Remember our dear sweet never-hurt-a-fly Ramsey who watched over us in a not-creepy-at-all way when we slept?
He was a beloved member of our household and even inspired Burger to do yoga.
Well, Ramsey will be missed.
And yes, it totally felt like this tragedy of yore all over again.
Except John didn’t draw a depiction of the event…
… because it actually wasn’t John’s fault. But yes, yesterday we bid a fond farewell to our TJ Maxx find when he somehow popped off the wall in the kitchen where he was temporarily hanging for a book vignette above the fireplace. No one was even in the room to attempt to catch him on the way down. It pains me that he died alone. John’s even a little sad too. He was a good little ram. And we loved sleeping under his all-knowing gaze very much.
We were doing so well over the last three weeks of photo-shoot madness. A house full of cameras + people + equipment + secret projects + extra furniture/accessories is definitely like Catherine Zeta Jones trying to slither through those red lasers in that scene in Entrapment (you know the one). Except more lurchy and uncoordinated. Which is why it’s no surprise that on our second to last day of shooting (yes, today is our very last book shoot day after three full weeks of photography here at our casa!!!) Ramsey was our first casualty. Poor guy. What not-creepy-at-all ceramic animal will we hang over our bed now? We’ll just have to wait and see who catches our eye. But for the time being, there’s a hole in our hearts (and on our wall) for our dearly departed Ramsey.
Speaking of the end of our book shoots (can you believe our last book process post was three whole weeks ago?) we thought it would be fun to share a few pics from the last 21 insanely exhausting yet completely amazing and exhilarating days of essentially turning this pile of paper…
… into a holy-cow-it’s-real book that now just needs to be laid out/designed, sent off to “the printer’s”, and will be available for preorder this summer and out this fall. Ahhhhhh. And you know this little ol’ blog is just about whatever’s going on at our house (projects, broken ceramic animals, miscellaneous photography-related chaos), so we had to alert you to the latest (both in ram-related injuries and photography progress). As our shooting marathon draws to a close, we have shot over 2,000 photos (!!!) out of which 200-ish will make the final cut (we got lots of angles and progress pics and variations of things, so for every ten shots that we took, we usually just kept one). We even shot three different cover concepts yesterday – all of which we managed to worm our way out of (haha, we were so freaked out by the idea of seeing our smiling mugs on the cover of the book for years to come). They all came out really great – especially without our awkward faces in them – so we can’t wait to see which one they pick.
And you know over-sharers like us want to spill those pics and deets rightthissecond, but alas, we’re not allowed (gotta save it for fall when the book is out). So without further ado: here’s as much as we’re permitted to divulge when it comes to the chaos that was our lives during these past three weeks. Um yeah, the playroom has secretly been painted about nine times. Not kidding.
Different parts of the room got different colors that we assigned to spotlight specific shots/projects/vignettes (so the whole book isn’t full of Moonshine and Sesame and the other few colors in our house). So yes, part of the reason we’re tackling more Dude, Get On That Already challenges is definitely because all the items that used to live in the playroom have been offset into other rooms while we paint/shoot in there (the sunroom, guest room, our bedroom, and the dining room = crazytown). In keeping-it-real news, about four colors into it we got sick of repainting. Haha.
But oddly enough by about the eight and ninth ones it felt like second nature. Last night we even stenciled one wall for a special shot that we’re taking this afternoon. Yowsa. What will we do with ourselves when we’re not painting the playroom walls every few days after Clara goes to bed?
There was also gluing, taping, spray painting, dyeing, stenciling, staining, and a bunch of other secret DIY bid-ness going on. And we had to protect our hands for process shots throughout so we didn’t look – as Clara would say – “messy, messy, Mommy!” – hence all my dark nail polish as of late (to hide the grub under my nails) and John’s Dexter-ish rubber gloves.
Clara had a lot of fun checking things out (and yes, those are my snazzy spray painting clothes, complete with fuzzy red socks). The photographer’s name is Kip Dawkins and Clara loved following him around squealing “Hi Kip! Hi Kip! Hi Kip!” on repeat (kind of like kids asking “are we there yet?” every two minutes on a road trip). By the end of week one she not only knew everyone’s name, she could identify their cars when they pulled into the driveway (“Marcie’s car! Kip’s car! Susan’s car!” was a normal morning refrain) and was surprisingly good about keeping a pretty safe distance while still enjoying all the action. We’re so grateful this insanity didn’t completely wreck Clara’s life (and very very thankful for John’s parents, who snuck off with her whenever things got really hairy). But she did amazingly well with so much “change” at home – in fact, I think she might ask where everyone went when they stop coming by every day.
