BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS FEATURE AND BEHIND THE SCENES
I am dreamer….and being featured in Better Homes and Gardens magazine was a long time dream for me and quite honestly I can hardly believe that it happened!
Last year, last July to be exact we decided to makeover our patio. We get lots of shipping pallets at our business and I had this idea to build a seating area and coffee table out of pallets for our deck. Read more about how we made our DIY PALLET FURNITURE HERE.
When the project was done I submitted my work to Better Homes and gardens I did it section because I thought it was really fun project.
Months flew by and I already forgot that I even sent in my project for the I Did it section, when an e-mail popped up in my inbox in March.
It was from Kit Selzer, Better Homes and Gardens editor. I literally had happy tears in my eyes while I was reading her e-mail. She asked me if I would be interested in being featured in Better Homes and Gardens summer issue with my outdoor project.
Well, there was only one answer to that question…
I wrote my YES response as fast as I could -haha.:-) I was so excited !
From that point I was communicating with Kit. We had our initial phone conversation then we arranged a date and time for the photoshoot in April.
PHOTOSHOOT FOR BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS
What do you think a girl does when a photo stylist comes to her house. ??
Of course I had cleaned, cleaned and cleaned. For days! Even if my project was an outdoor project and I knew that we wouldn’t spend much time inside, I just felt that I need to SUPER clean my house.
Helen Norman, professional photographer came from Maryland. She and her assistant got to my house early on the day of the shoot as our patio have direct sunlight right around mid day and we wanted to make sure that we avoid that lighting situation. I had cleaned the deck very well the day before so we were ready to style and shoot as soon as the photographer got in.
It was so great to see from a photographer eye how another professional photographer works and handles her equipment. She brought in a huge light diffuser that diffuses the hars light. That monster diffuser was a work to set up , let me tell you that.
We planted some pretty flowers to brighten up this already colorful space, then the photo stylist arranged all the pots in place.
We also made up a pitcher of fresh lemonade to display on the table.
Then Helen took several shots of the deck, with and without me in the photo. We played a lot around to find the perfect position for me and I think we finally we found a comfortable pose that was perfect for our photo. I was a little nervous as I hate to be photographed ( says the photographer) but Helen made me very relaxed.
I am SO grateful and honored to see my work in my favorite magazine. A huge THANK YOU for Better Homes and Gardens and Helen Norman for her amazing photographs!
It was a wonderful experience!
I only got a few copies-LOL
Thank you for reading today!
Cheers for a wonderful Sunday!
I’m so happy for you, Aniko! What fabulous recognition for your gorgeous projects and years of hard work. Good things come to hustlers like you 🙂
Thanks for your kindness, Kiri! It is absolutely the greatest accomplishment! Have a great week!
Congrats! That is so amazing! Love the behind the scenes photos.
Thank you so much Gilly! Have a great week!!;)
Congratulations on being featured! I love your blog and have been checking out your site frequently to see all your fun projects! So when I received my monthly subscription from BHG a few days ago and saw this page, I knew the you looked familiar and then I screamed out your name (in a question tone). Sure enough, I kept on reading and it was truly you! Yea! Congrats again on getting your dream come true. That is an awesome project and your backyard looks great:)
Zan, you just made my morning!! Thank you for your very kind words!!People like you are the ones who drives me to be better and keep my little blog going! And I am grateful for that!! Being featured is truly a dream come true for me! Hope you are having a fantastic week! Xo
So proud of you girl!! Such an awesome accomplishment, can’t wait to check it out.
Thanks friend! It truly is the biggest accomplishment to see my work in prints!! Have a lovely week!! Xo
Congrats! I saw that piece and loved it. It inspired me to get moving on some projects that I was way behind on this year.
Thank you Kim! I am happy that you loved it and I am even happier to hear that I inspired you to create!! That’s whats count! Keep creating and inspire others! Have a fantastic week!
Aniko, yay… I am so happy for you to be featured in BHG. Love the colors and the summery look these picture have.
Love the colors – orange, aqua, and lime are some of my favorites! So glad you show us how to recycle and re-purpose seemingly useless things. Let’s all go green!
How exciting. I am so thrilled for you. I am such a dreamer too and hopefully someday.
AHHH! I am SOO excited for you, my friend!!! This is such a well deserved honor. I am so very proud of you…all your hard work and talent has made it’s dues. I am going to the store to pick up this magazine today. Cheers to many more features! XO
Thank you so much Katie! Your kind words mean so much to me! Have a wonderful day!