Y’all. My brother’s river house has a 10-page spread in the October Better Homes & Gardens issue!!! I was terrified to pick it up, TBH. Here’s how it works (at least here’s how I do it). I shoot these projects and create a big old pitch deck to send out to the magazine that I think is the best fit for. Sometimes I send them scouting shots before shooting to guarantee the house will be in a magazine, but this one I sent them a huge deck of every room that has been shot and all the rooms shot but unpublished (I know that magazines want exclusive content that hasn’t been on the internet yet, so I always hold the best rooms). Should they think it’s the right fit (usually months in advance), we do an interview where I’m on the hook to represent the project honestly, accurately, and ideally with an interesting angle.
A huge shout out to the writer, Jody Garlock, and editor Kathy Barnes – they are such pros and I knew I was in good hands (but still, I was nervous!!). Months later, I try to recall the phone interview in my head – did I say nice things about my brother’s family? Did I give Max and Anne enough credit? Will the writer include said crediting? Will some brands get love in print and others not? Will anything be taken out of context?? With this kind of journalism, you don’t get any approval of what gets printed, and while they want everyone to be happy (they aren’t in the business of a gotcha piece or a slam article, obviously), not knowing how you or the project will be represented until you pick it up at the grocery store is a little scary. I’m just so happy with how it turned out (thank goodness!), and we will obviously be showing you the rest of the house soon, but I’d really love for you guys to go pick it up and give Better Homes & Gardens some love before we do. I subscribe to the magazine (I subscribe to most shelter mags, TBH) and love their art direction, their cozy vibes, the approachable home, cooking, and life tips. Ever since Stephen Orr took over in 2015, and now Oma Blaise Ford, I feel like it’s been so good.
A huge thank you to BH & G, not to mention my talented friend and photographer, Kaitlin Green, who did such an incredible job with the photos, my team (Gretchen and Marlee!) for the weeks of styling and production to create the photography, and again, the writer, Jody Garlock. Oh and thanks to my brother and his family for letting me expose their lives on the internet for four years – I know that this kind of exposure can bring a lot of vulnerability that they didn’t necessarily ask for, so I want to give the a public than you for letting me and my team use their house as a space to showcase our designs the last four years. It’s a real win for this project that makes us all feel so grateful and proud to be here. So go buy it!!! (Make sure you get the October issue, not the Halloween issue or their soup issue, which are also on stands.)
Fall Team Retreat!
Last week, I took the team to Manzanita, OR, to stay at the most beautiful beachside Airbnb (designed by Max Humphrey). We did all the things. We worked for about 4 hours each day (brainstorming gift guides, 2026 content, partnership strategy, new social media ideas, etc) and then the second half of the day was for fun.
We went to Cannon Beach, ate at Pelican Brewery, and strolled around.
The second day after a big brainstorm on how we are rebranding/rebuilding this site next year, we explored Nehalem Bay. Both are super charming small towns (think of Lucy Score romance novels).
The house was so dreamy and cozy (and the views were so insane), so we ended up staying in each night instead of going out to dinner (plus a lot of places are closed mid-week). The third night, we did 6 hours of vision boarding (we brought like 150 old magazines) and watched reality TV. It was incredibly fun and a great way to hang out, while listening to music, drinking some wine, and catching up on our lives.
All of us have birthdays within 6 weeks of each other, and I’m not the best at remembering in time to send actual presents (so I tend to do gift cards). This time, two months in advance, I reached out to one of my favorite local artists, Purl, and asked him if I could commission 6 pieces of art for them. I know from experience that great original contemporary art is extremely expensive, and often impossible to buy for ourselves, so I personally think it’s such a special gift to receive (and therefore give). I hadn’t seen them before they opened them (I knew the general collage vibe), so it was a real unveiling, one by one, with a lot of joyous freakouts 🙂
Lots of mushiness, love, and gratefulness that we get to do what we do together, with a huge thanks to you readers for following along and reading 🙂 Know that this team of people is so rad, care so much about what we do, who we do it for, and are always trying to do it better, be more helpful, and create a balance of budgets as we share our lives. Thank you so much for being here. xx
*Opening Photos by Kaitlin Green
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