The journey of transforming a creative vision into a tangible book is often filled with excitement, dedication, and a fair share of delightful chaos. We’ve been dropping hints about our book project, and it’s high time we pulled back the curtain to give you a comprehensive look at the exhilarating publishing process. Two months ago, we shared the initial stages – securing the book deal and the nascent days of writing. Now, deep in the throes of bringing our comprehensive DIY home decor guide to life, we have so much more to reveal. And rest assured, this time, our beloved dog Burger won’t have to carry the entire visual narrative!

Bringing Ideas to Life: Our Book Publishing Journey

Embarking on the creation of a book dedicated to helping you “show your home some love” has been an incredible adventure. From small, impactful art projects and clever tweaks to quick refresh ideas and more significant paint and furniture makeovers, our book is a compilation of over 250 inspiring concepts. Let’s dive into the intricate phases of writing, editing, and the exciting preparations for its visual presentation.

The Manuscript Marathon: From Outline to Final Draft

Our previous update left off as we submitted a meticulously crafted 160-page outline, brimming with ideas for enhancing your living spaces. At that point, coordination with our publisher, Artisan, was just beginning, and a key decision loomed: whether to target a Fall 2012 release or postpone until Spring 2013. Eager to share our passion with you sooner, we passionately advocated for the earlier date, and to our delight, they agreed. This commitment, however, meant one thing: it was time to put the pedal to the metal. Our seatbelts were fastened, and the sprint began.

Intense Writing Sprints and Editorial Precision

**The Two-Week Writing Blitz:** The most daunting task arrived during the holiday season – a mere two weeks (spanning Christmas and New Year’s) to transform our detailed outline into a complete manuscript. It was an intense, dizzying period of focused writing, but with sheer determination, we completed the manuscript. The relief upon submission was immense!
**Publisher’s Review and Initial Feedback:** After turning in the manuscript, we braced ourselves for a week of anticipation as our publisher read through every word. To our pleasant surprise, she returned with virtually no major edits. This vote of confidence was incredibly encouraging and a testament to the clarity and structure of our initial work.
**The Crucial Role of Copy Editing:** With the content largely approved, the manuscript moved to a copy editor. This expert scrutinizes every sentence for the “nitty-gritty” details – grammar, punctuation, spelling, and stylistic consistency. It spent about a week in their capable hands before making its way back to us for final review.

The “Blue Pencil” Phase: A Tangible Connection to Our Words

**A Physical Manuscript Returns:** As many of you saw in a recent post, our manuscript arrived back as a hard copy – a substantial, printed document. It was covered in our publisher’s edits and the copy editor’s notes, each marked in different colored pencils. This tactile experience felt wonderfully official and, in an age dominated by digital communication, surprisingly refreshing. Our mission: armed with a designated blue pencil (thoughtfully included in the FedEx box), we had to respond to questions, agree or disagree with suggested edits, and implement any final changes.
**The Sheer Volume of Work:** Reviewing a 375-page, single-spaced, single-sided document was a monumental task. While initially assuming this process would be entirely email-based, holding the physical pages and marking them up proved to be a far more effective way to absorb the information, catch subtle errors, and ensure every detail was perfect. The traditional approach certainly had its merits!
**The Final Push:** We hunkered down once more, pouring over every page. This critical review was due back to the publisher promptly, so we overnighted it back after a weekend of intense focus. Sherry, in particular, demonstrated incredible dedication, spending two full days immersed in the manuscript while I managed other responsibilities and cared for our daughter, Clara.

**Filling in the Gaps and Polishing:** After more than 16 hours of reading and reviewing spread across two days, we spent the subsequent four days meticulously filling in any remaining gaps and rewriting sections to further elaborate on a few projects and ideas. Once these final adjustments were made, the manuscript was sent back to our publisher, marking a significant milestone in our book’s creation.

Beyond Words: Preparing for the Book’s Visual Story

While the manuscript represents the heart of our book, it’s truly only a portion of the adventure. Perhaps even less than half. What’s currently consuming most of our time and energy is the extensive preparation for the professional photo shoots, which kicked off yesterday morning. Capturing the essence of “showing your home some love” visually is a massive undertaking.

The 100-Project Challenge: DIY in Overdrive

**Visualizing 250 Ideas:** Out of our 250 unique home decor ideas, approximately 100 will be brought to life through stunning photography. Another 100 will be thoughtfully illustrated, and the remaining ideas are self-explanatory tips that require no visual aid. This means we needed to physically complete 100 distinct projects, ready for their close-up. If you’ve ever maintained a blog, you know the effort required to produce 3-4 interesting projects a week. Completing 100 “secret” projects on top of that schedule felt like entering a different dimension of productivity! It’s a delightful kind of crazy, full of excitement and boundless creativity. Sleep, it seems, is a concept best left in 2011 as we whirl through project after project into the early hours of the morning. Thankfully, we tackled many leading up to the shoots, so a good number were already waiting in the wings.
**The Tight Timeline for Project Execution:** We didn’t fully dive into all 100 projects until after the initial manuscript submission post-New Year’s. This strategic delay prevented us from investing time in projects that might later be cut by us or the publisher. While we did complete a few “sure-thing” projects beforehand, it left us with a tight 30-day window to execute the remaining ones. Over the past month, almost every evening found us immersed in a flurry of activity: painting, hanging, sewing, cutting, and shopping for up to five projects simultaneously. This fast-paced rhythm will continue for the next three weeks until shooting wraps, as many items require “before” and “process” shots before their final transformation. It’s incredibly rewarding to transform overlooked or dated items, like that rusted thrift store table, into something truly special.

