happy halloween!

colleen

Colleen, author of popular blog Brunchner, is a fanatical foodie and wanted some professional headshots to use for her blog and rising career in the PR industry. We had fun wandering the busy streets (and rooftops) of NYC and shooting these. In my opinion, a “headshot” should be just that – it’s the best way for people to get an up close and personal view of your personality – and most importantly your eyes. Your eyes can reveal so much about you!

ottomans make better coffee tables than coffee tables

Ottomans are hot right now, and after seeing this spread in Elle Decor a few months ago, I went on a mission!

I was so enthralled by this room/look that I psychotically searched for that exact ottoman – to no avail. However, thanks to my good friend Michelle Tremont of Studio Sofield in NYC, we searched for alternate viable ottoman solutions. The ottoman is the perfect way to class up a room, but keep it comfortable and stylish at the same time. I chose this one from Restoration Hardware in bright white linen, and it is gorgeous!

If you’re not totally sold on REPLACING your coffee table, perhaps you’d sway towards putting one (or two!) alongside your tableau? (Featured as Coco + Kelly’s Room of the Week this week)

Regardless of how you insert this tasteful classic into your home, it’s guaranteed to be a fashionable and timeless addition to any room. However, I do find it to serve as a better coffee table than the coffee table itself!

Photo Booths

Despite the recent upswing in popularity of tacky photo booths at weddings and corporate events, I think an old fashioned photo booth at a wedding is a phenomenal idea! By old fashioned, I do NOT mean the sepia-toned western photo booths that frequent county fairs and Renaissance festivals. Think more along the lines of this:

Thanks to David Riffel Photography, my guests indulged themselves in some good old-fashioned fun at my wedding. We provided their photos in the thank you notes we sent them after the event, and in turn gave our guests something they could actually enjoy, rather than wasting money on favors they’d most likely throw away or leave on the table.

…And Then Comes Party!

An invitation – no matter if it’s for a birthday, shower, bachelorette, brunch, etc. – should be representative of the personality behind it. My friend Cara is extremely fun and rambunctious, with a hint of country. Hence the girly, western-themed shower invitation. Loved playing with patterns and fonts and creating this invitation for her.

tommy

Location, location, location! Location really can be everything – that and a ridiculously cute kid. The National Arboretum served as the perfect backdrop to this photo shoot, alongside a stunning fall morning. The best thing about this photo shoot, in the words of Tommy’s mom, was that everything we shot was natural. Thanks to this awesome spot, Tommy entertained himself for hours (two and a half to be exact!), with zero direction from me. As a result, I was able to shoot his instinctive interactions with the environment and his family.

chalkboard paint can be chic!

I have a slight infatuation with chalkboard paint, always have. However, I am seeing it more and more as a staple in creating chic rooms – or pieces. It’s no longer just an indulgent tool for children, but a great way to take a well-designed, family-friendly room over the top. And even better, it doesn’t only come in the generic chalkboard green or charcoal.

Hudson Paints offers some awesome colors that would be great shades for any room, chalkboard or no chalkboard.

I love the idea of taking “dead space” areas in a home – hallways, backsplashes, bathroom walls, etc. and painting them in vibrant chalkboard paint colors! This is an awesome example from Design Sponge.

Design Sponge recently featured an awesome DIY project – the chalkboard globe. This is a great example about how to take a boring classroom globe and spice it up for a family room, den or library.

catherine

This impromptu photo shoot turned out to be the most fun – for both the subject and the photographer! Sometimes a simple prop is all a child needs to be spontaneous – evoking some extremely powerful images. Located on the stunning marble steps of the Supreme Court building in Washington DC, the red pop of color of the umbrella provides a bright contrast to the neutrality of the black and white marble.