Renovation Style "The Ultimate Guide to Kitchens & Baths"

A huge Thank You to Renovation Style and editor Erich Gaukel for including a feature on our master bathroom in the current Special Issue of

Renovation Style

 "The Ultimate Guide to Kitchens & Baths"

 

Available on newsstands now!

Our Feature in Renovation Style Magazine is on newsstands NOW!

Hi everyone!!

I'm excited to tell you that our feature in Renovation Style Magazine is on newsstands now!  
Our feature is titled "Rescuers"! 
love that.

A couple of things I want you to know....

First, this is a "Special Issue... The Before & After Issue" that is a newsstand only publication.
This special issue is not included in your regular subscription to the magazine, if you have one, so it will not be mailed to you.
The issue will be on the newsstands until November 8th.

Secondly, there are some inaccuracies are in the text of the article.   I didn't want you to be confused if you read something in the article that is different than what you have read here, written by me, on the blog. 
As is stated on my sidebar... we moved to New Hampshire three years ago (technically three and a half now), but not the six years written in the article.  We actually lived with Ella in Dallas for two and a half years before moving here.


I've asked the publisher for retail locations for purchasing, but haven't heard back from them on this.  We bought our copy at Target.
When I hear back from the publisher I will add stores to the bottom of this post.  (I would also appreciate hearing where you find a copy!)

I would love to hear what you think of our feature!

I think you'll be happy to see a before and after floor plan!

it's good to be back!
joan


Locations where the magazine has been found:
Target
Publix
Kroger
Barnes & Noble
Wegmans
Walmart
Acme Markets
Dillons
CVS
Harris Teeter
Books a Million
Walgreens
Bilo
Stop and Shop
Lowe's
Chapters
Home Depot
HEB
Randalls
Rite Aid

the very best part of the photoshoot...

Thank you so much to those of you who left us comments and sent emails about the Renovation Style photoshoot!  I do not know yet which issue the feature will appear in, but I promise the second I know, you will know!

While I loved everything about the photoshoot, my very favorite part of the whole experience was having these professional photographs of Ella taken by the assistant photographer, David McCaughan.

These photographs are a gift that we will cherish forever.
David did a wonderful job of capturing Ella's soul. 

Ironically, the photos were taken almost six years to the day that we adopted Ella (she was a little over a year old at the time) from the SPCA in Dallas (I am forever grateful to the person who found her and brought her to the pound so that we could find each other.)  It was on this very rug that I took the first photograph of her that day... how time flies.

She is seven years old...  and she is my heart.

the photoshoot

The creative team from Renovation Style magazine arrived yesterday morning!

They make it look so natural and easy when you see a finished photo in a magazine, but the time and work involved to get even one angle of a room ready to be photographed is shockingly amazing! 

The stylist, Jorge Arango, arrived in the morning after picking up flowers in the wee hours at the flower district in NYC, and then driving the 4 hours to get to our house.  He immediately started arranging flowers for each room to be photographed. 

He came with what is called a "shot list" from the art director, Jack Murphy, at Renovation Style.   A shot list is the directive to the photographer and the stylist which specifically lists each room/angle/shot that has been chosen to be photographed for the magazine. They are doing a whole-house shoot, so there are quite a few photos on the list.  The stylist then styles that room or angle of the room to make it look great in a photo.  Styling is a totally different skill set than interior design.  It is almost like designing "outside the box."  Things that I would have never gathered together for a real vignette in a room look absolutely beautiful when grouped together for a photograph!  It easily takes at least an hour to set up for one shot.   It has been a fascinating learning lesson in styling and photography. 

Ella helping Jorge!  There is a lot of activity around the house, so luckily Ella thinks everyone is here to see her and it is just one big party!

Tulips being arranged for a shot in the living room. 

Sometimes props (pillows, throws, accessories, etc.) are brought in for a photoshoot, the only thing they brought with them for our shoot was flowers!!   The fact that they didn't need to bring anything was driven home when at one point Jorge found an antique iron vase in a cabinet that he decided to use for flowers for the entry shot.  I then remembered that I had two more antique iron vases that he might prefer to use instead in the attic.... everyone has three random antique iron vases just sitting around their house, right?!!

The photographer, Michael Partenio, and his assistant, David Mc Caughan, arrived with a lot of equipment!  (The large box isn't theirs, it was for the man-tv that was installed the day before the shoot! Who knew installing a television/sound system would take two days- and this is after the two days it took to wire it several months ago.... I digress;)  Luckily we had an empty barn room to use, as otherwise I have no idea where we would have put all of this! There is a lot of motion in the house with the assistant constantly going back and forth with equipment and special cameras that the photographer wants for a particular shot.

Again... Ella working hard helping the photographer!





