Tania Sinel: HOME AGAIN AGAIN

Our prayers go out for those suffering under Hurricane Irma.

It’s finally here! This weekend “Home Again” opened all over the country and it might be just what America needs: an hour and a half of a sweet romantic comedy. We certainly need something to lift up our spirits. Between all the hurricanes and a massive earthquake in Mexico – Mother Earth is testing our faith and making us all reach out for family and friends.

So, if you need something to take your mind off all this, maybe a few laughs will be the perfect tonic?

Home Again Premier: The child stars, Reese Witherspoon, Producer Nancy Meyers, and Writer/Director Hallie Meyers-Shyer

Hallie is gorgeous!!!

I’ve written twice before about the movie sets for “Home Again” and I swore I wouldn’t do it again! But, come on!! It’s Nancy Meyers!!! I was thrilled to receive some brand new beautiful and exclusive set photographs from Period Media who represent Meridith Baer Home, the stager that provided all the furniture for the movie. And - then there is my favorite web site – One King’s Lane that did a pictorial on “Home Again” and they have a fabulous “Get The Look” sale this week! Yeah!!!

I was really surprised to read that Meridith Baer Home was involved with the movie, but actually it makes perfect sense. She is THE home stager – the person who helped start the field of staging houses to make them both sell faster and for higher asking prices.

What a Home Stager does – Before & After: Meridith Baer Home took this empty dated apartment – painted it white, removed the old curtains, and added trendy furniture. Suddenly an uninviting space becomes a dreamy destination for a young, chic family.

Meridith Baer has a fascinating background. Her father was the warden at San Quentin Prison and she grew up on its grounds, attending a one room school. She became a writer and even wrote a screenplay about her life at the prison, which was made into a B movie. When she turned 50, Baer moved out of her home and rather than store her furniture – she put it all in a friend’s house, which was for sale. After languishing on the market for over a year – the owner was stunned when his house sold within a week after Baer’s furniture was placed there. Real estate agents took notice of his success and started calling Baer to stage their own properties. An extremely successful business was born: staging a house doesn’t come cheap and can cost up tod $50,000 a job. Now, 20 years later, Meridith Baer Home has a huge business – doing over $1.7 million a month.

Meridith Baer Home likes to use neutral upholstery – she brings in color and pattern with pillows and rugs. The neutral background is pleasing to prospective buyers – it lets them imagine their own aesthetic in a house.

Here in another house, Baer used animal prints to pop the neutral backdrop. I love what she did here.

It’s amazing what a statement the right sized pillow can make!!

With warehouses filled with furniture – it makes sense that a Set Designer would either rent or buy furniture from a stager such as Meridith Baer Home - and that’s exactly what Home Again’s production team did. Director Hallie approached Meridith Baer Home and asked them if they wanted to be part of the production – and the answer was YES! Of course it was! Who wouldn’t want to be involved with a Nancy Meyers production?

As written in the past two stories, “Home Again” was filmed at the original Brentwood house where Cindy Crawford and Jennifer Garner & Ben Affleck once lived. This iconic house had been decorated by such greats as Michael S. Smith and Peter Dunham – so it obviously had the chops to star in the movie.

And starring in the movie is exactly what role the house played: The director/writer Hallie Meyers-Shyer says the house is a character in the movie. The plot involves Alice, played by Reese Witherspoon, who is a mother and recent divorcee, newly moved from New York City back to her childhood home in Los Angeles. Then, a trio of young men move into her guest house on the property. An interesting note: Hallie says that people who question if the plot is too fanciful should know that she wrote her script based on a childhood friend whose mother lived the same life as Alice: guest house and three young men included! Now, the question is – who was this friend?

Hallie said the house had to have a magical feeling to it – it is the “place where everyone wants to be.” Most of the filming takes place at the Brentwood estate – so extra care was taken to find just the right house. Additionally, they needed to find a property that had a guest house. The Crawford-Garner-Affleck house proved to be the perfect fit!!

