Last spring, in the middle of five thousand projects around the house, I got an email from an editor at Country Living asking if they could shoot our home for an upcoming issue.
I was BLOWN AWAY! COUNTRY LIVING shooting OUR home?
It seemed so surreal and exciting. For as long as I can remember I have loved pouring over their inspiration-filled pages. It was such an honor, yet I kept wondering if they were absolutely SURE that they got the right house.
{Obviously they hadn't seen the piles of laundry on the bed, the cobwebs on the porch, or the back bedroom still piled high with moving boxes...}
BUT....I did start feeling better about it when I realized it was to be for their famous Bargain Issue.
Now bargains, I do know a little something about :)
I sent their editors dozens of pictures as they requested... but I think the fact that there was a bulldozer in most of them might have scared them off a bit.
{One of those five thousand unfinished projects was a massive deck re-do that Michael was in the middle of.}
Oh my goodness....I need to show you guys that deck soon. I'm SO proud of my husband - he's just unbelievably talented. More on that project later....
So fast forward 10 months ....
Just when I thought Country Living had come to their senses and found many more beautiful homes to photograph, I got another email from them asking if they could come shoot in a few weeks.
Not surprisingly, we were AGAIN in the middle of a renovation. This time it was the kitchen makeover. And believe me, it was a MESS!!
At that point, we had JUST torn off the old counter tops to begin making the concrete forms.
Check out our blog post on that here: KITCHEN CRAZINESS
I guess we work best under pressure (kinda like how we didn't file our taxes until April 15th).... because somehow we got it all done. AND a fresh coat of paint in the living room to boot!
All the work was WELL worth it this week, when these arrived on our doorstep:
In my opinion, the best part of the week was making new friends:
Natalie Warady {Style and Market Director}
Christina Wressell {Prop Stylist Extraordinaire}
Lucas Allen {NY based Photographer}
&
Beth Ann Fennelly {Talented Writer}
Though we only spent a few days with them, it was easy to see their incredibly unique talent and passion for what they do!
The best part? They made the whole thing SO. MUCH. FUN!
Natalie even let me pretend to be her assistant and made me feel useful, running around town and picking out little props!
My dream job for sure :)
While the fabulous Country Living crew was at our house we got an unforgettable glimpse into all of the hard work and talent that goes into making every issue happen. They make it look effortless on these pages, but there was so much involved.
Here are just a few behind the scenes peeks at our shoot:
{Lucas making the dining room magazine worthy}
{Michael and I were amazed by all of the photography equipment they brought in!}
{The original styling for the dining room shot on page 99}
{Christina helped me re-style the coffee table in the living room. I think it needed the touch of a professional!}
{I think she did an absolutely fabulous job!}
I really think Huck enjoyed the day more than anyone, though.
The camera loved him {as did the crew.... when he wasn't chewing on their props}
We feel so very blessed to have had this opportunity and are very thankful to Country Living and our new friends for making it happen!
Here's a link in case you'd like to see some highlights of the final product:
Couldn't have said it better myself, Mr. Fulghum!
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