I thought I might share a few things I learned while staging a magazine photo shoot last week.

I had been hired by the architect.  It was a spec shoot for Architectural Digest, at their invitation.  Which apparently means, I find out later, that they may take it, they may not.  If they do, chances are good it will be re-shot  and if they pass, the architect may place the photos with another magazine, or several.  The architect has already been featured in Renovation Style, and the Interior Designer, in Elle Decor; publication looks good.  Apparently the photos have come out well, but no-one can see them yet, inclu-------

Wait, there'll be an interior designer coming too? - how's that going to work?  "Oh, she knows you're coming and bringing all the props.  She's fine with it."  Highly unlikely, I'm thinking, designers think stagers are .... <insert your own adjective>  Plus, I tend to speak my mind, and I've yet to meet a designer who likes anyone's taste but their own.  Still, I was looking forward to this:  an adventure, something different.  I headed into the 2 days with courage and optimism.  All of which I needed, but what I needed more of was patience and endurance.

First Observation - Take LOTS of Options

If there had been no designer, I could have taken what I thought best and left it at that.  But this was going to be a "committee" gig - everyone was going to have a say from their own point of view.  Less so photo-dude, though he seemed to need most things moved before every shot.  I took no less than 12 runners for the dining room alone, and thank heavens I did because the oddest choice was picked!  Chinese silk.  It was the right green.

2.  Make sure there's a prep day.

Because you will have brought all the wrong stuff, and this gives everyone a chance to re-group.  Also, it gives you all a chance to fight it out before the crew and photographer get there.  That fight, so long as it's polite, is hugely productive, too: clears the air, relieves tension and gets everyone in a calmer, more knowing place.  Plus, with a prep day there's time to try different combinations, so you get a chance to earn your credibility with the designer before a clock starts ticking, and an audience gathers.  (Yeah, we had an audience.   Strangest thing.  No action at all, but people gathered, lingered, moseyed off, came back.  Weird.)

3.  Hire Moving Guys for the whole day. 

I had hired 2 firemen to move everything about.  They were great: cheerful, easygoing, incredibly strong and really good at handling the neurotic homeowner while the rest of us got on with it.  The problem was they had to leave at mid-day.  This left me to do all the moving - left a bit, right a bit - and then putting all the rugs back where they belonged after it was over.  The architect was kind and helpful, but had the crowd to deal with (lots of questions and some of the visitors were hers by invitation.) and then there was the ID, who was on a diet and therefore a bit weak to shift any heavy stuff.  Shoots tend to be long days, as I understand it.  But for me - with an IN the day before and an OUT that evening, it was a very tiring 2 days of constant hauling and schlepping. 6 rooms worth of accessories, multiple options everywhere.

4. Scale is more important than color and style.

This was a spectacular Arts and Crafts reno.  The family had not yet received all the new furniture that is coming, nor committed to replacing everything.  There were old pieces from the previous home's style left.  A battered drop leaf table sat in the Foyer under a long mirror.  To me, a small bench was the obvious replacement, so I quickly recovered one of mine in a fabric that went superbly with the pink-streaked-with-gold-with-blobs-on-it wall paper.  It was too small, apparently.  Nonsense, I replied, it emphasizes the height and thinness of the mirror, thereby making the ceiling look taller and the foyer longer.  Plus, the colors are perfect together.  Yes, on color, but NO on scale.  A very odd guilt-edged marquetry piece was brought in that did look perfect in terms of scale, but ridiculous in terms of authenticity and style.  (French, no doubt!) <sniff>

5.  Color

"Stagers need more than a 3-day training course."  the Designer

"Oh, you think so?  Probably right, what do you think they're missing most?"

"Color Theory...." <and other stuff, but that was all I heard.  My mind immediately started racing.>

It's taken almost a week of brooding, but I think she thinks I (and most likely "we" as a species: stagers) take accent colors too literally and overplay them.  I was consistently torturing myself to add more blue because she had very strong touches in every room IN ADDITION TO the typical Arts and Crafts Palette.  For her, just the merest touch was enough.  To me they looked out of place, if not connected to other things in each space.  She was determined to completely ignore some magnificent navy blue and coral tile in the LR fireplace to make the room a very interesting red (not brown, not red, not burgundy, but all of those) and a linen color.  Since I had brought so much blue stuff, and a really glorious Schmatko painting of blues, corals and red, she gave up in the end.  <sigh> Hopefully it will still look eccentric enough to be considered "new", "edgy" etc.    I dunno guys, what are we missing here with our focal points, patterns of flow and rich textures that portray a lifestyle?  Is Color Theory going to help people sell their homes - will it make such a difference?  She might be right? 

6.  Less is puny; more is elegant, classy, right.

Both designer and architect wanted unusual items and collections of them.  Architectural Digest, in particular, and most home pubs generally have a thickly layered look.  Where one bold piece would work on a side table for us, for these, there needed to be 3 - 5 things at least, in varying heights all in the same color.  ("If only you knew Color Theory....")  Blocks, books, balls, vases, sculptures, candles, plants...tons of it.  I guess if they're all the same color they don't look like clutter???

7.  Personal Photos

We added them.  It's true.  There was a large bulletin board in the office on which we put a map (the one I had on hand was from Doctors Without Borders, good eh?), with pins and ribbons connecting it to the photos I mocked up on picnik.  (Thanks Betty and Jackson)  If I'd had more room in my car, and more strength, I'd have brought a mass of silver framed ones for the top of the piano too.

Gosh, I've been going on and on here.  I apologize.  I just think this an interesting extension of what stagers can offer.  It takes what we do one step further.  In some cases, we're "merchandising"; equally, you could call it Temporary Design.  We have the inventory, most of us have an innate feel for color and drama, we are gearing ourselves more and more to setting things for the photos first, Accessorizing Photo Shoots is a logical extension for us - especially in the off-season.

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HomeGoods has a book 'Color for Interior Design' from some professor at the New York School of Interior Design.  $14.99.  If it takes me longer than 3 days to read it, d'you suppose I could then say I get Color Theory?

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