I met Sophie Donelson for the first time last year. She’s the new Editor in Chief at House Beautiful Magazine (she’s been there about a year) and she’s just one of the coolest ladies out there. We kinda became instant-homies after our first hang sesh. So much so that by the second time we hung out, we were sharing a fruit cup post jacuzzi at the Korean spa. Good stuff.
When she told me that House Beautiful wanted to feature the Jungalow in their small spaces issue I FREAKED OUT for a number of reasons:
1.) House Beautiful is one of my very favorite magazines. I don’t save a lot of magazines (I’m a sheet tearer…), but I have every issue from the past five or so years neatly squared away in magazine boxes and I often refer back to them for both research and inspiration. The idea that our home would be among the few highlighted in each issue, well that was very exciting, and flattering, and trippy.
2.) In January when we agreed to the shoot (which was to take place in March) our home was only half way finished. We had completed the kitchen remodel, but the rest of the house was bad (like popcorn ceilings, mousy brown carpets, vanity in the bedroom bad) and we’d have only two months to get everything ready. In case you need a refresher — our master bedroom looked like this:
Yeah. Not muy bonito. So we had to see if our contractor was even up to the task of helping complete the remodel of the master bedroom and bath in six weeks start to finish. Not only that but we also had to see if we could even afford to remodel the second part of the house right on the heels of our other remodel and the holidays etc. etc. It was a lot to take in.
3. Lastly (and this was a big one for me) — I wouldn’t be allowed to share images of our home (besides what was already floating around the web) online until after the issue came out. Now, as you may imagine, this would take some serious abstinence on my part. I would have to go six months without using my home for blog/social media content or sharing the exciting remodeling processes etc. As a home decor blogger, this felt like a big risk.
I was quite torn about it all until Kim, my manager/agent/friend person told me point blank “Justina, this is House Beautiful. This is the holy grail in this business. Figure it out. Put it on credit cards if you have to. Make it work.”
Yesss! Go Kim! I love it when she puts me in check like that. So we did, we made it work. And now it’s out. And I love our house. And I’m pretty friggen excited about the whole situation.
And just because if I wait any longer I may explode, here are a couple of shots of our bedroom, as it looks now, as shot by David Tsay for House Beautiful.
Tomorrow I’ll break this room down for you. But for now, go and click over to check out the whole Jungalow By The River in House Beautiful online, and pick up a copy on news stands (quick, before my Mother-in-Law buys them all!!). ;-) Also, I’m taking over the HB Instagram today so be sure to follow along there too. And in case you’re wondering, the wall with the French doors in the top ‘after’ photo is the same wall with the air-conditioner unit in the ‘before’ pics — but more on that mañana. I can’t wait.
xx
~J
‘After’ photos by David Tsay for House Beautiful
Those bathroom floor tiles stopped me in my tracks!! I cannot WAIT for tomorrow’s breakdown! You are so inspiring.
This is so cool! I’m excited for you – what a way to showcase your style. I’ve been looking forward to seeing that bathroom, and I love the blue tile.
:-) Love from New Mexico.
**jaw on floor**… so many magical moments!
I haven’t bought HBM in a long time but so looking forward to getting tomorrows edition to see more of your junglelicious house!
So gorg!!! Can’t wait for break down……so much to look forward to.
Holy grail, holy wow!!!! This is incredible Justina! So beautiful
justina, your house is so, so beautiful and authentic. i love that. it’s amazing that you’ve designed nearly everything in your home — rugs, furniture, wallpaper! it’s just breathtaking.
I was wondering why you hadn’t posted your reveals yet. Congrats girl!!
Justina,
Congrats ! Mindblowingly Beautiful , Please Keep rock’n your fabulous style and sharing your journey , you are a true inspiration .
Super cool! House beautiful is my fave magazine! I’ve canceled subscriptions to other home mags as they have just became so dull, trendy monotonous neutral colors, everything looking like it was straight from the aisles of Home Goods & IKEA & no individual personality or history (not to mention all the ads for prescription drugs!). HB is full of color, pattern, collected travel pieces, antiques..etc. I want to see unique homes with history that decor compliments, not stripped out, big blank boxes filled with every dang shade of gray, navy, black & white..ugh.
I still think about one woman artist’s cute little house in the tropics that was in HB..that was the one that actually made me get the subscription.
GIRL IT LOOKS AMAZE!
GAH! show me more!!!!!!!
Wow! Great! So fantastic! Super happy for you! You have worked hard and it shows. The house is beautiful and it’s thrilling that House Beautiful is featuring it. Love it. Many felicidades…
Jaw. Drop. Justina! This is #HOUSEGOALS for sure!!!! I’m blown away. Will definitely get the issue to see the rest.
You’re just the best…go team! You rocked it!!!!!!
AAAAAAAACK!!!!!! I JUST FREAKIN CANT EVEN!!!! Omg Justina this is amazing! I too am a HB collector and have every single issue for the last few years neatly in a stack!!! Plus I’m a subscriber so I CANT WAIT to get my issue in the mail! The small spaces issue is my fav (obviously) and now it will be even moreso! I love that you had your person to tell you you HAD to do it…I would’ve told you to the same thing. Except I’m super scared to put damn near anything on my credit cards, much less a renovation….but I soooo get it in this case. Also….THAT BATHROOM TILE THOUGH!!!! You are my shero. Congratulations on such a HUGE accomplishment friend. HB is my absolute dream.
Your house is totally gorgeous. I really LOVE the wallpaper in your bedroom. I’ve seen it before but not actually in the context of a complete room. I’m seriously thinking of it for my own bedroom if I can get it here (Australia). I wish you would do a simple floor plan when you do the room breakdowns so we can see the flow. I also agree with you about smaller spaces. I have a very large house (built before our three children moved out) and it really is under utilised most of the time but because of our particular circumstances it is not an option for us to downsize. Small is beautiful!
All Utterly delicious! French windows out into the terrace.. LOVE LOVE LOVE!
OH WOW
I subscribe to House Beautiful..I haven’t seen the issue yet. So excited!!
Congratulations! I consider House Beautiful on of the best design and decor magazines out there..it strikes a good balance between real and not-so-much, and it doesn’t adhere to certain style, and is never boring.
Yours is a wonderful, wonderful home.
Can’t wait!
I remember when you mentioned and spoke about your bathroom renovation on periscope. It looks AMAZING! It all looks AMAZING!! Big congrats on the HB feature and Kim is a keeper:)
Most. Beautiful. House. EVER! Gorgeous!
Mystery solved! I kept wondering why I wasn’t seeing any photos of your house on your blog. It is out of the ball park beautiful!!! You must enjoy every moment of living there. Congratulations!!!
SO. SO. Beautiful. I LOVE it. That bathroom has ALL the heart eyes. Well Done. (also, i think my very favorite part is how YOU it is…not that i really know you, but I love how you have a sharp focus on how your approach design and you don’t let yourself be swayed or distracted by all the other beautiful design options out there…you do so well at staying true to yourself!!)
Thank you so much! Such kind words <3
Loved it in house beautiful, but not sure that “put it on the credit cards” was the best money advice! It could be a lot of debt and do you get compensated (other than being in House Beautiful which is totally awesome)some way to make the debt worth it?
Ha! Yes it was a bit scary. I knew we’d be able to pay off the credit cards quickly (in fact we’ve payed them off by now) it was just a matter of making the investment faster then we had initially planned. We wouldn’t have done it if it was going to seriously harm us financially. And no, we weren’t compensated in any way for the article. It was really about getting publicity for my work — and hopefully that will pay off in the long run — we’ll see!!
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great post!