kids nursery styling shoot

So the latest issue of real living went on sale yesterday. It features two styling shoots I did for the mag. The first was the shopping feature for May - nurseries. I put my hand up for this one as I was excited - and determined - to create cool spaces.

I really wanted to show that you could create a pink girls room (lots of friends say their girls are obsessed with this colour) without it being saccharine sweet. Enter "Pastel Princess" - the last room. I also wanted to do a room with colour - a space that was fun - but still pulled together. This is "Circus Kids" - the second last room. And, finally, I wanted to create a room that I'd be happy to have for Little C - one that was interesting and engaging but with grown-up touches so it didn't scream kids room - this is "Young Explorer" - my favourite of the three looks.

As usual I got completely carried away with the "makes". In "Young Explorer" we (yes, it was another mammoth shoot so I had some wonderful helpers) created a feature wall of explorer maps, painted a budget chest-of-drawers and made newspaper hats. In "Circus Kids" we hung Bholu's beautiful Mavis Monkey wallpaper. And in "Pastel Princess" we painted a grey and white striped wall - click on the image to see it - and a string of pom poms (instead of bunting). We also created a doll's house - inspired by the amazing one that Jacqui Lewis created here - and got a handmade height chart from Belinda Graham at The Happy Home. There's a whole other story to that one, which I'll have to tell you about on another day.

Love to know what you think, and which room you prefer.

images courtesy of real living and chris warnes

french bohemian style - emmanuelle flahault

A funny thing happened after a recent photo shoot for Real Living. Both the stylist and art director came back in LOVE. They were so taken with one of the women that we featured in our "Style Tribe" shoot - in the April issue - that I was curious. They described Emmanuelle Flahault as one of the most beautiful women they'd ever met. I looked at the images and agreed she was mightily attractive, but there was something more. Let's say a je ne sais quoi.

So when I went to Life In Style I was determined to track down Nell, as she's known. She was busy - a testament to her beautiful designs and stand for her womens' clothes, accessories and homewares business Nell (she sources European fabrics to create one-of-a-kind designs). But when I met her I could understand what the men were talking about. She radiates calm, happiness and has a definite French flair, and, yes, perhaps a little je ne sais quoi.

Which five words best describe you? Generous, optimistic, cheeky, hard worker and mediator.
What was your first career job and what path have you taken since? Fashion designer assistant.
What’s the best lesson you’ve learnt along the way? To breathe when things get tight.
What’s your proudest career achievement? Receiving authentic and lovely testimonials from happy clients.
What’s been your best decision? To move down under.
Who inspires you? Coco Chanel.
What are you passionate about? Travels and tresors.
Which person, living or dead, would you most like to meet? Barack Obama.
What dream do you still want to fulfil? Having a large family.
What are you reading? The unbearable lightness of being from Milan Kundera.


images real living and nell

my second ever styling shoot... fridges (lucky me!)

I almost completely forgot that my second ever styling shoot has just appeared in the April 10 issue of Real Living magazine. Lucky me - I was asked to source and prop fridges! It seemed like some cruel test. How can ANYONE make them look good. They're just large rectangular boxes. So I researched like crazy to find great styles (always with an eye to cost and energy efficiency). On the upside of the brief was that I got to shoot with uber photographer Prue Ruscoe, who you might know not only from her extensive magazine work but also the books she's done with Shannon Fricke. I've worked with her previously - but as a subject (she shot the photo of me on the sofa that's in the JanFeb 10 issue of Real Living).

So the shoot day was full on - not quite so manic as the office shoot - but still crazy. I was also shooting another "best of the best" feature, which will run in the May 10 issue. The fridges arrived - well, most of them - and we had to shuffle them into place. I had a fairly good idea of how I wanted them placed as I didn't want to be moving them too much but still there were changes due to the proportions of them. It's not until you see them side by side that you get a real sense of the size. I was also worried that the stripey Smeg fridge would dominate the shot if brought to the front, but at Prue's suggestion we put it quite central to the shot and it worked. Then there was a LOT of work getting the lighting right because of the reflective surfaces. As soon as we got the shots then the delivery drivers arrived to collect the metal monoliths and me and my little posse of workies scrambled to pack up and set up for the next shoot.

Love to know what you think.

images courtesy of real living and prue ruscoe