Homeowner’s first-hand account of being featured in a magazine

by Janet
written by Janet
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Nicky Keen’s kitchen, as featured in House Beautiful

I’m just so incredibly touched that Nicky Keen of Joy Interiors took time out of her busy life to write this lovely blog after her delightful cottage was featured in House Beautiful recently.

I have to say that her words brought a tear to my eye! Nicky has kindly allowed me to publish her first-hand experience below:

 

‘Excited is an understatement when I was approached early last year by the rather lovely Janet McMeekin, to see if I would be interested in having my home featured in a national homes magazine. As I am a complete addict to most of these magazines, I was thrilled to be asked. It was a fabulous experience – I honestly had my eyes opened to the extreme hard work, time and preparation that goes into each article.

The first part of the process was to take a few images myself of each room. They were then sent to Janet and then it was a question of waiting……something I am not an expert at! I heard fairly quickly that House Beautiful would be really keen to include our home.

1461746939468-1The next step was to arrange a day for the full professional photoshoot. This involved an awful lot of cleaning/tidying and ensuring the boys would all be away from home for the day – a military operation in itself! It was worth all the organisation, though, I had an amazing day with Jeremy Phillips – the very talented photographer whose attention to detail was second to none. I was amazed at how long each shot took – ensuring everything was in the perfect position for the best-angled image – and although poor Jeremy spent the whole day with me, the time seemed to fly by.

 I learnt so much and I am truly grateful to have been a part of it. Janet then popped in for a visit (which involved cups of tea and meeting her lovely family), and I was able to explain in detail the work we had completed within our home. I think she was grateful to see this in person, as it had been such a quirky restoration it was much easier than trying to visualise it away from the house. Janet also interviewed me (although because Janet is so lovely and friendly, this felt much more like a good old chat!). I explained in detail the process we had taken in restoring and extending our home, and gave details of where items within my home could be sourced. Janet then wrote the most wonderful article that ultimately featured within the magazine.

I was so happy with how she had really captured all of what I had tried to explain, my feelings and the hard work we had put into our little family home. At this point it was another waiting game. I did not know which month the feature would be in – at the back of my mind I thought it may be the autumn, so I was shocked when we were taking a family break during the Easter holidays and my neighbour (and lovely friend too) sent me a text message saying she was reading all about our home! She subscribes to the magazine and had received her copy early. The following few days were spent desperately trying to get a hard copy of the magazine – only to be successful the day before we returned home to my subscriber copy that had been sitting on my doormat for a week! Typical!

The whole experience has been an absolute pleasure to be part of.  Janet is a wonderful, kind and experienced writer whose passion for her work is evident. Plus, the boys nowNicky+Keen-043 think they are celebrities! Perfect!’

If, like Nicky, you love your home and would like me to feature it in one of the magazines I write for, please drop a line to mail@janetmcmeekin.co.uk or call me on 01243 792379.

To browse the Joy Interiors website, please click here