Nancy McNulty, Author at Forest Home Media | Content Marketing

Behind The Scenes Of Southern Living Mag

July 10, 2014 by Nancy McNulty

By Cat Royka, Forest Home Media Summer 2014 Intern

You are NEVER too old for a field trip and Forest Home Media’s latest was to Birmingham, Alabama visiting the famed Southern Living headquarters. Joining us was Nashville media friend, Meryll Rose, NewsChannel5’s Talk of the Town anchor, a SL super fan; and, we also invited along a few of our favorite top lifestyle and home décor bloggers from the Birmingham and Atlanta areas – Rhoda (Southern Hospitality), Beth (Unskinny Boppy), Heather (At The Picket Fence) and Lucy (Lucyinspired).

Southern Living Headquarters, Forest Home Media, Nashville, TN — The dreamy entry way leading to the SL headquarters.

Our SL colleague from last year’s Nashville Southern Living Idea House, the wonderful Nellah McGough, SL office manager, was kind enough to give us a tour of the impressive digs located on a 28-acre campus also home to the editorial staff of Cooking Light and Coastal Living. While on the behind the scenes tour, here’s some of the SL scoop we found intriguing.

Southern Living’s Test Kitchen is run by director Robby Melvin who swore us to secrecy over the Christmas recipes they were testing although we are pleased to report shrimp is in the mix! He shared his key to staying slim while testing each recipe a minimum of three times. The secret? The chefs use tiny tasting spoons. Another test kitchen tip we learned is they shop just like you and me finding their ingredients from stores like Kroger, Publix and The Pig (that would be the Piggly Wiggly).
Southern Living Test Kitchen “selfie” w/ FHM partner Nancy McNulty & SL’s Robby Melvin, FHM intern Cat Royka, bloggers Rhoda Vickers & Beth Bryan w/ FHM partner Dana Tucker sneaking in top right!

FHM intern Cat Royka with the SL culinary intern who is participating in a year long internship working in the Test Kitchen.
The prop closet is the stuff of dreams! Shelf after shelf is filled with an impressive plethora of cake stands, mugs, napkins, aprons and pie plates of every size, shape, style and color! You name it, and it was there and variety is definitely key to producing those classic vignettes.
A nearby photo shoot found SL staffers styling food for the upcoming issue. There was a photo embargo on the set but we provided a little glimpse below. Relying heavily on natural light, this seems to be a key element to those picture perfect photos we love in each issue.

From the modern art in the lobby to the incredible atrium within, the SL headquarters weave magically with their natural surroundings. Located just below tree line, the architecture has wonderful hints of Frank Lloyd Wright incorporating numerous stone pathways, waterfalls and rivers running underneath the structure.

No longer open for public tour, we were honored to meet various editors and writers throughout the day including Sid Evans taking over the helm for blogger and reader favorite Lindsay Bierman. We know the bible will be in great hands! Next up, FHM partner Nancy McNulty is heading to Haven, a DIY Blogger conference, so give us a follow on Twitter or Facebook to see the latest.

Landscape Lighting Illuminates FHM Partner’s House

June 25, 2014 by Nancy McNulty

As a PR and marketing company specializing in the home industry category, we work with a talented bevy of writers and bloggers who from time-to-time give us a glimpse inside their home projects from the dreamy Thistlewood dining room three ways to the on-going yard-a-palooza transformation project with uber amazing Southern Hospitality’s Rhoda Vickers working with our fav Southern Living Garden Lifestyle Expert Carmen Johnston!

It has been my goal for a long-time for my business partner,Dana Tucker, and I to do the same because we’ve picked up a lot of great, inspiring ideas. You can see a lot of Dana’s cool home projects via her husband’s website Bella Tucker Decorative Finishes which she regularly chronicles. And, I promise, you will be getting tour of Dana’s house soon from our website so stay tuned!

Since 1998, I have been working on top Nashville home projects and tours connecting reporters and now home bloggers toowith great stories custom to their readers’ interests. While digging for these great stories, I found a lot of personal inspiration myself. Today, I want to share one of my favorite things I love about these top-notch houses – landscape lighting!