Here’s how we shot some of our pics to demonstrate how a few of our projects were done mid-process. The bigger ones got laid out on the floor and shot from further away. That white thing in the background is a “seamless” so the process shots look simple and uncluttered, while most of the after shots are things that we “styled in situation” – meaning they’re somewhere in our house to give those photos some environment (ex: on a table/on the wall/in a room/near a window or door/outside/etc – but they’ll probably only look vaguely familiar as being in our house since so many things like furniture arrangements and wall colors and accessories have changed). Oh and the thing over us is a reflector to keep the lighting consistent throughout the book. I liked to pretend it was a sail and we were out in the tropics on a boat. I guess I’m just as guilty of daydreaming as Clara (who saw fishies here).
Burger was also pretty cool with all the new folks and extra stuff in our space. Look, here he is perching on disembodied Karl like it’s no big deal. We worked him into the book like a champ. What’s a YHL book without some quality Burger shots up in there?
It was at this moment about a week and a half into shooting when we realized that our house hadn’t looked this crazy since moving day. Yup, that’s our guest bed in the corner of the living room. We carried that thing all over our house for different shots. It became kind of a game. Where can we put the bed next? The funny thing is that the bed shows how giant this room really is. It’s a gymnasium-sized room.
Here’s that same guest bed up against the back of the fireplace, completely blocking traffic. That finished book shot is actually one of our favorites. It was two projects in one being shown in that picture (neither of which are visible here of course). Oh man, is it fall yet? Can’t wait to show you guys.
Look, no more bed in the corner, but that’s a drop leaf table back there. We had some dining scenes to shoot and since we have a giant round table we had to borrow a regular rectangular one from a local shop for the day to make normal shots easier to snag.
Oh and look, that’s not our sofa! It’s another borrowed-from-a-local-shop item that we used for a few vignettes. This sofa also shows how giant Karl the Sectional is (we have eight of those pics hanging above Karl, as contrasted with the three over this standard-sized sofa).
So to the crew who are practically like family after nearly a month of “living” with us: thanks for everything! And to you guys for bearing with us while we’ve juggled this and the kitchen redo and the bean and “the bug” that tore through our house earlier this week and all of our Portland prep (which means we were a little slower on comments from time to time): thanks for understanding! And to any and all varieties of dark chocolate: we couldn’t have done it without you! Hey, when you don’t drink coffee you have to grab a little zing of caffeine anywhere ya can.
Have you guys broken anything lately? Or completely turned your house upside down? Or gotten to know a group of total strangers over the course of a month to the point that you know their favorite music/food/color/quotes/movies? It’s so crazy how much has happened since Christmas. Is anyone else still scratching their heads that it’s mid-February? How did that happen?
Psst- You can check out our other three book-related posts over the last year here, here, and here.
Bummer! Sorry about your Ram. Good news is, if this whole blogging thing doesn’t work out for you, John has a bright future ahead of him as a crime scene artist!
Looking forward to the book!! I promise we’ll buy more than 2 copies.
We just posted on some cake pops Lisa made for our daughter’s first birthday party. http://www.ourhomefromscratch.com/2012/02/pink-cake-pops/
Yummm, those look delicious!
xo,
s
Oh man! I feel your pain. I seriously hate when things break, unless I hated what broke. My little one broke a lamp this week: http://ourhumbleabowed.wordpress.com/2012/02/15/it-happened-one-night/ Now I’ve got to find replacements.
Hopefully you can find another ram to take it’s place. Or is that too much like Vincent Van Gogh’s situation?
Aw man! Sorry about your lamp. Not sure if well adopt a Ramsy Jr or not- we’ll have to see if he finds us…
xo,
s
Your energy is inspiring/exhausting! x
I second that. Well done YHL :)
Aw thanks guys!
xo,
s
Poor Karl!!! I was kind of excited, because I thought you rearranged the living room – didn’t realize he was disassembled.
Ah! Are you allowed to tell us from where you borrowed that sofa that’s hanging out in your dining room? I think I’m in love.
