As some of you guys have already discovered, we had the great pleasure of having our house photographed for the latest issue of HGTV Magazine. Well, our last house (we’d probably bat someone away with a stick if they tried to snap pictures of our new place just yet). And since a bunch of you have been asking for the behind the scenes scoop, here it is.
That day was such a blur that we weren’t even sure that we had any behind the scenes photos to share, but when we looked back in iPhoto, it turns out we remembered to snap a few photos. This is Clara the editor. She’s telling us what we need to fix for the shot to work better (“you need to see more of my toys”).
The HGTV Magazine crew (which included a photographer, his assistant, a stylist, and an editor from the mag) spent two days in our house. They were lots of fun and very gracious guests… even as our dining room became a makeshift office for 48 hours.
Well, except for when it had to be tidied up and photographed. Notice how there are only 4 chairs instead of 6? It was their trick to make it feel open and show off the pedestal a bit more. All part of the fun of seeing your house through someone else’s eyes.
And of course there were moments when the room had to be almost entirely cleared to get the perfect angle. This was the set up they used to photograph us in our office for the opening spread.
Sherry and I are quite comfortable with the chaos that comes along with a whole-house photo session (nothing can compare to the three straight weeks of book shoots). And by now I’d say our kids are getting pretty cool with it too.
Rachael, the photo stylist, was awesome with flower arrangements, pillow fluffing, and Clara. They even developed a secret handshake to help her feel at ease with all of the strangers around. Although I fear this photo gives away the whole secret (it was just pressing their thumbs together). Simple or not, we love Rachel for thinking of that.
We also love that she and Jen (the editor) brought some fun props with them. You may have caught this Instagram shot of our kitchen doused with pretty food and accessories. It was eye candy and literal candy all at once.
You can see some of those styling props hard at work in this picture of our kitchen, which we think is just about the prettiest shot of it ever taken. But even as photo-styling goes, we loved the balance the HGTV Magazine crew struck. In our opinion, it wasn’t too over-styled (it still looked like our kitchen) but it was fluffed enough to make it look interesting on the page and to give us some new ideas about what we might want to tweak ourselves (more on that later).
Perhaps the only bummer about the feature was that some of our favorite shots didn’t make the cut. We knew they were taking more pictures than they’d have room for, but we saw some along the way that we had our fingers crossed for – like this one of the recently-completed fireplace.
That shot also featured our new favorite term: “an aggressive sandwich.” Someone deemed the prop sandwich too big at one point, dubbing it too “aggressive” for the shot. I think they eventually tamed it by removing a tomato slice. We all had a good laugh about what goes into these shoots, and Sherry still trades emails with our new HGTV friends by signing them with “xoxo, Aggressive Sandwich”
Here’s a peek at what could’ve been, had these shots ended up in the spread.
The frame wall never looked better. Here’s one of our over-their-shoulder shots of the hallway styled up with some pretty flowers by Rachael.
I wonder if the photographer feels a little sad when certain shots don’t make it. He took a ton of time setting each one up, but he’s probably used to it. Oh and you’ll notice that we had to take down the basket light in the kitchen because it was casting weird shadows during the fireplace shot, so down it came.
Fortunately, we got to enjoy the fresh flowers, even if the photos didn’t make the final cut.
Oh, and they also cut a shot of the two of us prepping food in the kitchen (when we took this Instagram picture). But we’re 100% sure that we looked far from natural in it, so we’re forever grateful (us + cameras aimed at us = especially awkward). The funny thing is that we thought this might be a 2-3 page spread and it ended up being 10 pages long! Completely mind-blowing, and way more than we expected.
Speaking of abundance, there were lots of flowers. Which of course means that Sherry was in some state of flower-induced euphoria the whole time. They had a box shipped directly from the flower market in New York City and, thanks to our cooler, the sunroom became a makeshift florist shop for the two days they spent with us. Seriously, the room smelled like one giant flower for like two weeks afterwards. Sherry loved it. I thought it was kind of spooky once the flowers were gone (“where is that smell coming from?!”).
You should have seen Sherry creeping around the house whispering “If only they would last foreverrrrrrr.”
At least we have pictures to remember them by.
Besides tempting us to blow our life savings on fresh flowers (don’t worry, I’ll rein Sherry back in), one tip that we picked up and were inspired to put into action by watching the pros involved the pillows on our sectional. Rachel loaded it up with a bunch more pillows than we’d ever used… and Sherry was in heaven. Picture her doing one of Oprah’s over-the-top “a-ha moment” faces. You can’t really see them in the final magazine shot, since they used a picture of the living room with us in it, but Sherry may or may not have bought some of the pillows directly from Rachel when they were done (they were $20 from HomeGoods) to fill out her already robust pillow collection. Just picture me rolling my eyes in the background.
Oh, and you can’t tell from our picture above, but this little table was deemed too short for their shot so they borrowed some scrap wood from the basement to give it a lift. Also note how our usual desk and mirror got the boot so that our chalkboard could take its spot (see the picture above).
