Monday, November 5, 2012

I'm Ready For My Close Up


On Friday, Steve e-mailed me at work that Monday morning a local magazine was coming to do a feature on our house/studio/gallery.

Each month they feature a local home to show off the art.

What did Steve get me into?

Saturday I took 60 kids to a UCLA football game - got home at 2 a.m.

Sunday I coached my team in a volleyball tournament.

School commitments didn't leave me much time to prepare.

Friday night when we got home from dinner, I went immediately to work.


Steve had recently changed the painting in the entry to a Ventura beach scene so I switched the display in the bookcase from pitchers to shells and beach buckets.


Each of the shells has a special meaning gathered on beach walks and seaside vacations.

Shells from the living room, bathroom and entry were consolidated into one display.


Pitchers from the entry made their way into the dining room


and the back porch.

Every surface in the living room received an update.


 Hands from my collection were gathered together on the long green table.


 Clock faces ended up on the striped box.


The sewing machine base was edited down to some books and letters.


Steve went to the farmer's market for fresh flowers for the dining room table


and the little green table.


Our extra room was spiffed up last weekend


with new pillows and a fresh paint job on the bench.

I put in some time in the garden on Sunday.

This morning I put out a fresh tablecloth and flowers on the patio table and


pillows on the garden bench.


The studio is ready.


I have to be at work at 7:30 a.m. and rush home for the photographs and interview.

Am I ready for my close up?

Ready or not, here they come!

.......................................

I'm linked up at

Between Naps on the Porch - Metamorphosis Monday

The Dedicated House - Make It Pretty Monday

45 comments:

  1. Wow congrats on the being featured.
    Even more...CONGRATS ON BEING READY!

    I think you'll pass muster! Pat

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    1. It is over and actually fun to talk about our 'vintage" house- 1928. Now we just have to wait until early December to see the results I wanted to follow the photographer around to see what caught his eye. He spent an hour shooting and asked if he could come back to take shots for his own portfolio.

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  2. Congratulations.....what a beautiful colorful home. Hope you will share the article when it goes to print.

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    1. The writer said the paper issue will be out in early December - we just got our November issue in the mail on Saturday. The on-line issue won't be out until January. The whole experience was actually fun and the bonus - my house and garden are super clean!

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  3. gosh that will be really weird to see your home in a magazine, as per Debby above share the article.

    Annie

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    1. I was curious to see what the photographer was shooting, but I felt like I might annoy him so I don't know what he found interesting. It will be fun to read the article next month.

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  4. Wow Carol, how exciting. I hope it went well. I'm sure it did because the house looks amazing !

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    1. I am sure I could have done more cleaning and organizing, but it went well. I wanted to be a little fly on the photographer's shoulder so I could see what he found interesting enough to photograph. He spent over an hour taking photos and asked to come back on his own to take photos for his personal portfolio.

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  5. How exciting! Your home looks amazing for the photo shoot.
    Mary Alice

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    1. It was a bit nerve racking prior to the shoot, but it was fun. Both the photographer and the writer were so nice. Now we just have to wait to see the results.

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  6. How exciting and exhausting. Wow, you are busy. I love seeing your cute colorful home. His art is amazing. You are so lucky to have nice art to use in your home without having to buy it.

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    1. And now my house is super clean! It was fun talking about our vintage (1928) cottage. The writer wanted to focus on what changes we had made and what personal touches I had created. We let the photographer do his thing so we have no idea what photos he took.

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  7. So exciting for you guys. Everything looks beautiful! Hope we get to see the finished shoot.

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    1. The paper issue will be out in early December and the on-line issue will be available in January. I will share the article to compare what I see in my house and what the photographer liked. He loved the light and angles. It helped that it was over 80 degrees today and we had all of the windows wide open.

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  8. Your house looks so great! Love the art by the entry. Gorgeous! And all the coastal touches (awesome beach pails...) just delightful!

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  9. Thank you so much. I had the beach pails in the bathroom and decided we would appreciate them much more in the entry.

    Thanks for dropping by!

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  10. Your home is gorgeous! I love that you are not afraid to use color--it's bold and beautiful. How exciting to do the photo shoot--hope all went well. Thank you for stopping by my blog today, and glad you liked my chalkboard project!

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  11. Thanks for the sweet comments. I sometimes feel out of touch when I see so many gorgeous "white" rooms, but I love color. The photographer asked if he could come back to shoot photos for his own portfolio because he loved the sunlight and color in our home. It didn't hurt that today was over 80 degrees and we had every window in the house open.

