Imagine you got an awesome perm about six months ago.  No, it’s not 1985…this will make sense in about two minutes.  Well, six months later, your hair dresser calls and says, “I just can’t stop thinking about how great your perm turned out!   I would love to get a pic for my website!”

You think awesome!  I am pretty hot after all…and then you look in the mirror.  Turns out the six inches of hair closest to your scalp is as straight as the day is long and the rest of the hair is poofing out like a dust ruffle-I mean, it’s been six months!

This is where the magazine comes in!

When you finish a space, typically you hold your breath and hope your clients live in a state of suspended animation until you’re able to get pictures taken.  Problem is, no one lives in a state of suspended animation, especially when three of the people in the house are grubby little boys.

(Adorable, brilliant little boys, but for the purposes of this blog, we’re focusing on the grubby part.)

Full admission, I’m no better, although I don’t have three boys to blame it on.

If y’all recall, I practically had a nervous breakdown before my own photo shoot and inexplicably emptied all of my cabinets the day before to orchestrate a thorough reorganization.

Day before photoshoot….AKA reality:

Yep, for some reason, even the oven had been disassembled.

Day of photoshoot (tra-lah!  I’m just making lemonade from my orchard out back!)

So, when I got the magical news that my friend’s kitchen and bath were going to be photographed for Better Homes and Gardens Kitchen and Bath Makeovers Magazine, I jumped for joy.  But then I landed!

Here’s the good news….the family has spent the last year loving their house and their new kitchen and bathroom.  That’s all that matters.  Kind of like the Velveteen Rabbit, though, the house had gotten some wear that comes from lives well lived.

House spiff up bootcamp commences.  First of all, redo those banquette cushions.

Word to the wise, just because you see that something is “indoor/outdoor” fabric, it doesn’t mean it’s impenetrable.  Plus, did you know that it actually takes kids a while before they learn that cushions aren’t a) plates b) napkins c) weaponry or d) surfboards?

Luckily, the fabric was still available and we got those in the works.

Second, paint and caulk touchups in the bathroom where some of the wood paneling had contracted during the winter.  After polling experts and getting input from Mr. Nosy-Random-Shopper-Man  at Lowe’s, we went back and forth between “paint-no caulk”, “ no paint-caulk” and landed on “caulk- no paint”.  Genius homeowners took care of this one and it looks good as new.

Third, we learned a valuable lesson about butcher block countertops,which are a great and affordable option for the kitchen.

Here’s a little rascal working darn hard to grind some coffee into said counter tops:

Several of their countertop sections were developing splits.  We called the supplier who came by and told us that sometimes  trees crack while blowing in the wind, but then keep growing around these cracks.  Unfortunately, the cracks show up again later in life when made into counter tops.  Luckily, they agreed to replace all of the counter tops free of charge….just in time for the shoot.  Yay Chase from Alpine Sales!  He couldn’t have been nicer!

So, multiple buckets of fresh flowers later, magazine magic ensued at the hands of stylist Andrea Caughey and photographer Brie Williams and we’ll all just have to wait for the results.  In the meantime, let the matchbox cars race again along the island racetrack, let Ruby the dog jump on the table to steal the leftovers and let sweet naked Oliver ride the magic carpet that is the banquette cushion!  It is now out of my hands!!!