Midwest Living Magazine | Our Christmas Feature + A little behind the Scenes

By now many of you have seen or heard that the Nov/Dec issue of Midwest Living Magazine is on the stands!  I sincerely thank each and every one of you that has sent emails or left instagram notes sharing in the excitement of seeing our home featured in this beautiful magazine.  I'm so happy with the photos and article, both for how our home looks and equally for the way it captures our family and Christmas traditions.  I have safely tucked away pristine copies for the boys to become treasured keepsakes.

Now for all of you that haven't been able to find copies of MWL where you live, I'm sharing a few pictures on the blog!  You can see ALL of them here and read the article as well, if you are interested.  Thank you again for being part of this experience with us! (all photos by Helen Norman)

A little background on the process...  About 2 years ago I was contacted by Midwest Living Magazine asking if I was interested in being the featured home for their 2014 Christmas issue.  As Andrew has pondered countless times since, "they could choose any home in the entire Midwest and they chose ours?!?!"  Yes, well, that was pretty much my reaction too.  I kept expecting a follow up email or call saying they had reconsidered.  Which is honestly why I didn't tell anyone for a long time.  Well, time crept along, and there was no change of heart, then about 6 months before the shoot the action started happening.  Lots and lots of emails and photos were exchanged with MWL, things they saw on my blog that they wanted me to recreate - gingerbread house, garland around the doorway to kitchen, a brunch table setting, the large wreath in our dining room window, etc.  And there were inspiration pictures of ideas they wanted to consider incorporating, such as the styling for the mantle.  I have to say, one of the things that surprised me most was their genuine attempt to be authentic to my style and not overly stage our home.

^^ For the entryway, fresh greenery was sent in place of the faux I typically use here.  Those are actually my boots, the logs and basket belong to them.  I set up everything the day before they arrived.  Then a whole day was devoted to tweaking or enhancing what I had done by a stylist and the producer of the article.  They let me be a part of every step of the process. ^^

^^ This was another version of the entry that I adored, with a boxwood initial F.  This version is not the one that appeared in the final article.  When you see the article, the title text hits right where the initial is hung so this shot wouldn't have worked in the spread. ^^

This is probably the angle where they made the most changes from our typical set-up.  I usually have a large brass urn lamp on the gate leg table behind our living room sofa.  It would have taken over the

entire shot, so it was replaced with a fresh tabletop tree, decorated with thin, red velvet ribbon and brass bells.  A festive wreath pillow (Pottery Barn) replaced my typical floral throw pillow.  Poinsettias were added.  Little details like pinecones in my small silver bowl atop the ottoman tray or the brass bell are things that I would never notice in and of themselves in a photo, but they make a big difference in the overall composition.  I now find myself zeroing in on those details in magazines.

^^ This may be my favorite shot of the whole article.  MWL sent tons of stocking options to try but they ended up liking ours the best.  I'm so thankful since these are extra special, from my friend, Tiffany's shop, Holiday & Crew^^

^^ Neither one of these are the tree shot they used in the article.  I love the one they chose, but I also like these two as well.  Andrew was home from school on a snow day.  All the shots that feature us were somewhat impromptu.  It was very casual and relaxed and all of a sudden someone would say, "how about we put Charlie in here?"  Or, "Tessa could you walk down the steps, hold still for 7 seconds and try look natural?"  I didn't really think through what any of us were wearing too much.  I probably should have, but with all the house prep prior to their arrival, I didn't have much time.  

^^Again, not the image used in the article.  I actually prefer myself in this one.  I made the cookies and gingerbread house a couple days before their arrival.  No bakery props for this shoot! Ha.  You wouldn't know it from looking at it, but to get my kitchen at this angle the dining room table was moved out and Helen's assistant held our chandelier up and far away.  Now you know why my kitchen shots never look this good - it requires an entire team! ^^

^^ The door to the kitchen was removed to make room for the extra full garland that frames this shot. I didn't really want to replace it afterwards since we almost never close it, but we did.  We were so lucky to have so much fresh snow outside too, it bounced much needed light into our home.  PS.  I never wear shoes when I'm cooking but Jimmy really did drink the beer he is holding and it was only about 8:30 in the morning....^^

The dining room was the first room that was shot and it took a couple hours (or more).  I was a little worried they would never make it through their checklist in two days if that was how long it took to take a couple pictures.  I learned that the first shot always takes longer than any others.  It was super dark and early in the morning when this was taken.   You'd never know it by looking at it. I set the table before they arrived.  A few changes were made - fruit was added to the centerpiece and paperwhites and berries in the hurricanes.  I loved both.  I had seat slips on the ladder back chairs that were removed because they looked too busy in the shot.  You can see a full shot of the dining room on the website link above.

I loved how this little nook in the playroom turned out!  Again, my larger scale, ceramic lamp was removed and replaced with the lanterns and bottle brush trees.  I do love that they referred to this table as "salvaged" in the article. Sounds so much nicer than saying I picked it up out of a neighbor's trash.  :)  They added the green throw pillow and I thought that was such a perfect Christmas touch.  I will be doing that again this year too!

^^Our bedroom is definitely one of my favorite rooms in our home.  Unfortunately it didn't make the final cut. I can understand why, because layout wise it would have looked odd.  I do really like this picture though.  Charlie's bedroom was also photographed (it was not on the original list) but only a little vignette made it into the magazine - you can see it in the magazine or online.^^

That about does it!  My eye lids are getting heavy.  Thanks so much for letting me share!

A few sources that didn't get listed in the magazine 

that were a big help as I was getting things ready:

Jenny Steffens Hobick

For her pretty kraft boxes that were out of stock online but she let me have a few from her own stash.  I knew I would bake for the crew (Ina's Raspberry Almond Squares) and make pretty packages.  I didn't know they would end up in the magazine though!!   I also used her gorgeous red satin ribbon on the outdoor wreaths.

City Mouse Country Mouse Antiques

My favorite local antique store.  Most of my blue and white platters are from their shop.  I also have more art in our home purchased there than from anywhere else.  Thanks Nan, for being such a supporter of my blog too!!

And last, but not least, my good friend Holly Mathis

First and foremost for all the ways she has helped and encouraged me with my decorating!  If she hadn't blogged about our home, this opportunity might never have come along and I certainly wouldn't be doing decorating consults of my own now either. :)