My Kitchen in Better Homes & Gardens!

Happy Friday, friends!

I hope you have had a great week. :)

Today, I wanted to share with you that my kitchen was featured in the November issue of Better Homes and Gardens!

Well, let me clarify…in SOME November issues.   I’m not sure why, but my kitchen is not in all of the November issues?  It was in my paid subscription copy that I received in my mailbox, but it isn’t in the magazines at our local Kroger.  #gofigure

It’s supposed to be on page 142, so it may or may not be in the November issue near you.

There is a little story behind that picture that I’ve never shared on my blog. 

Four years ago, I was contacted by BHG to do a photo shoot in my home about the projects I have done around my house.  It was going to be a several page spread about me, my blog, and my projects.  They wanted to mainly focus on the transformations I had done in my den, my kitchen, and my office.

I was THRILLED to say the least!! BHG??!!!  As a “home” blogger, it was a dream come true.

We only had a couple of months to get ready for the shoot, so we went into overdrive to get my house ready.  We actually sanded and re-sanded the hardwood floors in my kitchen.  We put a fresh coat of paint in every room of the first floor of our home, (you know, just in case they decide to take more pictures in other rooms.)  We put up new light fixtures.  I re-painted the shelves in my kitchen, and we bought a new couch and loveseat for the den because ours were looking pretty shabby.  We added some more landscaping all around our house and repainted the some of the exterior of our home because they mentioned the “might” get a picture of the outside of our house.  The weeks before the shoot, we had a lot of family and friends come over and help too.  In full disclosure, we probably spent between $5,000-6,000 dollars on our home getting ready for BHG.

But it’s BHG, y’all!!!  My mom would have been thrilled to know that I was going to be featured in a major publication.

The day of the shoot finally arrived, and I was a little bit nervous, but a whole lot excited.  A photographer and stylist came to shoot my den, kitchen, and office.

They started with the kitchen, and I felt they styled it nicely.  However, the wheels began to fall off when they moved into my den.  Let’s just say that the stylist decorated my den with a “bohemian” flair.   She and the photographer were working on a book project together about Bohemian style, and I think that had an influence on how they styled by den.  On my fireplace, there were lavender, mint green, and pale pink vases!  Not my style at all.  My stomach began to feel sick because I knew that my den was being styled in a way that didn’t feel like “me.”  I even heard the stylist giggle say, “BHG probably won’t like this because it’s a little wild.”

I remember thinking, “NO!  I want them to like it!”

I went into my bedroom and called my husband and told him what was going on.  He told me not to worry, they were the professionals, and it would probably look a ton better in the magazine.

So toward the evening, they moved into my office to style and photograph it.  The same “bohemian” style made it’s way in there too, and my office felt very messy.  I was trying to get the guts to say, “Y’all, this looks terrible!”  But who in the world did I think I was to tell a BHG stylist and photographer that they weren’t doing a good job.   I remember them asking, “What would you do in this corner?” when asking me where to hang something, and I remember thinking, “I wouldn’t do what you are doing!”  But instead, I just shrugged my shoulders and said, “idunno?”

#hugemistake

I then called my sister, my dad, and my husband again to tell them how I was feeling.   I was in tears.

I hate to say it, but it was not a good experience at all.  I was just hoping and praying that the pictures turned out better than they looked in person.  But even if they did, and they were going to publish them in their magazine, I was a little embarrassed that it was styled in a way that didn’t look like me at all.  I kept thinking that if readers came to my blog after seeing the article in BHG on me, they would be like, “Huh?  The home on the blog looks nothing like the home in the magazine.”

Oh well.  What do you do?  I was just trying to focus on the positive and wish for the best.

That was in the fall of 2013, and then we waited.  And waited.  And waited to hear when my photos would be published.  They were supposed to be in the spring, but when spring arrived, and I hadn’t heard from anyone, I finally reached out to the editor at BHG.