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  12. Carol YOU AMAZE ME!!! I love how you pulled it all together...the house looks beautiful!! Don't you love how fast you can do this one a photographer is coming...the same thing happened to me when they called to do my porch for a magazine...I never saw anything come together so fast!!! Congrats to you both!! xok

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    1. It was actually a fun experience talking with both the photographer and the interviewer. I wanted to follow the photographer around to see what he was shooting, but I didn't want to bug him. It will be the December issue of La Ventana so we don't have to wait too long.

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  13. I'm so excited for you! Make sure to post a link to the article!

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    1. The on-line article won't be out until January, but the paper issue will be early December. I think I can do some photos of the magazine. I'm nervous because it will be seen by so many people who know me, but it is a great promotion for Steve's art.

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  14. Your home looks amazing and I can't wait to see the article. I love the way you match items around your home with Steves wonderful pictures. I am become a bit more adventurous with colour so we have a mix on some rooms being more sea themed and others matching in with a country feel.
    Sarah x

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    1. I sometimes feel like my house has split personalities because I have lots of sea items, but then I have my collections. I finally decided that it just needs to be a reflection of us. That doesn't mean I'm not a little nervous about it.

      Thanks for the comments.

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  15. How exciting! Your home looks cheerful and picture perfect.

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    1. I was nervous waiting for them to arrive, but both the photographer and interviewer were so complimentary that they made us feel comfortable.

      Thanks for the compliments.

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  16. I don't use a lot of bright colors in my house but boy do I love your color combos! So bold, so pretty, so fun! Hope your photo shoot went well, Laura

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    1. So many of my favorite blogs are "white" houses, I made my white slipcovers last summer and love them, but I love my color too much. I have thought about doing an all white bedroom, but my dog thinks the bedroom is hers so I'm not sure white would work.

      Thanks for dropping in.

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  17. Hi Carol, WOW your home is so inviting and like you live in a vacation spot year round. With all that you had going on, you still pulled together a showcase in every area of your wonderful home.
    Congrats on the feature. You so deserve it. Your talents for displaying are awesome. I love the beachy shell and ocean side look. In the spring and summer I too like to add a bit of a beach theme to my home (home by the pool) LOL
    You have inspired me and have fun with the feature. .

    Thanks for stopping by and your kind comment. Have a great day.
    Hugs, Celestina Marie

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    Replies
    1. Your comments are so sweet. Our little cottage is small, which means I can clean it quickly and we can spend more time on the beach. We actually have no trouble finding house sitters when we go away for a long weekend. Even in the winter, friends and family like to have a beach get away.

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  18. Hi Carol, Love your blog, artwork & your colorful home! Happy to be following. Thanks for coming to "visit" me so that I could find you.

    Warmly, Michelle
    Faith, Trust & Pixie Dust

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    1. My husband loves to hear the compliments I get on his art.

      I didn't get too much time on your blog yesterday, but I look forward to visiting again.

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  19. Congrats on the feature! Your colorful cottage is adorable!

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    1. Thank you for the sweet compliment. The writer of the magazine article said it was refreshing to visit a "real" house and not a rich family's "museum".

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  20. You know you're quite good at this - this staging thing. Let us know if there is any online info from the magazine. Everything looks beautiful. This is the first time I noticed the surf board painting in the patio area. Nice.

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    1. Oh, you are so sweet! I have friends who are professional decorators and I definitely don't fall in their class. I just do what I like and what works for us.

      Steve actually got his start as a professional artist (he dabbled all of his life) by painting surfboards and selling them through a local gallery. They all sold and it gave him the confidence to take art classes and the rest is history.

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  21. Hope it went great...your house looks perfect! The colors are just so welcoming.

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    1. I was a little nervous before the photographer and writer arrived, but it was fun. I wanted to follow the photographer around to get ideas on shooting pictures, but we let him roam. I really don't know what he photographer other than our picture framed in our Dutch door.

      Thanks for dropping by.

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  22. Whew! Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous! I'm absolutely sure you knocked their socks off!

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  23. I'm not sure about that, but I think it went well. It is kind of strange to watch someone walking around your house taking pictures. I wanted to be a fly on his shoulder so I could see what he found interesting, but we didn't follow him around. He asked if he could come back on his own to shoot photos for his personal portfolio.

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  24. Beautiful! What a charming place you have! I am sure it looked great :)

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  25. Thank you for the sweet comments. It was 80 degrees, all the windows were thrown open and sun was shining into every room. Four days later it is raining, we have a fire in the fireplace and the house is shut up tight. We got lucky for the photo shoot.

    I was just over at your blog and will be back for more exploring.

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  26. Replies
    1. Thank you so much. I love what you have done (are doing) with your home so it really means a lot.

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  27. Your home is just beautiful! I love all the colors and the style. The first picture you showed of the view through the house looks like a painting.

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