Secrets From a Stylist - Behind the scenes!

So, I had the recent privilege of being a "special guest" on Episode 7 of Emily Henderson's new show SECRETS FROM A STYLIST. Emily, as you all remember, whipped my tail on Design Star Season 5, so it was very gracious of her to have me on, and OF COURSE I was willing to offer up my services! haha

Though I've known Emily for just over a year, she is most definitely one of those people you meet, instantly connect with, and feel like you've known them your whole life. The cute, quirky, snarky, a lil crazy, but "fun as all get out" girl you see on the TV screen IS THE REAL EMILY. That's one of the many things I love and respect about her, she's not an actress, she's herself, cameras or no cameras.

Now, Emily knows my style and my passion for building custom furniture out of reclaimed wood (i.e. Capsule Furniture). She needed a custom, large, rustic coffee table for her 2nd look for the Gaines family, so she beckoned me to California to come help out! I cut some beams, shipped them, and a few weeks later I hopped on a plane to L.A. Ahhh... sunny weather and the welcome opened arms of my old friend Em! We got to work and soon I had my wood-shop (a blue tarp in the backyard) set up to make the coffee table!

Upon arrival to the house, I knew I would be ECSTATIC to see Emily again. What I didn't know is HOW AWESOME THE REST OF THE CREW WOULD BE! We seriously had a blast; they were so welcoming and fun to work with!

Here are some "rough shots" that I took with my point and shoot when I wasn't working! Speaking of WORK, Emily is A WORK-A-HOLIC. I was so impressed with her constant energy in spite of having to BUST HER HUMP all day for 6 days straight, non-stop. She puts her heart and soul into every piece of this show and it's obvious when the day is done. It was eye-opening for me to see how the production was run, how many hours of work it requires (seriously crazy), and what a difference it makes when you work with people that support your vision and success.

At the end of the day, the Gaines' living room looked stunning! What a transformation. And, although there were parts of the first look that I loved, Emily gave the Gaines' the space that WORKED PERFECT FOR THEM.

Here are the photos of the space, taken by Laure Joliet, an AMAZING INTERIOR PHOTOGRAPHER. I literally stole these from Emily's blog. If you aren't following Emily's blog, do yourself a favor and add it to your list. On top of her WORK-A-HOLICISM, she finds time (probably in the wee hrs of the morning) to have a beautiful blog that's full of excitement and inspiration.

I added this photo of the chess table and ghost chairs behind the sofa b/c she didn't have one on her blog and I loved the way it looked in front of this old, leaded-glass window. Sorry, the quality is poor, but you get the picture!

The Gaines's were thrilled with the finished outcome, and I was happy to leave them with a piece of Capsule Furniture and a little piece of New York City to top off Emily's wonderful design.

Oh, they received another miracle (besides E's transformation) the week I was there. A stray dog decided that the Gaines's back-yard would be a perfect nesting spot to have her puppies! It was a fun distraction for the whole crew to enjoy!

All in all, it was a fun week, full of sunny weather and good times with the whole SFAS crew. I even had some down-time to hang with some other friends and old Design Star pals. (Sorry Casey, I know you didn't get much work done that week b/c of me).

love y'all!

DGF