Wardrobe tricks were also employed – namely for one of Sherry’s loose shirts that was deemed “too maternity looking” for the way it draped in the shot of us in the office. She ultimately swapped this outfit out for something less breezy (which is why she’s in a different shirt in the other shots) but lo and behold, the original test photo with the pre-clipped shirt ended up in the magazine on the first page of the spread.
As for some literal “behind” the scenes dirt, when they took the picture of Clara playing in her big girl room, I hid behind the wall in the closet so that one of us was nearby while they snapped away. The toughest challenge was getting her not to run in there with me.
Perhaps the biggest obstacle for them was shooting the outside of our house, since late March in Richmond wasn’t looking as spring-y this year as it usually does. Not to mention we had yet to begin lots of our recent improvements out there…
So now you know why the pictures of our outside are pretty small or just limited to close-ups of us on the porch. Although they did a great job of cheering things up by moving our red adirondack chairs (swiped from the patio) to bring in some semblance of color.
Oh and although the article mentions our moving plans, we actually didn’t share them with HGTV until we shared them with you guys on April 30th (via an email that Sherry most likely signed “Aggressive Sandwich”) – so they added that right at the end before the issue shipped. It really was locked deep in our brains until our alarm system was in and we were ready to tell the world at large, so I think only our parents, siblings, best friends, and the realtor knew before that. It was especially fun to finally tell the HGTV crew though, because we were able to explain how meaningful it was to us to see our house captured in such a major way before we said goodbye. It was a nice last hurrah, and they were psyched to have been the ones to document it all.
So we’re incredibly grateful that they thought our home was worthy of their magazine, and we’ll end this little behind the scenes spiel by sending out a big thanks to all of you who have stumbled upon it and said such kind things via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, blog comments, email, and carrier pigeon. Just kidding about the carrier pigeon – you guys know we only accept ravens.
Jennifer Fogerty-Gibson says
It’s funny that you posted this today, because last night I had a dream last night that you were on House Hunters to find your new house, and it was a great episode because you have so many fans that were riveted to the screen. HeeHee!
I love what you’re doing with your new place, and I look forward to getting the copy of HGTV magazine.
YoungHouseLove says
That’s so funny! It would have been awesome to document us walking through our house for the first time on video!
xo,
s
Sophia @ NY Foodgasm says
Firstly CONGRATULATIONS! Such an amazing measure if your success! You have earned this! Secondly WOW your house is amazing- so pin-worthy! I got some ideas just looking at this! Third makes me hopeful, but at the same time so overwhelmed with all the stuff I need to do to this old house I live in. You guys are amazing and thank you for sharing everything you learned with all of us. PS- you are super talented and could be a professional interior decorator!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Sophia, you’re so sweet.
xo,
s
Ideas Woman says
As a retired professional photographer back in the days of film, digital photography and photoshop changed the industry – just look at the Macs on your dining table and working real-time on the shoot. What another wonderful experience for you both!
Kate S. says
My husband linked me to a Google parody site called Gizoogle and then told me, ‘just use it to look at a site you normally read.’ Yours was the first site I thought of. I don t want to spoil the surprise if you’ve never seen it before, but I laughed hysterically. The best part was Clara’s updated quote:-) Please, please go to gizoogle.com and use it to look up your own blog. It’s hilarious.
YoungHouseLove says
Hilarious!!
xo
s
Debbi says
Picked up my copy of HGTV mag 2 days ago & saw your faces and just froze…I KNOW THESE PEOPLE!!! Well, I don’t really know you face to face, but feel like I am part of your lives. You are so natural at what you do, and we thank you for that. Wished it had been 20 pages in HGTV instead of 10…hope to meet you at a book signing someday when you make it to Omaha! xoxo to Clara & the Burgermeister!! <3
Johanna says
Whoa, “last house”? “new place”? Did you guys just move again? I’ve followed your blog for a long time and LOVED watching you do the renovations on the house featured in that article. I was still living in an apartment at the time you guys completely redid that kitchen, and I guess I must have been too busy the last few months (yikes, make that almost a year) moving / settling / redoing my own house to follow anything online. I completely missed that you have a new place. Congrats on the HGTV feature, and thanks for always sharing with us!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Johanna! And all the best with your new house!
xo
s
Jennifer from Fat and Appy Modern Art for Children says
Love, love, love the behind the scenes action! Jonathan and I were on an episode of TBS’s “Movie and a Makeover” once and I remember all of the tricks, like jabbing huge pins into my new makeover silk curtains to make them appear gracefully bunched up. There were also tons of flowers, too!
I picked up the HGTV issue today at Lowe’s. Enjoyed it with a glass of iced tea. So fun! Your house looks so lovely.
Katherine says
We just bought an 80s house like yours and I had to share our latest development with you … Our next project is the family room and we thought that getting the wallpaper off the paneling (which covers the drywall – who does that?!) was going to be a major task. Last night when I returned from lowes and walked into the family room, I burst into laughter. My husband had pulled it all off very easily in a little over an hour! I will remember that moment for the rest of my life! It was so funny and the best kind of surprise. :)
YoungHouseLove says
That’s awesome!!
xo
s
Cristina Coccia says
I bought the most recent issue of HGTV magazine for a long flight back home and was so surprised and excited to see your article! I love you guys and your little family. Your DIY projects are amazing and very inspiring! Thanks for opening up your home and your life to an avid crafter/DIY-er like myself!!!