Hallie told One King’s Lane that she searched for a Spanish styled house that was bright and light and then they made the decision to have it decorated with a bohemian feel. The color pink was chosen for the decor scheme by Hallie herself – she felt it matched Reese Witherspoon’s personality and style. The production designers chose a neutral background and then layered the color in with pillows and throws – exactly as Meridith Baer Home does when staging houses. When choosing the furniture - the designers avoided a showroom look, which would be a too-perfect style for the house. The furnishings all mix and match and the boho feel runs through each room. To add layers, the designers used a lot of accessories on the sets – adding art work and blue & white porcelain throughout. The house proved so perfect for the movie – they didn’t even have to repaint it!!

In the end – it’s what any fan of Nancy Meyers has been waiting for!! A new fabulous movie house!!

And while you watch the movie - just think of Cindy Crawford giving birth to her two children, right in THIS house!!

Or you can imagine Jennifer Garner & Ben Affleck sitting in this Peter Dunham designed living room! Love!!!

I’m thrilled to share these new behind-the-scenes set photographs sent to me from Period Media and shown on One King’s Lane – along with the “Get The Look” ideas.

ENJOY!!!

Here is the courtyard – where several scenes were filmed. I love this view – you can finally see the back of the family room, with its large paned window. The swimming pool is in the background. The set decorators added the furniture and the blue and white cushions on the hearth.

Succulents and votives were placed on the rustic console – used on the patio.

Faux succulents never die HERE.

And at the front lawn, additional lanterns were added to the original ones hanging in the trees. At the end of the lawn is the charming guest house. This guest house was essential to the property – and is probably one of the main reasons why this house was chosen to film at.

Cute lanterns for the outside or inside HERE

A view of the original lanterns placed in the trees by Cindy Crawford’s landscaper. I love these – they add so much atmosphere to the property - such a great idea!!

A new photo – of the dinner party, outside.

The entry, with an antique looking console, and ethnic baskets. All the baskets give the entry the “boho” look that director Hallie wanted.

Note: those baskets were hung a bit too close to each other and not high enough, in my esteemed opinion. LOL

Whenever you are hanging a grouping on a wall – lay it out first using craft paper to be sure it will look right, without ruining your wall with lots of nail holes.

The living room – with the bright pink pops of color. The pink rug is layered over seagrass.

Cheap-chic rug HERE.

OK. This darling chair is NOT in “Home Again” – but it should be!! HERE.

A professional photo of the living room. Through the door is the family room.

I’ve never seen a round log carrier before – but so boho! HERE

The rattan chaise from Anthropologie is THE hot item of the year. Serena and Lilly has one.

Serena & Lilly HERE.

The Anthropologie version is a little less. HERE.

But ALL the cheap-chic wicker daybeds are out of stock – this is a cute alternative! HERE.

Everyone is out of stock of all cheap-chic wicker/rattan bench/daybeds. The entire country – I’ve searched everywhere!!

This is a smaller version, a bench. But it’s sold out – you could get on the list? HERE

Family Room: Here’s a new view of the family room! LOVE!!! The production team kept the original curtains which were placed here by Jennifer Garner and Peter Dunham. Blue and white stripes are influenced by Hallie and Nancy’s close relationship with decorator Mark Sikes. Love the stripes!!!

This is another view of the family room. Here are some lookalikes:

Serena and Lilly HERE

Target super cheap-chic HERE

Blue and white striped chair HERE

Here is a copy – not in brown leather, but it still looks great HERE

The office is off the family room - it’s set up as Alice’s interior design office. Alice’s work board reminds me so much of the ones that Mark Sikes uses! Is this one of his? Probably not – he doesn’t use a lot of pink…but…

Here is one of Mark Sikes boards for a client.

On his blog, Mark says that he helped with the decor for “Home Again!!” AND he says, if you look carefully, you can see his book was used in several rooms! I LOVE IT!!!

And here is the professional photograph of the office set. Love those chairs. I found this cheaper chic versions:

Chairs HERE

The dining room by Michael S. Smith for Cindy Crawford has a fabulous light fixture and Bennison curtains. Those two elements remain in the house to this day.

Here is the dining room – in Home Again. The pink and orange comes in through the art work. This chair comes in every color. I love it in green, below.

In green HERE

The dining room is off the breakfast room and kitchen.

The kitchen was decorated with Mark Sikes inspired blue and white tiles and blue and white striped shades. Hallie and Nancy Meyers meet with Reese aka Alice.