Then she got tired and had to take a nap in the sun;)

In a photoshoot things get moved a bit.... oh- who am I kidding, everything gets moved:) sometimes just an inch or two, sometimes totally rotated, sometimes moved across the room, or even from one room to another just to get the perfect shot! 
We have lots of windows, i.e.  lots of light, so as you see in this photo light sources will often be covered with either a black or white drape to get the right light for the shot.

More "moving" to get the perfect photo...

...and things getting raised;) to look just right for the camera!






Michael, the photographer, setting up to photograph the front of the house.

We've had a week of rain coming into the shoot, but fortunately the sun has been out yesterday and today.   From what we are hearing, the photographer and the stylist are very pleased with the shots they are getting, so Dan and I are really excited to hear that!  They worked until 8pm last night and I think will be here that long today.
This has been an fabulous experience for us, and we can not wait to see the final photographs.  Know that I will share them with you (don't know when it will be) the second that I can.
I have some champagne in the fridge and in a couple of hours (or sooner, whichever comes first;)  you'll probably hear some corks popping!

Cheers!



making a list and checking it twice...

In preparation for our Renovation Style magazine photoshoot this Wednesday and Thursday (:O), we've been slowly working on a big to-do list for a month now.  All last week and this past weekend have been crunch time!!  We've always done house projects best under pressure, so this is actually good for us!  We figure we're doing a year's worth of little projects (all the small ones that you keep telling yourself you will do "later") all at once!

  Then, to top it off we're still working on finishing up Phase II of the barn renovation.  Unfortunately the barn room will not be ready in time for the photoshoot.  Today we have the heating/ac man finishing up, the electrician hanging fixtures, the man-tv being installed and the excavation man putting in the remaining portion of the gravel driveway- the part from the street to the garage.  Knowing we would be having large (and lots) of trucks here working on the barn renovation we didn't put that portion in last summer knowing said trucks would have wrecked havoc on it.  So today's the day.

 plus the day to finish this....

might this be a good time to remind you of your to-do list?!  :)
do tell...
what are the top three things on your list?

Renovation Style Magazine!

I am thrilled to share with you our exciting news: 
the farmhouse is going to be featured in Renovation Style magazine!!!  

We are truly honored and very excited!  We are scurrying around here like mad trying to get last minute projects done around the house before the photoshoot that will take place in ten days!!  :O

I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for reading the blog and to tell you how much your presence here at the farmhouse means to us.  Dan and I are both so very grateful for all the house-love you give to us by visiting, and especially by leaving comments for us.
Your interest and support means more to us than you will ever know.

I can not imagine having this experience without you.....

Thank you!!!

I will be forever grateful to the fabulous Joni Webb of Cote de Texas for sharing my house with Bonnie Broten, Regional Editor for Meredith Corporation/ Renovation Style magazine.   And, thank you to the delightful Bonnie for holding my hand the past several months throughout this process.

 I would also like to thank my friend, Brooke Giannetti of Velvet and Linen for introducing my blog to the world two and a half years ago.  I almost said "no, thank you!!" 
What a gift Brooke gave to me by putting my blog out there, and what a great loss that would have been to Dan and me if I had decided to stay private.  I had only just begun blogging when Brooke and I struck up a friendship.  I started my blog to keep friends and family updated on our house renovation, so when Brooke asked if she could do a post on the farmhouse I literally had to think about it for a full day!!   (can you even imagine?!)    Blogging was new to me at that time and being a very private person in real life  (shocking, I know, since I now let the world look in my pantry and closet;)  it felt awkward to let "strangers" see in. 
In the past two and a half years, I have learned that we are not "strangers" at all. 
The ties that bind....  this love that we both have of houses,
gives us a connection we sometimes don't even have with our own family or friends. 
It is a very sacred bond that you and I share, this desire to make a house a home. 
Thank you for being on our journey with us, we are truly honored you are here.

I am so excited and look forward to sharing the photo shoot with you!   Photography has changed so in the past couple of years.  In the days of old they would shoot with "film", so would have to take tons of shots of a space and hope that when they got back to the studio and developed the photos they had what they were looking for.  Now, with digital photography they know immediately when they have their shot!  Another thing that I am really excited about is that Renovation Style magazine only shoots in natural light- they do not use stand/stage lighting.
Jorge Arango will be the Stylist on the shoot, and Michael Partenio will be the photographer.
Did I mention I was excited?!!! 

I have subscribed to Renovation Style for many years.  I've always loved how they do such an extensive spread on the houses they feature- you feel like you really get to "see" the whole house .
Renovation Style magazine is a Special Interest publication by Meredith Corporation which also publishes Traditional Home, Better Homes and Gardens, and many more! 

Click Renovation Style if you would like to subscribe!

xojoan