From the Parade of Homes and Charity Tour of Homes to the Nashville Southern Living Idea House, artistic lighting really makes a big difference in how your home is enjoyed the other 12 hours or so of the day.

Most popular Pinterest pin to date is the exterior of this Hughes-Edwards home in Hendersonville, TN, part of the 2012 Charity Tour of Homes, with dreamy landscape lighting. — Most popular Pinterest pin to date for me is the exterior of this Hughes-Edwards home in Hendersonville, TN, part of the 2012 Charity Tour of Homes, with dreamy landscape lighting.

This photo by Reed Brown photography captures the essence of beautiful landscape lighting at the Nashville Southern Living idea House. — This photo by Reed Brown photography captures the essence of beautiful landscape lighting at the Nashville Southern Living idea House built by Castle Homes.

We’ve long enjoyed our home backyard lighting, needed for many a pool party! However, the front of our home has been neglected. For our annual Irish Christmas at Blackberry Hollow party, we would drag out a two -socket spotlight for the front of the house and use tons of torches and luminaires which also depended heavily upon a dry evening. (And, the percentage of that happening has been around 10%.)

Recently, we partnered with Life Spark Lighting to add this sort of artistic lighting to the front of our home. I’m so thrilled but it takes someone with a good eye for design to create this type of artistic illumination. Here is the before picture.

Forest Home Media, Nashville, TN — The before pic of my house with traditional spotlights.

Here is a short video explanation with Nik Vierant with Life Spark Lighting outlining some of the advantages and new product technology in outdoor lighting. He had me at never change another light bulb again!

And, here is the after pic.

Living outside Nashville, Tennessee, we are thrilled to have our home illuminated in a very artistic way!

Great Building Ideas With Nashville Charity Tour of Homes

May 4, 2014 by Nancy McNulty

Last Day For Nashville Charity Tour of Homes!

From an automated screen porch system and new kitchen and bath products to a hidden room and authentic Irish pub, the latest in gorgeous building, renovating and interior design ideas are featured at the Charity Tour of Homes, Fridays through Sundays, April 25 – May 4, with 11 decorated homes on beautiful home sites throughout Middle Tennessee with 100% of the ticket benefiting six local nonprofits.

Presented by the elite Master Custom Builders Council of Tennessee, home ranging in style from Hamptons and French Country to Charlestonian Georgian are open for tour with just one admission price allowing visitors to see stunning homes from the lake at Fairvue Plantation to Belle Meade and Thompson’s Station.

Charity Tour of Homes Chairman Bryan Edwards, president of Hughes-Edwards Builders, said the tour includes the best of the best in the home building industry while helping local charities including STARS (Students Taking A Right Stand), Miriam’s Promise, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Middle Tennessee, Sumner County CASA, High Hopes and Against The Grain.

Outdoor living areas are still a top priority for homeowners. All 11 of the homes have their own twist including two homes in Gallatin’s pretty Fairvue Plantation – one with a disappearing glass pocket door and another with an automated screen porch system. Outdoor fireplaces, grilling stations and fire pits are also very popular and are seen in several homes. The West Nashville Manuel Zeitlin designed home which has a multi-level terrace and leads to a pool and hot tub.

Kitchens continue to trend toward the open floor plan, granite and marble counters, Thermador appliances and tile floors including one in a peacock stone. If you are interested in comparing custom cabinetry, the homes have a variety of styles, wood and finishes. This craftsmanship can also be seen in an elliptical suspended staircase in a Belle Meade Charlestonian Georgian style home and on the American Country style Franklin home’s curved staircase.

And driven by customer interest, green building elements are used in several homes from a geo-thermal HVAC and bamboo flooring to spray foam insulation for lower heating and air condition bills.

Don’t miss features this year including a Gallatin home’s Irish pub complete with a beer tap and Irish sayings carved into the pretty wood cabinetry with Irish knot trim and a secret door in a Franklin boy’s bedroom leading to a hidden playroom.

Tickets are available at each individual home site for $15 or online via Charity Tour of Homes or TicketsNashville where a complete listing of home sites is available for MapQuest.

