"Friday Flashback . . . "

Scot Meacham Wood Design,  photography by
Thayer Allison Gowdy for House Beautiful 

Greetings,

It all started on June 28th, 2013.  It had been a quiet Friday afternoon here in the office.  I'd run out to a quick lunch with my friend David (who works nearby) and was settling in for a simple wind-up from a slightly hectic week.

Then I noticed that there was a phone message.

So I grabbed a pen and rustled up a piece of paper.  

"Beep."

"You have one un-heard message."

"press 1, to hear messages."

"Beep."

"Scot.  Hey, it's Doretta from House Beautiful.  We were reviewing 

projects for the Dec/Jan issue, and we'd like to 

shoot your apartment as part of the editorial spread.  

Call me when you get a second and let's look at calendars!'

Um.  Ok.  

Called my Mom.

Called my boyfriend.

Called my PR agent. 

Then I sat down and tried to breathe.  

So after chatting with New York and comparing calendars . . . . exactly one year ago today . . . on an bright, sunny Friday morning in early September . . . Doretta, the editor from House Beautiful, and the photo crew (headed up the sublime Thayer Allison Gowdy!)  showed up for two day photo shoot - full of hilarity and magic.  Balancing light values.  Shuffling accessories around.  Capturing moments on film of my own home that I had never seen before. 

Here's a little background . . . 

From the beginning - we had a laptop set-up so we could preview images a full
size . . . and start framing out pages as we were shooting . . . .

I grabbed my iPhone for a few shots of the process.

I've often noted, I have one of the "smallest kitchen in America."

Well, you should be seen me, Doretta, Thayer, Thayer's 1st assistant, 

and her 2nd assistant - ALL piled in the kitchen working to get the best image.

There was a stack of red tartan plates and a fawn-shaped butter dish that we must have

moved 20 times . . . lol. 

This ended up being one of my favourite images of the house.  As many of you know, my china and table service collection is sort of . . . um, I don't know . . . vast.  But, I love the mixture of artwork in here - from the early 1900's McIan tartan prints - to my "Henry V" poster from the RSC - that I got in London in 2003.

Onward to the bedroom . . . 

Lordy - we fussed and fussed and fussed with this image . . . and never could quite get it to do anything . . . . so . . . .

After shifting the camera and opening up the image.

Magically.  This happened.  

At one point on that first day . . . Doretta was nosing around the apartment . . . opened a doorway down near the entrance to house and exclaimed, "Oh, this is MARVELOUS.  Bring the camera."

I quickly zipped over to the vanity . . . and gave things a quick re-org - just so it looked a bit more Kiehls face products and a bit less Crest toothpaste.  And, we found this great shot!

I'll continue to share some of these images over the next few weeks . . . but, today clearly required recognition.

Cheers,

Scot