Diary of a styling assistant ........

Getting a styling assistants gig on one of this countries leading home magazines, Home Beautiful, was a tremendous highlight for me in 2014.  It really was a dream come true, I had put it on my wish list and I did everything to make it happen.  Home Beautiful is one of my favourite magazines, I buy it every month and stalk the pages from back to front and then back again. So to actually get in behind the scenes and see what really happens on a photo shoot was actually pretty amazing!!

The day starts really early (around 7am), the head stylist arrives (in this case the very lovely Julia Green), her  car is usually packed to the brim with props and flowers, Then the photographer (in this case - Armelle Habib - an absolutely amazing creative!) arrives, lots of gear and her assistant is usually not far behind! On this particular job, there were two styling assistants working under Julia's direction, myself and another girl - both of us big fat sponges and just watching every move she made. Next up the stylist and the photographer scope out the house -  this is where the fun begins - before you know it - things are being moved around, props moved in and mixed with the existing furniture - this can be as big as a new floor rug, a throws, cushions and/or artwork and as small as a pair of glasses resting on a book!!!!.  Everything is strategically positioned so that the space is best captured by the camera - every little detail counts. In actual fact magazine shoots are all about the details - can you imagine turning every room upside down and then moving it back again once the right shot is captured - it was a huge day - very long hours, lots of waiting for the right light to enter a room - some rooms easier than others. The experience was amazing, I feel very lucky. I left the house at 6pm - the shoot was not complete by then and if that was not long enough - they were all getting up the next day to get to a house Daylesford by 7am on a Saturday - their commitment to capturing beautiful homes is truly amazing.  I did learn a lot from that day, but one of the biggest learnings I came away with was that magazines love detail and colour, the house has to have the right bones, it has to be something special and it need to photograph, although in saying that Armelle is the BOMB, she has an amazing ability to make anything look fabulous - check out her website to see more of her amazing work.
I would love both her and Julia to come to my house one day!!!! ( another grand wish of mine) and make it look amazing and see it in the pages of Home Beautiful - imagine that - ohhh to dream!!!

how and why I was on the cover of a magazine!!!!!!

Yesterday I got to appear on the cover of the Herald Sun Home Magazine, how did this happen????, I hear you asking!!!!! Well I was lucky enough to work with the very talented Julia Green from Greenhouse Interiors as her assistant for the day.  How did I land the assistant role??? well, I kept knocking on her door, I didnt give up and I was prepared to do whatever it took. Assistant roles are never paid roles, but the experience gained is invaluable, and if you are lucky enough to get a gig with a fabulous mentor who is not afraid to share her knowledge, the benefits are two fold!

This was a Porter Davis display home that we injected some colour into (prior to Julia arriving, this home was fully Black and Silver!!) and the result was amazing! 

I learnt so much from her on the day, got to see how things really work behind the scenes and most importantly, I now really understand how different property styling is to magazine styling - both are extremely tough gigs -  your car is always filled with props and stock on loan from shops, suppliers and even your own home - you pack, un pack and then pack it all up again - and although the end result can look very glamorous, it's bloody hard work - you have to love it, you have to have a keen eye for detail, the hours are long and often grubby, but when you see the end result and your name in print, the hard work all seems so worth it!!!

the Life of a Styling Assistant!

I was lucky enough to assist the very talented Heather Nette King a couple of weeks ago for styling shoot number 2. The desk Heather choose on the day was divine, it is available from here, but you may need to save up for it! I loved the colours we used and I got to choose the flowers for the shot. The wallpaper was amazing, but ooh so expensive. It was another great day, the life of a stylist is so very busy and varied, the days are long and quite hands on, from painting to unpacking, to packing up, down on all fours and working well into the evening - no two days are the same - which is what I loved. I feel so lucky to have got some hands on experience and to see what really goes on behind the scenes - every stylist needs an exceptional photographer and any shots you see in magazines are never how they really appear. I picked up lots of tricks from the trade!!!!!!!!! but I guess most importantly I have learnt to get myself out there and not be afraid, JUST DO IT, and stop talking about doing it!!!