Our Indispensable Crew: Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

**Orchestrating the Chaos:** While the workload has been immense, we haven’t been entirely alone. Our publisher wisely brought in a dedicated producer to help manage the intricate logistics. With 100 projects needing photography – many requiring “before,” “process,” and “after” shots – simply keeping everything straight and scheduled is a monumental task. The producer’s organizational prowess has been invaluable in this complex dance.
**Sourcing Support:** We’re also fortunate to have assistance with gathering supplies. Sometimes it’s quicker for us to grab items while we’re out, but often, a quick email saying, “Help! Can you secure ‘blank’ by ‘such and such a date’ so we can sand and paint it in time for the shoot?” is a lifesaver. This support allows us to focus on the creative execution rather than solely on procurement.
**Professional Photography:** Of course, a professional photographer is key to making every project shine. While we love our trusty Nikon, their expertise will elevate our projects, making them look even more beautiful and inspiring than we could ever achieve on our own. Our “crew” isn’t a team of elves doing all the projects overnight (we wish!), but having such a talented and supportive team certainly lightens the load. However, the ultimate creative decisions – selecting items, executing projects, choosing shooting locations, and styling each shot – still fall to us, meaning many late nights are spent burning the midnight oil.
**Budget-Conscious Creativity:** We operate on a modest book budget, a constraint that wonderfully aligns with our ethos of accessible home decor. This means extensive treasure hunting at Craigslist and thrift stores, and even borrowing items from some of our favorite local shops (with their gracious blessing, of course – they’ll be returned once shooting wraps in three weeks). This modest budget is a constant reminder to be resourceful and creative, and it translates directly into the book with numerous projects under $50, $25, $5, and even some entirely free ideas. This focus on affordability is incredibly exciting for value-conscious DIY enthusiasts like us. And yes, sometimes Sherry gets a little “hyper” when selecting accessories – our goal is to style everything to look fresh and inspiring, avoiding the stale look of constantly reusing items our regular blog readers have seen a million times.

Life in Chaos: Our Home Transformed into a Studio

**The Organized Mess of Creation:** Our house, currently, is a delightful mess. Projects are in various stages of completion – some purposefully halfway done for progress photos, others waiting for their turn. Our sunroom is piled high with thrifted furniture awaiting makeovers, the dining table is buried under stacks of fabric, frames, and accessories, and paint cans dot the floor. We’ve even “repurposed” frames from our hallway walls for book projects. Nothing is sacred! It’s chaotic, yet it’s the thrilling chaos of creation.

**Sneak Peeks (But Not Too Much!):** As avid “over-sharers,” it’s incredibly difficult not to spill all the juicy details about every single project right now! But our publisher would certainly not be pleased if we ruined the surprise. So, for now, here are just a few tantalizing hint-y sneak peeks to whet your appetite:

**Our Home as a Production Hub:** To manage the sheer volume of projects, our home has been strategically compartmentalized. The guestroom serves as the temporary home for all completed projects, while the dining room houses everything currently in progress. The sunroom is dedicated to items that cannot be touched until their crucial “before” photos have been captured. Here’s a glimpse into this organized chaos, as much as we can reveal:

The Grand Finale: Three Weeks of Intense Photography

**A House Transformed into a Photo Studio:** As Sherry alluded to in a recent post, the next three weeks are dedicated to an incredibly intense – yet immensely exciting – period of book photography. For four days a week, from 8:30 AM to 6 PM, our home will be transformed into a bustling photography set. Nearly our entire February will be spent navigating this house-turned-studio. We’ll wrap up just days before flying to Oregon for the Portland Home & Garden Show, making this a truly jam-packed month. Thank goodness February is only 29 days long!

**Welcoming Our Creative Crew:** Hosting a small team in our home for the better part of a month is a unique experience, and we’ll certainly share how it unfolds. So far, everyone has been absolutely wonderful. Yesterday, we efficiently captured a multitude of “before” photos. As soon as the crew departed, we immediately dove into painting, upholstering, and all the exciting “after” stages that could only begin once those initial shots were in the can. There’s an incredible sense of momentum now, and we can barely contain our excitement for the book’s release. We’re diligently taking plenty of behind-the-scenes photos to share with all of you this fall when the book finally hits shelves!

What Comes Next for Our “Secret Projects”?

Many of you have asked what will become of all these unique “secret projects” once the book’s photography is complete. We’re actually planning to host a charity auction or giveaway for some of them, though we’re still figuring out the logistics of shipping. Some items, of course, are borrowed and will need to be returned. Perhaps one or two particularly sentimental pieces will find a permanent home with us. These are all “bonus” projects – we didn’t design any of them specifically to fit into our own home’s existing decor, which has been incredibly freeing. It’s allowed us to experiment with a vast array of colors, fabrics, and textures, making the creative process even more enjoyable. We’re genuinely excited to see where these creations ultimately end up!

So, to anyone whose comments yesterday took a little longer than usual to appear or receive a response – our sincere apologies! We’re certainly juggling quite a bit over here, dedicated to keeping the blog vibrant, moving the book forward, and attending to our little one. As wild as this upcoming month promises to be, we are immeasurably grateful for this incredible opportunity and thrilled to share every step of this creative journey with you. Is anyone else currently hosting visitors for weeks on end? Or perhaps struggling to keep over a hundred exciting secrets bottled up, feeling like they’re burning a hole through your brain? Tell us your stories in the comments below, or simply share your thoughts on the delightful chaos that is our current home! Go ahead.

Psst – We’re incredibly thankful that our little one sleeps soundly through the night, allowing us to accomplish so much! You can catch a glimpse of her impressive sleeping technique over on Young House Life.