Remember the photo shoot? Well, today I finally get to share the fruits of our labor with you.

HH and I partnered with The Tile Shop over a year and a half ago during the renovation of our Underdog. After many, many, MANY months of hard work {and very little sleep}, we are so excited to be a part of The Tile Shop’s blogger spotlight and ad campaign. As of today, you can read about the details of our tiling adventures over on The Tile Shop’s site here. The online spotlight includes many never-seen-before photos of our kitchen, mudroom/laundry nook/dining room and bathroom as well as commentary and DIY tips contributed by moi.

If you happen to live in one of The Tile Shop’s major markets you may just find full page ads featuring our house popping up in your local glossies. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeek! As far as I know, the ads should run in the following prints over the next few months: Minneapolis St. Paul Magazine, Chicago Magazine & Chicago Home and Garden, Kansas City Home and Gardens, Charlotte Home & Garden, Cincinnati Magazine, Indianapolis Monthly, Madison Magazine, Milwaukee Magazine, Nashville Lifestyles, Philadelphia Magazine, Pittsburgh Magazine, Long Island Pulse, St. Louis Magazine, Buffalo Magazine, Washingtonian Magazine and Atlanta Magazine.

Fun fact: The Tile Shop will be featuring several other bloggers via their blogger spotlight and ad campaign so keep your eyes peeled. I am the guinea pig!

Can we talk for a brief minute about companies recognizing the voice and importance of bloggers? And I’m not talking about my voice. So many wonderful, deserving bloggers out there are collaborating with amazing companies and brands in  win-win partnerships. A few of my favorites: Holly Becker of decor8 + West Elm. Trina McNeilly of Lalalovely + Land of Nod. John & Sherry Petersik of Young House Love + Shades of Light. And don’t even get me started on the things that Joss & Main and One Kings Lane are doing. Fabulousness all over the internet. Fabulous. Ness. It’s a very exciting time to be a blogger.

From a consumer standpoint, I find these partnerships inspiring as well. I prefer seeing real homes – as opposed to lifeless sets or over-the-top mansions – in advertisements and catalogs. I think it shows how brands and products can be implemented realistically and effectively. More companies should take notice of this latest trend in marketing!

And just so you know, it wasn’t easy capturing a decent shot of my family in our kitchen. I find it mind-boggling that we got one pic in which everyone is looking at the camera with their eyes open, hands down and tongues in their mouths.

Um, Everett can be a bit of a ham in front of the camera.

images: Megan Hoy for The Tile Shop

Peeps from The Tile Shop were at our house earlier this week.

That’s Brian on the left and Megan on the right. Oh, and that’s me in the middle. Brian and Megan work in marketing for The Tile Shop. In the midst of our demolition in 2011, Megan contacted me about collaborating with The Tile Shop. At the time, I had never heard of The Tile Shop. But after checking out a local store {which happens to be only five minutes from our house} and discovering their huge inventory {I’m talking TONS of different materials and aesthetics} and excellent customer service {not only do they suggest tile that fits your needs & desired look but they have DIY tutorials and workshops going on most weekends}, HH and I were more than thrilled to jump on board.

A year and a half later, we still have nothing but good things to say about The Tile Shop. More than once, we called our local store right in the middle of a project to ask how-to questions. We were given on-the-spot advice without any hemming or hawing or “I don’t know. Let me get someone else.” We’ve been around the home improvement store block ifyaknowwhatimean a few times over the last 11 years as homeowners and avid DIYers. Nothing is more frustrating than going into one of those businesses and the most the employees know is what aisle what product is in – if that. Sure, they might be able to point you towards the floor tile and grout but beyond that they’re pretty much useless. Now, I’m not saying that’s been our experience every time but A LOT, yes. Our experience with The Tile Shop was nothing like that. And it can’t be chalked up to brown-nosing either. 95% of the time we called anonymously {meaning they had no idea ‘the blogger’ – that’s what they call me – was on the other end of the line} and had our answer in less than five minutes. Done-zo. So, yeah, we like The Tile Shop. And I wasn’t paid to say that.

