NEW WORK: Styling The Purple Trend with Good Homes Magazine

Ever wondered what an interior style magazine shoot is like? Well today, I want to show you. I’m sharing you secret behind-the-scenes photos from my latest cover shoot for Good Homes magazine (shh!).
There’s even a short video of my styling in action so you can get a good picture of what I do for a living. Enjoy!

Rug // Ted Baker

Good Homes Magazine Shoot

In June, I was asked to style a cover shoot for Good Homes magazine for their November issue. That may sound so early to you but magazines work six months in advance. I’m often styling big interior shoots with a winter theme in the sweltering heat.
These photos are the unedited ones. I want you to see the edge of the sets where I stash piles of props to the side! And I’m only showing you a small selection from the photoshoot today just to give you an idea of what I do. You can see all the shots in Good Homes magazine or in my instagram feed.

The Inspiration

The brief was to bring warm blush, pink and raspberry tones to a living room and dining space. Each room set then had to have three additional style ideas that readers can be inspired by and then try out at home.
Here you can see the two sets up of the living room….

I get a set builder to create a room based on my design – and then I spent a long time tweaking props. in the two shots above you can see where we moved art around and made tiny movements in the props to get everything to look just right.
The painting (in the bottom shot on the sideboard) is the work of my friend Jessie Ford. I try to mix in one-off pieces with highstreet to make my cover shoots look like a real home.
Which one do you like best for the cover?

The Good Homes Team

On the shoot there is myself plus my three assistants. The photographer Andrew Boyd and his assistant as well as Good Homes Magazine’s Style Editor, Jess Taverner and their Art Editor.
That may sound like a lot of people but there lots and lots of props. I borrow enough to fill a large van – including everything from paint, to flooring and even furniture – plus boxes of accessories.
It’s all hands on deck as we have so many things to unpack and repack up.
The shoot usually takes two days. One day to set up the living room and the dining room. Then on the second day, Andrew shoots my sets and makes everything look wonderful on camera.

Stencil by StenCilit

Styling Ideas

My brief is to show readers how they can bring this interior colour trend to their homes. That can include ideas like a wall stencil, using a rug as a wall hanging or wallpapering a display unit.  I’m encouraged by the Good Homes team to be brave with these colour, and pick uber stylish accessories.
Before the shoot starts, I do lots and lots of research on what ideas I want to style. Then Good Homes’ magazine editor Karen Walker and her Style Editor, Jess pick their fav ideas from my selection. Then it is up to me to make sure that these ideas translate on set.
Before the shoot, Jess and I have a good talk about what colours and furniture to use. We wanted to show how berry shades can look modern at home. That meant adding lots of gold and brass accents. As well as adding interest to the walls. It was my idea to tile the hearth with Bert & May encaustic tiles to the faux fireplace to make the cover look warm and wintery.
The dining room we wanted to look relaxed but still have glam feel. I had a faux bench built which I covered with fur throws from Matalan and cushions from Heals.  My assistants wallpapered the back of the Ikea display unit for me to add another layer of pattern to the set.

Behind-The-Scenes-Video With Good Homes

On the day we had a video made of this style shoot. We look very serious in the film! That is my concentrating face. I promise the shoot is a lot of fun (as well as hard work).

There you go – a very quick tour of my styling work with Good Homes. I hope it has given you a little more insight into what I do for a living and what is involved.
Do you like this blog post about my style work? Then you will like my popular posts – How I became an interior stylist and Beginner’s guide to becoming an Interior Stylist, or you may like Everything you need to know about Interior Styling
In the meantime, if you would like to see more of what I do – you can see my professional styling portfolio over here.
Any questions – just ask below.
Have a great week.
Maxine