-walls-with-gift-wrap---cut-around-corners

STEP FOUR: secure all edges with a foam brush and paste {this was easier than the roller for little areas}

how-to-wallpaper-a-wall-with-gift-wrap

STEP FIVE: Once your first piece is up, you can add the next piece – matching the pattern at the seam.

learn-how-to-wallpaper-with-giftwrap-wm

You can see the wrinkles in the photo above. Once the paper dried, most worked themselves out. There are a few remaining air pockets, but they are hardly noticeable.

painted-cabinets-and-gift-wrap-wallpaper

DETAILS:

I used this wrapping paper from Paper Source.

The wall in this room took about 1 1/2 rolls of paper.

The project from start to finish took about 3 hours.

I love how it turned out.

laundry-room-progress-at-jdc

Questions? Please ask and I’ll gladly answer!

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