Jennifer @ Creative Scatter says
I was so excited when I was flipping through HGTV magazine and saw that you all were being featured! Love this post, It’s so cool to see the behind the scenes version! Y’all are such an inspiration!
Katie Bumgarner says
So it is not unusual for me to laugh out loud when I am reading your blog but the aggressive sandwich bit had me cracckkiiinnggg up!! I still laugh when I think about it. Just wanted to thank you for humor in all your blogging – I love your writing style and I must agree – that sandwich was a bit aggressive – needed 1 less tomato slice ;)
Morgan says
I flipped when I saw this feature in HGTV magazine! Also, I was on the fence before as to who I thought Clara looked like more, but I’m definitely leaning towards John now. Her facial expressions look like Sherry’s, though.
Dedee says
Hey I have use the clothes pin trick before. I love seeing all the behind the scene things.
Ash B says
Great shoot guys! I’m an art director, so I’m usually the one fussing over a sandwich not looking just right, or an unusual shadow… It’s so refreshing to see it happens on every shoot! And great for those who don’t get to work on shoots to see the detail, planning and thought that goes into getting an image just perfect… Oh, and a beautiful house and beautiful faces like yours helps too :)
Erin in Ohio says
I just ready my HGTV mag yesterday while traveling, and couldn’t wait to get home to get on my computer to check out your blog. I LOVE IT!!! So much personality and fantastic style. I am already hooked, and can’t wait for new posts!!!!!
YoungHouseLove says
Aww, you’re so sweet Erin. So glad you found us!
-John
Jennifer says
I saw the magazine while waiting in line at the grocery store checkout. As an admitted HGTV junkie, I picked it up to leaf through it. And as a YHL devotee, I absolutely had to but it when I spotted your feature article in it!! I am digging this “behind the scenes access”post, and realky enjoyed learning how the article came together. Congratulations on this added recognition & your new house!!!
PS-I agree with other posters about your own show. I love your writing style for the blog as much as I love your diy & decorating skills. I think you guys would be awesome on the HGTV if you ever change your minds about becoming “Tv people.”
Jamie O says
I absolutely love all your guys talent. Everything you do just looks amazing! I noticed a teal pocono lantern in one of the pictures, where can I find me one?
YoungHouseLove says
That was from HomeGoods a while back.
xo
s
Pamela says
I watch HGTV all the time but I bought the magazine Saturday for only the second time. (Will now subscribe). Your layout was fantastic! Love the “thumbtouch”. (New word). I never even noticed the pedestal of the dining room table. You should show it off more. Where was Burger in the magazine?
YoungHouseLove says
Isn’t that funny about Burger being missing? He was all over the place for those two days, but somehow didn’t make it into any of the final shots!
xo
s
Anna says
I was so excited to see your home in the HGTV magazine…congratulations!!
Maggie says
Bought it! I wanted to support the two of you! It was a great article! Congrats!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Maggie!
xo
s
Roxanne M says
Just bought this magazine this a.m.! So excited for the lunch hour to look at it :) Of course lunch hour on a Monday is always a good thing…
Rorden says
Absolutely loved seeing you all in this month’s magazine. Especially enjoyed reading ” A day in the life” aspect. Excellent spread! Your projects are all my friends and I talk about these days. :)
Christina says
This is a bit random, but that secret handshake is somewhat similar to a common greeting/farewell in Ethiopia. Two of our sons are adopted from there and we learned that even businessmen and newly acquainted people touch thumbs and then kiss their own thumb. I’d have gagged if I had to kiss somebody else’s thumb!
YoungHouseLove says
So sweet!
xo,
s
ajira says
Congrats on the feature! So well deserved. What a beautiful home, y’all created!
Ashley S. says
Awesome Guys! Quick question about that blue and green chevron throw on the couch in the cover photo, is it yours or was it part of the staging? I would love to know where I can buy one if you know where it’s from!
YoungHouseLove says
That’s ours! We got it from HomeGoods, or maybe it was TJ Maxx – about a year ago or so I think!
xo
s
Em says
I was excited when I got my copy and saw you guys in the spread! Thanks for sharing the behind-the-scenes info.
Nancy B says
I just got my new HGTV Magazine in the mail and love your “Old” home! Now I see that you have a new home and I will be following to see what you do with it. We’ve been in our home for 25 years but your updates are so inspiring that I know we will be trying some new things in our home too. I love your fresh new takes and updates and I think HGTV needs to give you your own new show! I’m really impressed with your skills and your homes!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks so much Nancy!
xo
s
Crystal H says
I feel like I’m a little late to the party but this was the article that turned me on to you guys. I’ve caught up with ya’ll in the archives, and it only took a couple months of late night reading. Just want you guys to know how inspirational you are. Not just for DIY and decorating tips but in so many different areas. Keep up the beautiful work!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks so much Crystal!
xo
s
Camila Mensah says
Thanks for your inspiration! I added it to my last inspiration post. Thanks!! :)