Builders participating in this year’s tour include: Kingdom Builders, McPherson-Shaw, Inc., W. Hugh Nelson Builders, Arthur Rutenberg Homes, R. Thomas Construction and Walsh Custom Homes. Additional members of MCBC of TN include: Hilton Design/Build, Hughes-Edwards Builders, Shane McFarland Construction and David Patton Construction.

The Master Custom Builders Council of Tennessee is an elite group of the finest custom-home builders in the mid-state sharing a deep passion for their craft and for providing their clients the latest in custom, residential construction at substantial discounts if they participate in the premier home tour. Originally brought together to leverage their buying power and cost savings for clients, the group established the Charity Tour of Homes in 2010 and since that time have donated over $30,000 to area nonprofit organizations.

Public Relations-Social Media Marketing Intern Position- Franklin TN

April 24, 2014 by Nancy McNulty

Are you our next summer intern?

Public Relations- Social Media Marketing Intern Learning opportunities would include:

Content Marketing including Blog Writing , Posting and Link Building

Social Media Posting and Engagement

Photography and video editing

Public Relations

Client Relations

Analyzing Campaign Metrics

Media Placement

This is an unpaid role for college credit. Our perfect candidate would have a love for home design, home building and real estate with great oral and written communication skills. Must be familiar with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Houzz, Google+ and Pinterest. Looking for someone that is interested in a career in Content Marketing, Public Relations, and Blogging. Graphic design and photography skills are a huge plus! This will be a great learning experience and resume builder that could potentially lead to a full time paid position or at the very least an excellent referral to our extensive list of industry contacts.

The person in this role will be highly important and a valued team member. Please no calls. Please fill out the form below. You can copy and paste your resume into the comments. We look forward to hearing from you.

HGTV Smart Home 2014 Media and Blogger Day

April 12, 2014 by Nancy McNulty

This last month has been a whirlwind of excitement around the Forest Home Media U.S. Headquarters. We have been busily preparing for the media launch of the HGTV Smart Home 2014 built by our client Carbine & Associates. In a very short amount of time we were able to launch a new website for Carbine & Associates, create a new video, brochure, and launch and build their social media presence. Nancy, single handedly wrangled (invited) every major news organization in the city of Nashville who have continued to put out stories, columns and segments for the past two weeks and they keep coming. Here’s a fun meme that totally fits Nancy’s efforts on this.

This has been a labor of love. Nancy lives and breathes Public Relations. She is like a bright and shiny light bulb and has ideas popping up all hours of the day and night. Her day started at 3 a.m. with the local Fox affiliate, she has worked late hours and gone the extra mile. I’m so proud she is my business partner. Part two of our big media day was a Home Blogger’s tour of the house.

We had such a fantastic turnout of bloggers from both the Nashville Area and several big time bloggers from the Southeast area. Here is a photo of our Home Blogger group in front of the fireplace at the HGTV Smart Home 2014.

Blogger Event HGTV Smart Home 2014 Nashville built by Carbine & Associates — Photo by Heather Patterson from At the Picket Fence

Front Row from Left to right: Virginia Moon (HGTV/ Scripps Network), Beth Bryan (Unskinny Boppy), Kate (Southern Belle Simple), Kristi (The Decorologist), Heather (At The Picket Fence), Brandy (Make + Model), (annonymous blogger), Karianne (Thistlewood Farm), and Melissa (The Insane Domain). Top Row from Left to Right: Kathy (My Interior Life), Rhoda (Southern Hospitality), Jack Thomasson (HGTV), Kelly (Grokulsky Interiors) and Anna StyleBluePrint Nashville.

I feel honored and privileged to have been a part of this fun launch. Thanks to Carbine & Associates, Scripps Networks’s PR team of Kristin Alm and Lee Hall and especially thanks to all the hard work by Nancy. Don’t forget to register to win this home starting on April 15, 2014.

Kelly Grokulsky, Kristin Alm, Nancy McNulty and Dana Tucker at the HGTV Smart Home 2014

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