It was at that point that I was informed that the photos “did not turn out how they envisioned them,” and they would never be published.  They said their stylist had “an off day.”

I. was. devastated.

I asked if they would come back out and re-take the pictures, but they said they could not.  It was hard to swallow that we were out $5,000 because their stylist had an off day.  I pouted for a few days, and then I let it go.  Life was too short to be upset and worried about my home pictures not being in a magazine.  I didn’t need to be published to be validated as a home blogger.

But truthfully, it still stung.  I felt like my home was not “good enough” to be in BHG.  I had only shared it with a few of my blog friends, and they were shocked with my experience.  They had been featured in magazines as well and never had the type of experience I did.

Fast forward four years later….about 3 or 4 weeks ago,  I got an email from BHG telling me my kitchen would be appearing in the November issue.   I couldn’t believe it!

This week, the November issued arrived in my mailbox and believe or not, there was my kitchen!  On page 142!   But my kitchen was the only thing on that page.  Nowhere did they mention my name or my blog.  Nothing.  Nada.

I was still happy to see my kitchen in print, so I shared it on my insta-stories, but I also shared that my name or blog were not mentioned.

I was disappointed, but not mad.  However, there was a lot of talk about it on Instagram, and both readers and bloggers were upset that BHG did not mention me in their magazine.  They made such a ruckus that they got the attention of the BHG Home Editor, Amy Panos, who sent me an email to apologize.

She also asked for my phone number to talk to me personally, and yesterday she shared an online link where they featured more pictures of my kitchen on their online site.  You can check it out by clicking HERE.

Smart Storage Maximizes This Small Farmhouse Kitchen

 

I am very thankful that they shared my kitchen online.  It was so fun to see my pictures there!

So I hope that I do not sound ungrateful at all.  I truly am grateful.  I was just disappointed in the process, but I know that there are far more important things to worry about in this world.  For sure!

And I know my mom would still be thrilled!  :)

Have a blessed day, friends!

 

 

 

18 Comments

  1. The kitchen does look lovely! And pics of your house decorated in bohemian style wouldn’t have been your lovely home, if you know what I mean. In my 60th yr of life I have learned that as women we will speak up to the point of obnoxious when a loved one is concerned but often remain silent when a situation is about us. I finally learned that assertive and pushy are not the same thing. You will be assertive the next time something along this line happens in the future….and it will. I’ve been following your blog several years now and love seeing your home and family grow. I’ve gotten some great tips and ideas from you. Thank you for all the hard work you do to bring your blog to us with a refreshing reality of decorating wins and failures!!! And also thanks for sharing your lovely family with us too.

  2. That’s CRAZY!! I just looked for it a magazine in Lowes, but didn’t see it. I could have overlooked it though. I was hurriedly looking! I wasn’t about to buy one if it didn’t have you! Well, at least you were featured online. That might have gone farther than the magazine. I, personally, don’t buy the magazines anymore. I just know you’re house is beautiful and I need to come visit you someday!!

  3. That is so weird. I was reading my BHG that I received yesterday and when I got to the picture of your kitchen I thought it looked familiar and I looked for a reference to whose home it is. I was thinking that it wasn’t good business on their part to not acknowledge where the picture was taken. Imagine my surprise when I opened up my email and saw that it was your home. You bring such inspiration to your readers and I think they should make an effort to re-do the shoot correctly. Keep your chin up, we’re still loving your home, which is more than good enough for BHG.

  4. Wow, that was some story. Ridiculous to have BHG come to YOUR home and rearrange everything. Why do they do that? Your home is beautiful the way you display it on your blog….you don’t need any help from them!😉 And…the editor made a huge faux pas not even acknowledging you on the ONE PAGE of your kitchen. They should have included all of them. Traci, next time someone wants to shoot your home for a magazine, tell the upfront “Y’all can take pictures of my home as it is!!!” Love your blog with your family!!