It’s from Crate & Barrel here in Richmond! The local shops were so nice to loan us stuff! We borrowed stuff from Pier 1, Target, Ikea, and beyond (even small non-chain shops, etc). We tried to get a nice mix in there!
xo,
s
Did you and John have to coordinate the borrowing or did your photographers and book agents do that?
A little of column A, a little of column B…
-John
Congratulations and good luck!
Hi, I’m an avid reader and this is my first time commenting. (Can I get a woot woot?) I’m looking forward to buying your book when it comes out. I saw you have the Domino decorating book (it’s been on my Amazon wish list forver) and was wondering if you would write a post about your top 5-10 favorite design books of all time? Would love some recommendations!
Woot woot! That was for you. Haha. And yes, we would love to do one of them again more recently (we do have one in our archives called Lucky Seven if you search that I think!
xo,
s
Reading your blog posts always makes my day better…
“He was a beloved member of our household and even inspired Burger to do yoga.”
I literally almost peed myself laughing!
Xo,
Sara
I agree that made me almost fall out of my chair!!! Next up P90X Yoga for little dogs by Burger!!!
Hahaha, somehow I think he’d excel at that!
xo,
s
Can’t wait for your book to come out! I will definitely be pre-ordering it as soon as possible.
What is that white dresser in the last shot? I swear I’ve seen it at least once before on this blog but can’t place it…
It’s a night table/side table we picked up and have no idea what to do with it! Will blog all about him once we find him a final resting place!
xo
s
I am SO excited for your book to come out! We bought our first house just over a year ago and I was too tired (read: pregnant & lazy) to update anything. Thankfully I discovered your blog a few months ago and omigosh THE IDEAS IN MY HEAD NOW!!! Our kitchen looks a lot like yours did pre-remodel. Goodbye dark dingy kitchen, hello light and cheerful space!
Catherine zeta jooonnneeeesss….she dips beneath lasers oh ohh ohhh….her and Sean Connery ohhh ohh ohhh….please for the love of everything, tell me you have watched workaholics? Specifically the episode where they spend the night in the office because their house is being fumigated. If you have, that makes my first statement less weird.
Haha- never seen it but it sounds hilarious!
xo,
s
Oh, no! Poor Ram! Maybe this house is haunted by a ghost who dislikes white ceramic animals??
Thanks for the book update! It’s fun seeing the behind the scenes stuff (how you manage to keep the blog running and do all this while you’re house is turned upside down is beyond me). Weird thinking that February is almost gone! Your book will be published before you know it!!
That was totally my thought too! Or it only likes certain ones (the big dog and ram were scary but small birds and horns and rhinos are permitted to live?).
xo,
s
Sherry –
I actually got a ram that looks identical to that one for my birthday last year. It is from zgallerie. Looks like they still have it if you want to “replace” the lost one!
http://www.zgallerie.com/p-8950-ram-head-1025.aspx
Good luck!
Love it!
xo,
s
Did y’all have to put new holes in your wall to rearrange pictures for the vignettes? Sounds like you’ll have a long road ahead of you putting your house back in order when everyone leaves!
Do we ever! We’ve had to put in anchors and nail holes everywhere! But caulk and paint can solve it! When we get our energy up to get that done! Haha. Right now I’ll settle for a cleared counter and a bed back in the guest room!
xo,
s
Wow! That’s a lot of craziness going on! Can’t wait for the book to come out!
Wow, I never knew how crazy a book photoshoot could be! I’m sure it was fun and exciting but also exhausting. Can’t wait to see the top secret projects! Yay!
Can’t imagine the craziness! I just finished a kitchen redo (thanks in part to your adventures in cabinet painting!) and that was enough chaos for me. Excited for the book!
Thank God I wasn’t drinking anything when you said Burger did yoga or it would’ve shot clean out of my nose!
I can’t imagine what it was like to have a bunch of strangers in your home but I bet it warms the cockles of your heart to have them leave as friends! (I think I need to brush my teeth now. Cavity inducing comment)
Amen to that! They’re the best!
xo,
s
kudos to you for surviving the month. And the idea of you and John continuing to repaint the spare room for kicks every other night gave me a giggle.
Wait. You’re doing all this without coffee??
I know, right? We be crazy.
xo,
s
Congrats on being almost done with photoshoots! I can’t wait for the book to come out and to finally be able to see everything that’s been so secretive.
