Are those beautiful home photo shoots real or staged?
Are those stunning photo shoots real or staged? Former Home Beautiful editor Andrea Jones reveals all.
There's a story, often told around office water coolers, that goes something like this: "I have a friend who says that when their neighbours' house was photographed for Vogue Living/Home Beautiful/Country Style, a removalist's van pulled up and all these plants and stacks of furniture were carried in."
The underlying message here is that decorating magazines lie when they photograph real people's homes. Well, as a former editor of one of these magazines, I hereby solemnly swear to tell you the absolute honest truth.
Yes, we do use removal vans for shifting furniture - their muscular crews are absolute saviours for decorating staff who regularly re-create a total room "look" inside the empty white walls of a photographic studio. It's a lot like moving house - and who better than professional removalists to move it all in and at the end of the day return it all to the suppliers?
Perhaps that is where the water-cooler story's genesis lies because, at the risk of disillusioning cynics, when it comes to home shoots, magazines don't use removal vans and they don't cheat by passing off artificially created interiors as real people's homes.
For a house to be selected for an eight-to-10 page glossy magazine feature, it has to have strong design features and decorating flair.
"We do as little as possible to change the feel of a home," says Lisa Green, editor-in-chief of Australian House & Garden. "If it's not good enough to shoot in the first place we don't bother. But that's not to say some don't require a bit of tidying up before a shoot."
It's not uncommon for crews to have to scrub a glass shower screen, polish the stainless steel appliances or, as The Sydney Morning Herald did recently, wash up the breakfast dishes to make a kitchen camera-ready.
Photographer Richard Powers, whose work appears in many glossies here and in Britain, still recoils as he remembers shooting a multimillion-dollar Sydney home and moving the sofa to discover a nest of rats underneath.
Preparing a house for photography is not unlike the grooming you'd go through if you were having your own photograph taken for a magazine; you'd surely do your hair and press your suit or favourite outfit. As Powers says: "If your home is going to be seen by 80,000 people, you want it to look its best." So how does one groom a room?
I love my Mum. Whenever I go home to Australia she always has the cupboards full of my favorite treats (Tim Tams, Tubes, Milo, Burger Rings, hummus and tzatziki with pita bread, chalk lollies, fresh scones with jam and cream…the list goes on…) and saves things for me such as recipes and magazines that she knows I will like. This time it was the May issue of Home Beautiful. I haven’t looked through this magazine in years. Instead I always ask Mum to bring a copy of Real Living and Donna Hay in her suit case when she visits. But next time can you please pack Home Beautiful too?
The May Home Beautiful featured the house of Danish furniture importer Mette Fog. Her relaxed living room is a perfect blend of oriental pieces, country-chic, and her love of “glittery and sparkly things, hence the chandeliers.” Her purple and yellow color palette on a bed of soft white makes me feel so incredibly girly.
The dress wallpaper scrolls in the dining room and hallway also add to the femininity of Fog’s home. These are from Deborah Bowness‘ hand printed wallpaper collection
And I love her wallpapered feature wall behind the bed. Mette selected the Nordic Leaves wallpaper in Birch Leaves by Helene Blanche. It’s a clever substitute for a headboard!
Thanks, Mum, for always knowing what I like.
There's a story, often told around office water coolers, that goes something like this: "I have a friend who says that when their neighbours' house was photographed for Vogue Living/Home Beautiful/Country Style, a removalist's van pulled up and all these plants and stacks of furniture were carried in."
The underlying message here is that decorating magazines lie when they photograph real people's homes. Well, as a former editor of one of these magazines, I hereby solemnly swear to tell you the absolute honest truth.
Yes, we do use removal vans for shifting furniture - their muscular crews are absolute saviours for decorating staff who regularly re-create a total room "look" inside the empty white walls of a photographic studio. It's a lot like moving house - and who better than professional removalists to move it all in and at the end of the day return it all to the suppliers?
Perhaps that is where the water-cooler story's genesis lies because, at the risk of disillusioning cynics, when it comes to home shoots, magazines don't use removal vans and they don't cheat by passing off artificially created interiors as real people's homes.
For a house to be selected for an eight-to-10 page glossy magazine feature, it has to have strong design features and decorating flair.
"We do as little as possible to change the feel of a home," says Lisa Green, editor-in-chief of Australian House & Garden. "If it's not good enough to shoot in the first place we don't bother. But that's not to say some don't require a bit of tidying up before a shoot."
It's not uncommon for crews to have to scrub a glass shower screen, polish the stainless steel appliances or, as The Sydney Morning Herald did recently, wash up the breakfast dishes to make a kitchen camera-ready.
Photographer Richard Powers, whose work appears in many glossies here and in Britain, still recoils as he remembers shooting a multimillion-dollar Sydney home and moving the sofa to discover a nest of rats underneath.
Preparing a house for photography is not unlike the grooming you'd go through if you were having your own photograph taken for a magazine; you'd surely do your hair and press your suit or favourite outfit. As Powers says: "If your home is going to be seen by 80,000 people, you want it to look its best." So how does one groom a room?
Home Beautiful
I love my Mum. Whenever I go home to Australia she always has the cupboards full of my favorite treats (Tim Tams, Tubes, Milo, Burger Rings, hummus and tzatziki with pita bread, chalk lollies, fresh scones with jam and cream…the list goes on…) and saves things for me such as recipes and magazines that she knows I will like. This time it was the May issue of Home Beautiful. I haven’t looked through this magazine in years. Instead I always ask Mum to bring a copy of Real Living and Donna Hay in her suit case when she visits. But next time can you please pack Home Beautiful too?
The May Home Beautiful featured the house of Danish furniture importer Mette Fog. Her relaxed living room is a perfect blend of oriental pieces, country-chic, and her love of “glittery and sparkly things, hence the chandeliers.” Her purple and yellow color palette on a bed of soft white makes me feel so incredibly girly.
The dress wallpaper scrolls in the dining room and hallway also add to the femininity of Fog’s home. These are from Deborah Bowness‘ hand printed wallpaper collection
And I love her wallpapered feature wall behind the bed. Mette selected the Nordic Leaves wallpaper in Birch Leaves by Helene Blanche. It’s a clever substitute for a headboard!
Thanks, Mum, for always knowing what I like.
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