If you’ve found your way here for the very first time as a result of our Country Living magazine feature, welcome! Settle in today for a showing of the magazine photos and my commentary on them. On Friday, I’ll wrap up the week with a follow-up post showing more behind-the-scenes shots, and I’ll answer many questions that have come my way regarding the shoot. If you have any of your own that you’d like to ask, just leave them in the comments below.
I’m so happy to have you along!
Oh, lovelies, here it is! I finally get to share with you the eight photos out of hundreds that were taken by the Country Living crew in those three days last fall! All photography was done by the lovely Victoria Pearson. The shoot was directed by the market and research editor, Natalie Warady, and the beautiful styling was done by Christina Wressell. Three assistants helped with either photography, the painting of dining chairs, the running of errands, or the unpacking and re-packing of boxes upon boxes of props (the UPS man asked if we were opening a store, and our neighbors thought we were having a yard sale!).
In the dining area, our table was styled with dishes and linens brought in for the shoot. The set of antique dining chairs that came from New York were actually painted the shade of green shown on the magazine cover (below), and we upholstered the seats on-site with burlap that I had. Because this shot was taken with the intention of possibly making the magazine cover, the addition of color with the pillows, props, and chairs was key.
As many of you have already expressed, I too, was surprised to see that our walls had turned green on the cover!! I have to say, I love my white walls – Pure White by Sherwin Williams – such a lovely, creamy shade!
Here is our family, gathered at the table. The boys were happy to stay with friends during the three days of the shoot. We brought them home on the last day to capture this shot of us all. Miss Nellie, poor girl, was feeling rather ill that day. A quick trip to the vet for x-rays, immediately following the snap of this picture, showed that she’d eaten gravel?? Thankfully, she recovered just fine.
The shot of the kitchen was styled mostly with our own things, with a few props, fresh plants, and veggies added by Christina for more interest and color. An amazing amount of work goes into each and every shot. Much adding, subtracting, editing and tweaking happen to make things look just right.
The runner, by Albert & Dash was brought in for the shoot.
The living room was styled with more books, pottery (love), a cow hide rug, coffee table, pillows, and other accessories. The professionals knew how to make a room appear best on camera. In real life, there isn’t enough room for a coffee table, but in the camera view, a visual ‘hole’ would have appeared without one.
In our bedroom, the bed was dressed in linens (by West Elm and Urban Outfitters) brought in by the Country Living team. They were so sweet to insist that the alpaca throw (pattern here) that I’m knitting be included in the shot. I quickly took it off the needles (stitches held by a length of yarn), and onto the bed it went.
The dress on the hook is the one I found for $8, to wear to last summer’s weddings.
My favorite part about this shot is the ‘sunlight’ that was created by Victoria and her assistant, John, with a strobe light set up outside the window. Beautiful!
And here is a peek at the loft! It’s very interesting how, over the course of the development and final publication of a magazine story, the focus and feature can change! What was going to be an exclusive ‘loft reveal’ actually turned out to be a sneak peek! Our house as a whole, and the story of how we came to live here is what ultimately grabbed the attention of the guiding forces in New York, and, given the fact that everything had to be trimmed down for the space available in the magazine, one picture of the loft is all that was shown in the end.
But, there’s always good news (for those of you who’ve been waiting forever )!
The good news is that finally(!), I have the liberty to share with you my own photo shoot of the loft, as I see it, including all the (many) more views and all the yummy details. Thank you so much for your oceans of patience in this regard! Stay tuned…
And, now friends, I have to say, you’ve all been SO KIND in your applause about all this – from comments, to email, to facebook and twitter, to texts and phone calls! Wow. I am… a bit speechless? Yes. Thank you so many times over! You are loved.
To see more views of our home visit these links:
Becoming Home: A Photo Tour | 1
Becoming Home: A Photo Tour | 2
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