RIP Ramsy.
Where is that not-your-sofa from? It’s exactly what I’ve been looking for!
Plus, can I just say you guys making me tired just reading about your lives?! I’m way impressed with how much you guys squeeze into life.
Scroll back a bit for that info! Hope it helps!
xo,
s
So excited for the book!!!
Wow! What a fantastic three weeks! I love checking on your progress. You are so inspirational!
I am hoping the stencil in the special shot is you heart logo. That would be an awesome wall!
Woweee this is all so very exciting!
All our things are in chaos right now as we’re currently living at my mum’s house with all our possessions in my brother’s old bedroom (http://annabelvita.com/surprise), we have to move again in March and then hopefully no chaos for a while! (http://annabelvita.com/on-the-right-track)
And poor, poor Ram! May he rest in peace.
Wow- good luck with everything!
xo,
s
I am so ridiculously excited for fall. If your book comes out on my birthday, it will be the coolest coincidence ever. I know, super nerd right here.
Ooh when is your birthday? Not that we know when the book is coming out. Haha.
xo,
s
SO much packed into one post. Sorry about the ram. :( I hate when that happens…thankfully should my felted deer ever fall, all will be okay.
What a crazy fun month! You two deserve a vacation after this but I can’t wait for the book, it’ll especially be fun trying to figure out where in your house things were photographed. The same wall painted 9 times?!! It’s going to be so quiet after today. I hope you get some rest this weekend. :)
Aw thanks Roeshel!
xo,
s
So sorry for the loss of your ram. I will observe a moment of silence in his memory.
And then I will go back to my happy dance because I’m so excited to read your book!!
Aw thanks Anne!
xo,
s
Oh my gosh that’s a ton of paint! I hate painting, so all that painting would probably make me crazy. Did you pick up any new tips or tricks to doing it efficiently?
Nah, same old thing! Just using our short handled brush to cut in (John rolls and I cut in – and we tape off the ceiling since I’m not as steady handed while perched on a ladder).
xo,
s
Would those be the same fuzzy red socks that were featured so adorably on yesterday’s YHLife video? “Mommy’s sock!”
I confess, I had wondered when $herdog wears red socks, and I’m sorta relieved to learn that it’s for painting. :)
Haha- yes! They’re for painting and to bed when it’s super cold and when I’m sick. They’re my snuggle socks. Hah.
xo,
s
Aw, RIP Ramsy. I hate when beloved items break. I had a fabulous yellow/green/brown swirly vase that bit the dust over the summer and still haven’t found anything I love to replace it.
And whoa – kudos to you for living through the chaos! I can’t wait to see the book! :)
i think it’s only fitting to dedicate the book to Ramsy.
Hahahahahaha- now that would be crazy. And we’re crazy…
xo,
s
Holy guacamole. Y’all really have been crazy busy. I mean, I knew it was crazy over there, but not THAT crazy. I canNOT WAIT for that book. Super excited for all the (continued) success that is upcoming for y’all!! Wheeee!!
You don’t drink coffee????
I know, we’re so weird! We try it but we just can’t get into it!
xo,
s
Cream and sugar might do the trick ;) Or mixing it with hot cocoa to make mocha. haha
Mmm, that actually sounds good.
xo,
s
MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY!
I do not know how you juggle everything you do without some serious amounts of coffee, or other forms of caffeine. Holy Moly!
I think after the crazy ends, you should both take a nap when Cara naps. Just a thought!
Can’t wait for the book!!!!!
Way to be without the coffee!!! I don’t drink coffee either, so it makes me happy to hear of other non-coffee drinkers. :)
So sad about Ramsey. I get sad when anything breaks. Even when Jason rips his board books. So silly, I know.
And HOORAY HOORAY! that it’s the last day of book shoots!! I love having people stay with me, but I also love when they leave :). Feels like you can breath again, ya know? Order is just so nice. You guys are such quality, gracious people that I’m sure your new book friends will miss hanging and working with you though.
Can’t wait to see the book (esp the cover you kept talking about!) and have fun in Portland!! (So jealous that you’re going. I love Portland!)
You can’t go to Portland and not drink coffee you know. :) Coffee and Voodoo doughnuts. My husband and I occasionally have to write coffee into our home project budgets. We like buying the really good stuff and go through quite a bit of decaf on the long nights.
