Things That Make You Go Hmmmm.....

How many times do you find yourself watching HGTV or something of the like and ask yourself how does one get on this show and get all this awesome free stuff (and, really, what is free)?.  I'd say a lot.

When we first decided to move and bought a house without yet selling our house, then went through the process of selling our house on our own, moved 985 miles away from family and friends and started a complete gut renovation...oh, did I mention I was 7 months pregnant at the time?...I toyed with the idea of entering to be on one of the HGTV shows.  With all that on our plate, I figured we could be pretty entertaining.   I consulted the list of shows seeking potential "guests" (their words), but none interested me and I was afraid my raging hormones may make me "appear" crazy.  Still, I always wondered what could have been.

Now we can get a little insider scoop on what it is like to be a guest on HGTV thanks to Joy over at Oh Joy!.  She and her husband were lucky enough to be chosen for my latest obsession, Secrets of a Stylist.  Who knew you had to audition for months?  I'm still curious what kind of budget you have to cough up for it, but it is pretty cool that you get design and labor for free.

It totally stinks that they cut out the part about her wallpaper line.  Hello people, you USED it in their living room!!!  Would have been an amazing plug....Anywho, read on for the details.

I was waiting to post my recap for you guys until the episode was online for those of you without TV's or who didn't get to see it live. So check it out right here if you haven't watched it yet. Then, all the bits below will make much more sense!

So you might wonder what it's like to have your house made over on a reality show...well, it's pretty awesome! Here's a little recap and behind-the-scenes bits for you of how it all went down. I had known of Emily's styling work previously to her being on Design Star but we had never met. Once I saw the pilot episode of her new show, I emailed her a fan letter and asked if she was available for consulting because I loved her show and needed help. Her show was the first on HGTV that I really felt fit our style and if anyone could give some good advice, she could. She was too busy to consult, but she was like, "Why don't you audition for the show and then I'd get to style your place for free?!?". My ears perked up and so I got Bob to film this audition tapewith me. We sent it in, and soon after started the process of going through rounds of casting from August-October of last year. When we finally got the call that we were in, we were told we'd be shooting a month later and filmed our episode at the end of November.

During the casting process, we met with Emily a couple times to talk about our own individual styles as well as our combined styles and what love our space to become. We sent her some tear sheets of things we liked. While I tend to be very type A and want to be in charge, I really let Emily do her thing because I love her work and trusted her 100%. And, Bob, well, he's easy so there were no concerns there. Here's what our living room & dining room looked like before...

When the week of filming came, we moved out for the week and rented a temporary apartment nearby. The crew works long hours filming in the house, so especially since we have cats, we thought it would be easier for everyone involved if we just moved out for the week and took our furry friends with us. The show shoots from Monday-Saturday with 3 days that we had to be available for filming.

On the first day of filming, we gave Emily an overview of our space, what we needed help with, and a bit about our styles.

We went to Emily's studio to film the "Style Diagnostic" in which she has us choose between different objects to get a sense of our style through our choices. The funny part about this segment is that the two shoes I picked for Bob were actually his! We didn't see the objects ahead of time {they must have pulled some of his shoes from our house}, so we were laughing on the inside when I had to pick what he'd like...knowing that was an easy job for me! None of the girl's shoes were mine, so Bob had a tougher task...

Then, she gave us our diagnosis and told us about the plan to start with my Artsy Nouveau look, and then layer on Bob's Single Malt Minimalism for a hybrid of Single Malt Nouveau. Now, here's where she warns us that she might go a little over the top with the girlie, feminine stuff and then tone it back down with Bob's style later.

Emily, Orlando, and the team then proceed with the first look. I love this scene here where she's standing in a corner with full-on wallpaper! So cute. {Because no one puts Baby in the wallpapered corner!} And yes, this is from my wallpaper line. We did talk about that on the show but it got cut for time sake. They then proceeded to put together Artsy Nouveau...

Vintage, hot pink, gold-gilded palace of girlieness!

This was the expression on our faces. Don't we look scared? I was probably the most flustered as I didn't know something so feminine could exist. And that while I loved parts of it, on a whole it was too feminine even for me {and definitely for Bob}.

Emily explains how she wanted to bring in a huge dose of "Joy" and then pare it down and add some of "Bob" in the next look. We were relieved that she wasn't going to leave it that way and excited to see the balance of our two styles in the second look.

I loved this segment about how Emily placed our artwork on the wall in a pretty cluster. That paper trick is awesome and something I totally need to do going forward. They then did their magic, and here's the 2nd and final look...

...which we LOVED! It was {and still is} a great mix of both Bob and my style. Emily paired down some of the girlieness and brought in more wood, chrome, and streamlined shapes that felt more modern and more like Bob...and a look which felt much more livable to me than the previous one.

Can you see the smiles on our faces?!? Totally. Relieved. And so so happy!

You can see more before and after's right here. Check Emily's blog for all of her behind-the-scenes bit from our episode and sources on where she got everything. For the items that were ours that you guys have asked about...

The ceramic head planters in the dining room are from Floral Art LA and the meat prints are byDominic Episcopo.

The prints above the couch are {from left to right}: lady print by Peggy Wolf, floral hedgehog byChipmunk Cheeks, vintage poodle print from Rosebowl flea market, popsicle print by Anna Tillett, heart by CDR, portrait by Gemma Correll, bird print by Yumi Yumi, Manhattan print byJim Datz for Three Potato Four, lemon print by Dear Colleen, lady print by Peggy Wolf, Swan girl print by Sophie Blackall, rabbit by Fifi Lapin, and buildings by Julia Rothman.

Phew! That was probably the longest post I've ever written! Thanks again for watching the episode and for all your nice emails, comments, and tweets! It was so fun sharing a bit of our home with you guys, and we hope you had fun watching it! — Joy

{all after photos by Laure Joliet. all other images are screen shots from the show}