Segreto Secrets – the RDH September Blog of the Month

There are several blogs I follow which truly get me excited when I see a new post has been published.  These blogs are filled with a multitude of beautiful images, lots of inspiration, along with well written and thought out text.  I learn something new each time I visit and many times find myself going back to reread the posts again and again.  Segreto Secrets, the RDH September blog of the month is one of these special blogs.

Many of you may be familiar with Leslie Sinclair and Segreto Finishes through Leslie’s book Segreto: The Secrets to Finishing Beautiful Interiors.

It is a fabulous 300 page book filled with incredible photos of some of Segreto Finishes best projects.  The book is full of inspiration and shares the secrets to fine finishing and how it can transform a room.

I purchased my copy a while back and have to agree with all the positive reviews I have seen. The book is truly wonderful! (A link to purchase the book is available on Leslie’s blog.)

Segreto Finishes is located in Houston Texas and offers a wide variety of decorative painting and plastering on almost any surface you can imagine – walls, ceilings, furniture, cabinets and more.

Leslie’s company has rightly received national acclaim and has been published in many leading décor magazines including Veranda, Beautiful Homes, Southern Living, and Houston Lifestyle and Home.  Below (and scattered throughout this post) are a few of my favorite photos of her work.

One of the biggest changes at Segreto Finishes is their new office space.  For years, Leslie has been working from her home and recently purchased and renovated a 1950’s ranch. This project is the perfect illustration of how transformative Leslie’s work can be.  Here is the house before:

Here is the new office today.

What an amazing difference.

Kitchen before

Kitchen after

Office Entrance

New Office Space

There are many more incredible projects to see at Segreto Secrets so please be sure to visit Leslie and leave a comment letting her know you stopped by.  (Leslie also has a business website filled with more amazing pictures which can be found here.)  She is super nice and would be thrilled!  Segreto Secrets is one of my favorite blogs and I know you will love it too!

New Beach Inspired Stockings

Every summer I am fortunate to spend time at the beach with my family where one of my favorite activities is looking for shells.  I love to stroll on the sand searching for treasures and inevitably end up coming home with bags of shells – mostly white of course.

The shells find their way into various jars and bowls around my house and have provided great inspiration for a few craft projects as well.  Remember last year when I used a group of oyster shells to make a decorative ball? (Complete instructions can be found HERE.)

This year my bags of shells inspired me to create a line of nautical inspired Christmas stockings!

Each design is made from burlap and features a different shell.

They look great as a grouping of all the same design as well as a mix of all three styles. To learn more about these new designs and to see additional stockings please visit my Etsy Shop.

A Country Farmhouse – the RDH April Blog of the Month

Today I am happy to be featuring A Country Farmhouse as the April Red Door Home blog of the month.

A Country Farmhouse is the story of Trina and her husband’s renovation journey of an old farmhouse in the country.

Before

After

Along the way, she shares her passions for country life, antiques, old houses and healthy living.

Her eye for the beauty in every-day objects, her uncluttered, fresh decorating style, as well as her amazing photographs, are just a few of the reasons A Country Farmhouse is a favorite of mine.

When I think of Trina and her wonderful blog, the first words which come to mind are elegant, simple sophistication.

I just love how every object in her home seems to be something she loves, uses and is not just for show.

You may recognize the Country Living magazine cover from this past winter shown below. It is a picture of Trina’s living room all dressed up for the holidays.

There is a lot more prettiness to see, so be sure to stop by A Country Farmhouse. A thank you also to Trina for allowing me to feature her amazing blog!

Christmas House Tour 2011

Christmas has always been my favorite time to decorate.  In years past I have had lots of hours to spend getting my home ready for the holidays – decorating, baking gingerbread houses, crafting, etc.  Things were a little different in 2011, as we were blessed with the celebration of my in-laws 50^th wedding anniversary over Thanksgiving and my Etsy store had its best year ever.  Thank you!

So needless to say, I just did not have time to do all decorating and blogging like I have done in the past.  Rather than dwell on all the things I could not get done and go on and on about how crazy my life has been over the past two months, I decided to celebrate the season and invite you into my home just as it is!  So welcome to my home for the holidays!

I kept the decorating simple this year with fresh greens and the white color palette I have used previously.

We added an extra stocking on the mantel this year for our new puppy, Abby.

She was determined to be in the picture of the family room shown below.

The living room was also awash in fresh greens – my favorite being the garland draped on the clock.

I hope you enjoyed the abbreviated tour of my house.  Thank you for taking the time to visit!  I wish for you and your loved ones a blessed Christmas and joyous holiday!

Holiday Floral Photo Shoot – Behind the Scenes

Many people are curious to know what it is really like to be a part of a magazine photo shoot.  So today I would like to share my experience from the holiday floral photo shoot which took place at my house this past summer.

Better Homes and Gardens December 2011 / By: Amy Panos / Producer: Ariella Chezar

Photographer: Kate Mathis / Stylist: Ed Gallagher

I have been lucky to be a part of a few magazine photo shoots and each time I learn something new.  The thing which consistently amazes me most, however, is the amount of planning, work and attention to detail which goes into setting up just one picture.  It takes an entire team of professionals to produce just the right look for a story.

The floral photo shoot took place over the course of three days.  The stylist and photographer, along with their assistants, producer, and floral artist Ariella Chezar spent the better part of the first day unloading all their equipment, supplies, props, and flowers as well as preparing the spaces where photos would be taken. 

My mudroom and laundry room were filled with flowers, the garage became a props and supplies staging area, and the kitchen served as command central as well as where most of the flower arranging took place.  Lots of stuff and people everywhere!

The first day included lots of furniture moving and rearranging - basic set up for the upcoming two days of shooting.  The photographer looked at the lighting in the house to determine what time during the day the light would be best in each room and the floral artist created several of the floral arrangements based on what rooms would be used during the first day of shooting.

Better Homes and Gardens December 2011 / By:Amy Panos / Producer:Ariella Chezar

Photographer:Kate Mathis / Stylist:Ed Gallagher

The second and third days were when the picture taking took place.  The team arrived early and worked the entire day.  Since this shoot was not about my house or family, my kids and I did our best to just stay in the background and out of everyone’s way.  They graciously allowed me to watch (whenever I had the chance)  as they worked their magic.  Each picture appearing in the magazine and online was the result of a coordinated effort between everyone involved. The flowers, props, and lighting were all arranged and rearranged multiple times until everyone was pleased with how the picture looked – a very time consuming process.  After a picture was completed, rooms were cleaned up, put back together, and it was on to the next photo.

One of the funnier moments during the photo shoot occurred when I returned home to find two huge panels of MDF (medium density fiberboard) - painted red - in the garage.  My husband and I joked that it would be ironic if they ended up using them in our living room since we had changed the paint color from red to white.  Sure enough, they did use the panels in our “used to be red room” shown in the photo below.

Better Homes and Gardens December 2011 / By:Amy Panos / Producer:Ariella Chezar

Photographer:Kate Mathis / Stylist:Ed Gallagher

When the photo shoot was complete, everyone pitched in to return my home back to the way it was when they arrived.   They left almost all the flowers and greenery – which was a super nice surprise for me.  Since many of the flowers had been stored in various pots and vases which did not belong to me, I searched through my cabinets to pull out containers to use for all the remaining flowers.  Ariella was so nice in that instead of just putting the flowers in the vases, she spent time arranging them all into beautiful bouquets like the one shown below.

I have to say it truly was a privilege for me to host this photo shoot.  I had a wonderful time meeting the entire staff who put together this fabulous story.   It was a great experience – one which I would love to do again!