Haha – I wish we liked the taste! Imagine how much we could do if we didn’t sleep all night! Haha.
xo,
s
Poor ram. :-( Saw some similar ones at Zgallerie. Last I saw, they were on sale. ;-)
You have been crazy busy! Where did those amazing pillows come from ? (in the pic next to the book’s manuscript) L-O-V-E
Those are actually ours – we’ve had them for a while! The scale-ish one is from West Elm about two years ago (it lived in our first house’s office/guest room) and the blue one is from HomeGoods a while back. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
I am so so excited for your book to come out!! I’m sure you’ll let us know when it’s available for pre-order because I’ll be one of the first! :)
Aw thanks Jenna! Will do!
xo,
s
So sorry for your loss, but at least you get to add another animal to the collection! Woohoo!
Congratulations on finishing up this phase of book madness! Sorry you lost Ramsy in the process, but hopefully you’ll find something even more perfect for that spot above your bed.
Another HUGE congratulations for being nominated for a Bloggie for the art/craft category! http://2012.bloggi.es/
I already voted for you! :)
Aw thanks, Emily!
xo,
s
You two are great! I can’t even imagine the work that this has been for you guys and the upheaval it’s caused… hang in there!!! :D
I hate when things break! Oh no!
You two have been busy! I will be pre-ordering! Happy to support such an awesome project.
Aw thanks Emily!
xo,
s
So sorry to hear about your Ramsy, but yay to all the book excitement!! I can’t wait to see it in the stores and hold it in my hands. :)
When ceramic animals fall to the ground and shatter, it’s just nature’s way of thinning the herd to make way for stronger ceramic animals to find their way into your heart.
I am sad to say goodbye to Ramsey, but I’m looking forward to the cool things you may discover in trying to fill his void.
Are you glad to be getting your house back after the chaos of the book photography??
Yes yes yes!
xo,
s
I did not notice you guys being slower on comments, posts, or anything else blog-related for that matter. Amazingly enough! Speaking of tropics, I really hope you guys take that well deserved break to somewhere you wanted to go (Hawaii was it?). Much love and congrats on being done!!
We are in the midst of a kitchen upgrate ourselves (that’s how I found you!) and we are done with painting our cabinets. And we are getting new hardwood flooring. Delish! Have a great weekend!
Oh yes, Hawaii here we come!
xo,
s
Oh goodness, at least you are almost done now? This year really has flown by so fast. It’s already mid term week for me, so I’m trying to not completely shut down and just get out of the library at least every few hours. Reading blogs like yours is how I break and chopping up butternut squash. That gets out my bursts of energy . Can’t wait to read what’s next!
http://thefirstapartment.blogspot.com/2012/02/butternut-squash.html
~Katy
Deets on those awesome needlepoint (or so they look it) pillows in the close up pic with the book manuscript resting on karl, please?
Those are actually just our pillows from a while back! From West Elm and HomeGoods!
xo,
s
Jeez, when are you guys gonna go on a vacation? Just reading this post makes me tired!
Sooon! We are firm on that. We need a vacation!
xo,
s
Oh man, I love a good teaser post and this is a GREAT one. I am SO excited and my brain is spinning at the thought of it being mid-February, too. Although, Fall can’t come soon enough.
We are in the midst of chaos (though nothing like the guest bed in the family room) ourselves. We decided to renovate our family room. There is a first time for everything, including tearing down a wall:
http://chrislovesjulia.blogspot.com/2012/02/my-first-go-at-demolition.html
Wahooo! So much fun! Good luck!
xo,
s
I understand living with a tornado-stricken house! We have been working on props/miniature sets for months now-everything sitting in our tiny apartment and finally filmed everything last weekend! Things are getting back to normal and it feels great! I hope you find your normal soon! But isn’t the chaos fun for a little while!?
Yes! I think it’s fun for the first week and the second week is really overwhelming and the third week is when you hit your groove thing! Haha.
xo,
s
Oh dear, if this trend continues you’ll need to take out some kind of pet insurance for all your ceramic buddies – and with such a menagerie, that could be a not-so-insignificant expense!
Kudos on getting through the book shoot [almost] unscathed! Very excited to see the finished product. :)
Haha – ceramic animal pet insurance. I like it.
xo,
s