BEHIND THE SCENES OF AN INTERIOR MAGAZINE SHOOT

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have noticed that we had our house styled and photographed for an UK interior magazine last week. I can’t unfortunately reveal too much of the shoot itself (you’ll have to buy the magazine in July!) but I thought it would be nice to shed a bit of light on how much work and planning goes into those glossy interior photos you see on magazines. Although this wasn’t my first interior magazine shoot (I also did the Style at Home Christmas Tree challenge last December!), this was the first magazine shoot that took place in our home which made it extra special. 
6 months ago the lovely Maxine from We Love Home Blog got in touch with me. In case you’re not familiar with Maxine’s work, she is an award winning interior stylist, journalist and lifestyle blogger. She also happens to be one seriously cool lady and I just adore her relaxed and totally impeccable (and relatable style). Anyway, Maxine had seen my Instagram page some time ago and got in touch with me to see if I’d consider featuring our home in an interior magazine. Of course it was a massive yes from me. I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to showcase all the hard work we’ve put into this house in the last 7 years. Who knows, I might even share some useful tips for those who are in the process of renovating their home. 
I had 6
months to get my house in-check but things didn’t go as planned (I will come
back to this later). I made myself a to do list, so that the house would
look as presentable as possible for the shoot (it’s funny how you need that
extra push to get projects completed, isn’t it?) This year we got a new carpet for the stairs and landing and even added some coastal art to the landing to
give it a nice bohemian/coastal feel. I had no idea whether the magazine would
want to feature it but I really wanted to finish decorating this space for myself, not for
anyone else.

Like I said, everything didn’t quite go as planned though, Our bathroom renovation was supposed to start in March but our fitter injured himself at the end of February and has been on sick leave ever since. Since our bathroom reno wasn’t finished (or hadn’t even started) I knew that Maxine would just have to get creative with it. Which she did to be honest. I was also concerned that some of the other rooms weren’t magazine worthy but the good news is that you don’t have to feature the entire house. The magazine will pick the inspiring rooms and leave the ugly ones out (sorry husband, your man cave didn’t stand a chance!) Also, the stylist will be able to make some small miracles and make most of the space you’ve got. They will also move furniture around if required (with your permission of course).

So, Maxine
and her trusted photographer (David) arrived last Monday at our house around 10
AM. She arrived with loads of props and fresh flowers which was pretty
hilarious since I had just bought flowers myself. But you can never have too
many flowers in the house, can you? Most stylists will always bring few small
props with them that will go with the theme of the shoot. They might not use
them in the end but it’s always best to be prepared. The cool thing about
having someone else to style your house is that they’ll introduce different concepts
that you may have not considered yourself before. I definitely learned a lot
from the shoot by just watching how Maxine styled the house which has given me
so many new ideas and aspirations.From a photography point of view, we didn’t have the
best start to the day but luckily professional photographers know how to make
most of a bad situation. It was raining heavily all Morning which obviously
ruined our chances of shooting in the garden (which would have been amazing
considering the shoot is for a July issue). Anyway, they decided to shoot the
upstairs bedrooms first hoping that the sun would come out later on. The main
shoot with people took place downstairs as it was more important to have plenty
of light for these shots. Also, my daughters (5 yo and 2 yo) were off
school/nursery at the time (it was half term) so I was busy keeping them
entertained with snacks and ipads whilst Maxine and David were busy shooting
the house. I didn’t find it too difficult with the kids to be honest. Or, maybe
they are just used to being in the middle of a photo shoot, who knows.

Although clothing isn’t really that important
when it comes to interior shoots, there are certain colours that you are told to avoid. I was told to avoid black and pick something summery in stead. I also
learned from my first professional shoot that bright lights, and flash
particularly, wash out features, so you may want to apply a bit more make-up on
your face than you normally would, unless of course you want to go for that au naturel look.

So, if you’ve ever thought about
having your house featured in a magazine, I’d say go for it. It’s a really
great way to share your knowledge and tips with the magazine readers and showcase the hard work you’ve put in transforming your house. By the way, I didn’t
get paid for my feature (I think 99% of the time you don’t) but it was
definitely worth the experience for me.All the images in this post are my
own. If you want to see how Maxine styled our home, you’ll need to wait for the
July issue. I’ll let you know once it’s out!