“Shoot for the moon, even if you miss…you’ll land among the stars”. I just love this quote so much. I think our dreams need to be big and we should always shoot further and pray harder.

When I started my “blogging career” almost 7 years ago I had no idea where it would lead to. My dreams certainly became bigger and I realized the possibilities if I worked hard at marketing my brand and developing my DIY and decorating skills. One of those many dreams was to one day be featured in a magazine. I’ve had a few opportunities here and there with a catalog feature and two DIY’s featured, but I was hoping for a full shoot spread. The one where you see the homeowners and maybe the dog in the shots. Every room with it’s perfect styled space and stunning bright and airy look.

See, I’ve been a magazine fanatic since I was a pre-teen. I love getting lost in a good magazine and study each picture over and over again. It started with Bop magazine when I was completely obsessed with Hanson and then eventually moved to Teen magazine, US, People, and then my love for all the design mags! So, it would only make sense that one of my all time dreams would be to one day be featured in a magazine featuring my home.The dream got smaller as our last house I wrote to multiple publications and was denied time after time. I wasn’t sure my dream would ever happen. At least not the big picture!

Then, the day began when concrete was being poured on our new property and I came upon a publisher that was interested in my makeover. I told her all about our current house we just bought and the plans for it. I said this is going to be BIG, a HUGE transformation and within 6 months it will be done. She was intrigued, took my card (oh this was at a conference) and months later I got that email I had long awaited for. They were excited for my makeover and now I had to share what the house looked like. Oh…the house that was still not finished? Yea, that one…fortunately the publisher was fine with waiting until I was ready and that’s where it all began.

April 2019, I got the green light to move forward with scheduling a photo shoot for my first real magazine spread in a magazine. American Farmhouse Style mag, wanted to feature my home!

Next, we scheduled the shoot for August and today…my feature in the American Farmhouse Style magazine has officially hit the shelves. I got my copy in the mail today and was so surprised that it came out already. Originally I thought that my feature would be in Summer 2020, so having a spring issue was extra exciting. I’ve been awaiting the day to see our house in print and I am beyond excited!

I will back track a little how the shoot went and a few photos that I took during the shoot back in August. I had been notified at least 6 months ahead of the shoot and between myself and the editor we were trying to decide on the best time to schedule the photographer to come out. I wanted the house to have at least a good portion of the house decorated and done since we had just moved in the December before. As many of you know if you’ve been following along from our renovation to when we moved in…we still had a lot to do, to personalize it.

Once we officially decided August would be the best time, I needed to get the house styled that would be magazine worthy. I may have been slightly stressed and grumpy the days leading to the shoot as the pressure of making everything perfect had me wayyyy stressed. Excited, but stressed!

The day of the shoot, I was completely ready. I had the house professionally cleaned, my styling was done after working on all the vignettes and tweaking of decor for an entire weekend. I was anxious about the photographer showing up, but oh so excited to have my house professionally photographed.

Our photographer was a real sweet heart and we even chatted a bit about some photography advice. I kind of gave him space to shoot and do his thing as he was the professional. Slightly tough for me as I am a bit of a control freak when it comes to my home. I mean, I take photos of my house almost daily. I know the right lighting, angles, and shots that work. It was about a 5 hour shoot and on he went with my little dream all in his camera ready to be sent to the publisher.

I got the photos back a few months later and though they were wonderful, my bright and airy home that I usually display seemed a little less. The photos just had a different glow to them and not exactly to my expectations. It was a little hard for me as this was such a big deal and I wasn’t loving how my house was appearing. It wasn’t bad it just wasn’t how I would normally edit my photos. More contrast and saturation then how my home appears. Not exactly what I expected from a professional photographer. I’m not mad just a little disappointed, but that’s not what this article is about. I made up my mind though the dream is not 100% perfect…that doesn’t mean it’s not something to celebrate and be excited about.

Next, I had a phone interview on my featured article. That was a ton of fun to be able to talk more about our project and my style. You could bet I mentioned European Farmhouse charm more then once. Then I waited…and waited for the time the magazine would hit. As I initially thought it was going to be published in Summer…I thought I still had a little ways to go. Until today!

So, today not only did I see my dreams come true, but it exceeded my expectation. I more then landed among the stars, I was featured on the cover!!!!

I had no clue that my home would be the chosen cover pic, but it was! I can cry writing this all over again. I kept working hard, trusting God, praying on my dreams (because I don’t wish I pray) and something so silly like a magazine feature was a dream I never thought would ever truly happen for me, but it did! I can’t say everything was perfect because if you are waiting for perfect it will never happen. But it was surely a dream come true! I skimmed through each page looking at all the amazing homes featured (recognizing a few) and kept glancing back at the ones of my home…my home…and me are in.

So, with today’s feature, yes I am so honored, excited, thrilled, and beyond grateful…but I am more then anything grateful for the dreams that God continues to answer for me. We may not be ready, it may not be perfect, and it may not come when we want it too…but just like a sweet Father he is, he wants our dreams to happen. So, this little DIYing self taught designer is unbelievably excited for this feature. Today I skimmed a magazine as I normally do when it arrives in the mail, but this time…it was a little different.

I hope you all pick up a copy it would mean the world to me and be sure to tag me in your photos when you do so.

Don’t stop dreaming friends and don’t ever stop working towards them and praying on them. See you all in the American Farmhouse Style Magazine April/May 2020 issue.