Nest Shoot - Behind the Scenes

Greetings!
I promised some behind-the-scenes photos of our shoot with The Nest magazine, so here they are!

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The excitement all started last Tuesday. Our prop stylist (Alistair) shipped us a bunch of Fed Ex boxes full of accessories...




He and his assistant Don didn't really remove many of our own accessories, they just added some things here and there. It was amazing to watch them work. They were so sweet, and they even left a bunch of stuff for us to keep!

Around 11:30 p.m. that night, Kevin wanted to vacuum the Dining Room one more time before we hit the hay. Well, he was rushing a little too quickly at one point and proceeded to accidentally knock over one of our houseplants...



Good thing he had the vacuum handy. :-)



Then, on Wednesday night, (after the crew had come over to check out our place) Kevin began installing an oil-rubbed bronze handle set that one of our readers was kind enough to send us for our new front door...



The only way we could make it work on our door was to use it backwards (so the doorknob faces outside, and the big handle part is inside the house), but like Kevin said while he was installing it, "whaddaya gonna do?". We actually like seeing the fancier side of the handle set anyway, so it kind of worked out in the end.



Thursday morning Kevin and I didn't realize Panera Bread was catering our big day OR that we were allowed to eat it, so right before Kara (make up) and Missie (wardrobe) showed up, Kevin made a run to Hardees to get a couple of biscuits for us...

Missie and Kara pulled into the driveway about the same time Kevin was getting back, so as you can see, we didn't really have a chance to eat much of them before the festivities began. :-)

We invited them into our blank slate master bedroom and while Kara set up her make up area, Missie began going through the wardrobe case David's crew brought from New York. It's amazing how many clothes and shoes they fit into that thing!



(Psst...that's Kevin's gold record in the background!) :-)

Also tucked inside the wardrobe case were a few bags full of jewelry for me to wear...



Here is a photo of some of the clothes they sent for us to wear...



Among other things, I wore that cuddly-looking sweater in the middle of the rack for one set up, and the bright green one in front of it in another. I never would have picked a sweater that color, but Missie paired it with an eggplant-colored tank and some dark J.Crew jeans and it really did look neat when it was all put together. Eggplant and pea soup- who knew!?

Here is a photo of some of Kara's make up...



It looked so pretty all laid out like that! It really made me want to buy more makeup. I hardly ever wear the stuff though, and I certainly don't need another expensive obsession. Fixing up this house is expensive enough! :-)

These next few photos show one of my favorite parts of the whole day. It was amazing to have my hair and makeup done by Kara!









Here's me in one of my favorite "woobies" they sent...



(that's one of David's assistants, Christina, on the laptop in the background)




I think Kevin even enjoyed getting pampered...



...even if it did make him feel a little like a "surrogate" robot. :-)



(Don't worry, for some reason we didn't look like robots in the photos David shot) :-)

Meanwhile, on the other side of the house, the work table in our office was quickly getting covered in things they didn't want to use in any of the shots...



Alistair gave us the bran and orange colored fabric on top of this stack...



It's huge, and all the sides are hemmed, so I may use it as a table cloth during our Halloweenie Roast!

He was also kind enough to leave us the two chunky, ivory-colored West Elm candles in this shot...



The silver cake stand you see in the background was a gift from Kim at Twice Remembered. Thank you Kim- sorry it didn't make it into the shoot!

Can you believe the price tag on this throw blanket I found in the guest bedroom?



I love the bird napkin in this shot...



And check out these fabrics and dishtowels I found laying on top of the dryer in the laundry room. I'm not sure if they used any of them in the kitchen set up or not, but they looked so pretty all piled up...



I think some of these bowls did end up around the house throughout the day though...





It seems like they used bowls in every single room, and it really inspired me to incorporate more of them throughout the house.

In addition to the items I mentioned above, Alistair also left us some Anthropologie bowls, glasses and votive holders. He also left us an awesome piece of robins egg blue striped fabric (they used it as a tablecloth in the dining room), a huge zinc cake stand, handfuls of tea lights and taper candles and even some vintage kitchen items he purchased at a flea market here in Prattville. He was such an inspiration. He had the best English accent, and I could have just listened to him speak all day. When he said I should, "start hosting flea market tours" like his good friend Eddie Ross, I thought I was going to die! What a dream to hear someone as talented as him say that to little ol' me!
(By the way, Eddie's "Halloween Block Party" is airing on HGTV tomorrow night at 8/7 central!)

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And that's all we can show until the magazine comes out!
We hope you enjoyed our sneak peek! :-)

We'll be back tomorrow with our first True Value DIY Squad project!
Layla

PS- To those who subscribe, the Winter issue of The Nest should arrive around December 28th.
And to those who have inquired, The Nest is a subscription-only magazine, and is not available in stores or on newsstands. Subscriptions are $14.99. To order, visit this link! (The Nest is a division of "The Knot" magazine)