Anyway, now that most of the tiling projects are complete and the rooms around them are taking shape, Megan asked if we’d be up for a photo shoot to feature the tile in vivo. It sounded like fun plus we liked the idea of a fire being lit under our youknowwhats to get a few rooms in order. We said yes. For the past six weeks, we’ve been stuffing in as many projects as possible to get a few rooms shoot-worthy. It was a ton of work but it was so fulfilling to see it all come together.

I have to be honest. I did have a minor meltdown right before the shoot. Other than my own photos for the blog, I’ve never been part of a real photo shoot. As the day of the photo shoot neared, I got more and more overwhelmed. I didn’t like not knowing exactly what to expect. I was embarrassed about our unfinished projects – like the exterior, messy garage, non-working front door, gutted bathroom, etc. They weren’t going to be a part of the shoot so it didn’t really matter but I started second-guessing our decision to go through with the shoot. I’m sad to say that I took out my frustrations on HH which was totally awful of me. He was helping out so much – with the kids, the neverending list of projects, meals, cleaning, everything. I was mean to him and I regret it. There you have it. Proof that I’m far, far, far from perfect. I’m not proud of the way I treated him and told him so. We’ve since made up ;) but I owe him big time. HH, you’re the best.

Luckily, by the time the actual shoot rolled around I was over my not-so-perfect hump and things played out smoothly from there on out. Megan and Brian were in town for two days and they were so wonderful to work with! They were very easygoing and not at all stuffy or pushy as I had feared they might be. The first day we made a list of accessories {mostly fresh flowers and greenery} that we needed to style the rooms. Then we spent a few hours shopping around for said accessories. It was during this first day that I mentioned something about a gallery wall {hello, New Year’s resolution!} in the mudroom. {Btw, Megan asked me what we officially call this room. I told her it depends on what we’re using it for at the time. Sometimes it’s a mudroom, sometimes a dining room, sometimes a laundry room. Sometimes we just call it the everything room!} Megan thought it was a good idea and encouraged me to give it a go. So we picked up some frames for the gallery wall too. That night HH and I stayed up late working on the wall. More deets in a forthcoming post but here’s a sneak peek…

Then I was up waaaaaay before dawn cleaning, styling and accessorizing the other spaces.

Now, mind you, we still had three kids at the house during the prep and shoot and had to work around naps, feedings, school drop-offs & pick-ups and even gymnastics practice. The logistics of it all had me in a tizzy but it went better than I could have ever imagined. Layne was at school most of the time. Mabrey was Nap Champion the day of the shoot and that made things easier. She LOVES being around people so she was more than happy to have extra faces to smile at when she was awake. Megan had her giggling on her lap. Everett is pretty much the life of any party. Megan and Brian were really good about letting him ‘entertain’ them with his costumes, fake mustaches and constant questions. At one point, Brian may or may not have had on a stormtrooper helmet.

They let him play photographer at the end of the day which he thoroughly enjoyed. He thought it was pretty funny that I took a picture of him taking a picture. We even managed to get a pic of the entire family together. Can’t wait to see that one.

Everything you’ve read about behind the scenes of a photo shoot are true. One part of the house looks magazine-worthy while there’s a disaster just outside the camera’s view. Photo shoots make you do weird things too.

Like bust out your iron for the first time in over a year. I ironed shirts, towels, even my slipcovered sofa. See above. I washed all the windows inside and out in below freezing temps a few days before the shoot. My hands were frostbitten afterwards. I’m lucky I didn’t have to get all 172 Hours and self amputate. Just kidding. That’s not funny.

For surprise’s sake, I won’t divulge exactly which spaces were photographed but you could probably figure it out. Just think about which rooms have tile in them. As for the pictures themselves, I can’t say just yet where they’ll pop up but I will be sharing them with you when they go live so you can check them out. Sorry. I like surprises.

Megan and Brian are still on the road hitting up some of their stores for photos. Megan texted me this picture today…

It’s a display bathroom in one of their other stores and it was inspired by our master bathroom. Notice the penny tile floor, the textured shower tile, the floating vanity, the round wood mirror and the industrial wall sconce.

Fun fact: The Tile Shop names all of their displays. This one is named “The Dana.” Craziness.

Thanks Megan and Brian! I had a blast. Please come back when our other bathroom is finished.

images: 1-5) Dana Miller for House*Tweaking 6) Megan Hoy for The Tile Shop