  5. Congrats. The kitchen looks amazing. Sorry the experience wasn’t the greatest. Bad overlook on their part for not mentioning your blog or name in the article. On to bigger and better things……happy weekend.

  6. Oh, my goodness, what a story!!! I’m so glad they finally got it together and featured your kitchen. It is so lovely and such a “hot” look right now. Happy for you! Have a great weekend!

  7. Media, as you know, can be its own monster. I’m learning it on a small scale just trying to work with our local paper for our local sports team. Ridiculous. Funny, because when I see pictures like that I say to myself, “that is so staged. No one can live in a house that perfect.” Hee hee! Yes, someone can! But her heart is more beautiful than her home…..

  8. So sorry you had such disappointing experience!! But SO happy for you that they finally published your kitchen! I love it!!

  9. CONGRATULATIONS! I’ve never heard of a magazine doing this. I assumed if you were featured, the feature was in ALL the magazine’s issued for that month. It’s in my BHG mag. I’m in Missouri City, TX which is about 30 minutes from downtown Houston. Say, maybe you could ask everyone that has your article in their BHG magazines to post what city they live in. Put up a map or coloring page of the states and you and your very pretty daughter can track what cities/states the article turns up in for a few weeks or until the next issue comes out. Once again, CONGRATULATIONS on a job well done!

  10. Wow! What a crazy story. I’m glad your amazing kitchen was featured, but that was not acceptable that they didn’t give credit where credit is do. So sorry you had such a difficult….and expensive experience. It was their loss!

  11. Sigh…that just stinks that you had this experience…the shoot from years ago, better off that they did not print it as your gut was telling you it was not a good representation of YOU and YOUR style…so that was a blessing…

    This time around, just no excuse really….Your kitchen is amazing and you are amazing…you don’t validation from any magazine to tell you that…YOU ARE ENOUGH…

    XO

  12. Congratulations are still due, but it IS a pity the first shoot didn’t pan out and didn’t even acknowledge you in the final publication. Hopefully, they’ll put an edit/correction in Dec. issue with links to your blog, etc. Usually they do that at the front of issues.

  13. I am in southeast Michigan and just received my copy today. Your kitchen is in there! I kind of think it stinks how it turned out for you. I understand tweaking a bit but I don’t get why they would completely Style it over. I mean aren’t they there to begin with because they like your style?! SMH! Still happy for you that it finally made it in the magazine and that they’re trying to make it right.

  14. I subscribe to BHG and actually get three issues. Go figure cause I’m only paying for one. I donate the extras to a retirement home for women near me. Anyway, your kitchen was not in any of the copies that we received. I was hoping to read about it. That’s a crazy story you should told. Glad it worked out.

  15. Hi Traci!
    I think your kitchen looks very beautiful! I’m glad BHG finally published it in their magazine, well some magazines anyway. Where do you find your towels that you have on display on dishwasher and stove? I like the look and size of them. I like your decorating and good tips you give to your subscribers. Keep up the good work! Thank you!

    1. Hi Kim! Thank you for your sweet words! The towels were bought by the stylist from Anthropologie. That was four years ago, so I am sure they don’t have the same ones, but they always have cute towels, so I am sure you could find something there! ;)

  16. Wow, I’m stunned they didn’t feature your kitchen. I’m here from the Southern Hospitality blog, and after looking through your posts, my eye fell on this one because I liked your kitchen layout, and wanted to show it to my daughter, who just bought a house that she is remodeling. I thought she could use some of the ideas featured here. Love the ideas you have shared!!
    I recognized the cover of BHG and decided to look at my copy to see if your kitchen was featured, and it’s not. Now that was a bummer. I live in Florida and had no idea they change things for certain markets. Totally understand your spending the $5k just to update for BHG, and my heart sank as I read what they did with the bohemian style. UGH.
    Looking forward to reading your future posts and to browsing your blog to read the past ones as well! Good luck, and keep at it. BHG is not the only game in town. ;)

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