Happy Halloween

 

Image Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Trick-or-Treat, guys and ghouls!
Cheers,
Whitney

Couch Surfing

A fun little shot from photographer Tim MacPherson.

Hope you have a wonderful, festive Halloween weekend planned.   Whether you're Trick-or-Treating with your little ones or partying it up at an all-night costume bash, please be safe and be smart.

And may I suggest the following entertaining/intriguing/exceptional bits of Internet goodness for post-Halloween-party couch surfing...

Five Half-Assed Halloween Costumes to Thrill and Impress Your Friends.

House Hunting? You'll know you've found yours when these symptoms set in. 

Yum and wholesome: Butternut Squash 25 ways.

When David Calvo juggles *and solves* a Rubik's Cube, your brain flinches. 

Still need some fall-ish decor for your front porch?  Go on a pinecone hunt and make this.

The Paint Doctor is In.  Her book should be a keeper. 

Organize your cards, envelopes and stationery like Benita in nifty upright containers.

Sugared and Spiced Pecans make a great housewarming/hostess gift during the autumnal months.

Want to live in the pages of Elle Decor?  You can if you want to buy any of these homes. 

Cheers,

Whitney

Yes, Sir.

Did you hear that Garden & Gun has an online shop?!?!

I've long loved Garden & Gun, a lifestyle magazine grounded in the heart of Southern living.  It's not just about hunting and weedwhacking, despite the title.  The all about the magic of the new South - sporting culture, food, music, art, architecture, literature, music, people, and ideas.  My husband and I fight over first dibs at the issue when it arrives in our mailbox.  It's a lovely magazine, beautifully edited and in such a rich matte paperstock that your hands love to hold.

Soon after G&G sucessfully opened up their online retail space, they teamed up with a few designers to create an honorable little inventory of exclusive items inspired by the magazine.  Check out G&G Exclusives here. 




What a great site to shop for gifts for the Southerners (or the wannabe Southerners!) in your life!
Cheers,

Whitney

Found Goodies...

I found a wealth of goodies on the internet today.  I share this wealth because I'm a generous soul who knows that you, like me, feel fantastic when new design/architecture/décor/real estate/entertaining brain candy is handed to you on the silver platter that is a glowing laptop monitor.  Mmmmmm. 

BARKITECTURE! via katiedid

Live ON the Beach in the Hamptons for less than $1million! via Curbed

There's a DURALEE fabrics outlet on Long Island! via Effortless Style

This easy chicken recipe rocks! by Georgia Pellegrini via Tasty Kitchen

Made Goods Debuts New Mirrors! via Cocozy

Natural Curiosities sent me a note that they'll be at Booth 47008!  Art, décor & accessories abound at the NYIGF

What would you do to make this otherwise-ordinary home shine within its arbor-rific vibe? via Jentrified

Don't waste the plinth/toe-kick space in your lower cabinetry! by The Family Handyman via Pinterest

I am a published photographer! via Gilroy Dispatch. Thanks to my trusty iPhone and Camera+ app, I am quite proud of this accomplishment.  And, yes, the Gilroy Garlic Festival is amazing. 

Happy interneting, my friends!
Cheers, Whitney

A Still Life

I've been away.  Have you noticed?  I'm out of the hideous heat wave, away from my City.  Not that I'm bragging.  But, really, I kind of am bragging. 

During my travels, waiting at various airport terminals, I developed a hardcore crush on the iPhone app Camera+.  It's a photography dummy's best friend forever, and ever ever.  Developed by a a brilliant team of technicians and photographers, the program allows me to take pics on my iPhone and tweak them afterwards, as if I had masterly planned out the aperture and exposure settings beforehand.  Pretty darn nifty. 

Below are three pictures of the same scene, with three different post-treatments. 

Limestone. Avocados. Lemons. Peaches. Limes. CLARITY treatment.

Limestone. Avocados. Lemons. Peaches. Limes. VIBRANT treatment.

Limestone. Avocados. Lemons. Peaches. Limes. SUNKISS'D treatment.

This still life is what I'm doing this week.  Photographing it.  Drinking it.  And, probably eating it.
Cheers,
Whitney

What's Rad? Rowley and Reed + Rader

The fashion designer Cynthia Rowley revealed her resort collection today.  The collection's presentation has been elevated to a creative swell with the help of Brooklyn progressive artists / photographers / graphic magicians / meowzas Reed + Rader.  See it today on StyleCaster. 

Have you ever seen the photos of Rowley's NYC home?  Elle Decor featured her townhouse in 2008, and her gilded piano still sticks out my my brain.  It's hollow, plastic-lined, and serves as an ice bucket.  Seriously haute.



all images Elle Decor, 2008

 I think Cynthia Rowley's designs are fabulous, and have always thought she was just so damn cool.  Then I saw this video on Sytlelikeu and now I know she is just so damn cool. 

Cheers,
Whitney

Let The Summer In

The wonderful & talented Patricia of PVE Design posted about Summer Solstice this morning.  I almost forgot; today is the longest day of the year!  June 21 is one of the 2 days each year when the rays of the sun directly strike one of the two tropical latitude lines, marking the beginning of summer (the other is Dec 21, duh).

I cruised through my Pinterest boards and found some of my very favorite images of this very wonderful season. 

 

All images Pinterest 

Summer is on.  Surf is up.  Put the sprinklers on and run around for a while.
Cheers,
Whitney

Behind the Scenes: An Interiors Photoshoot

I recently finished a project in Cambridge, Mass.  A lovely Victorian home on one of the most historic streets in the city.  The homeowners lean towards a Colonial aesthetic, and it's been a wonderfully challenging project to settle their decades-worth of furniture, art and collectibles into this architectural masterpiece of a home. 

When it was time to photograph the house, I sought out the services of Lara Kimmerer, who is seriously the most delightful woman in Massachusetts.  We met at the house last Monday, and we shot nearly 20 different vignettes in 5 hours. Lara was so calm & thorough and I enjoyed working with her immensely.  She was open to all my wacky ideas and never balked at my nitpicky styling issues.

So, at 8am on this rainy Monday morning I went to good ol' Whole Foods for my floral sourcing.  Whole Foods always has fresh, highly-seasonal flowers at pretty reasonable prices. 

Despite the date stamp on my photos, it was the 13th. I stink with cameras. Hence, hiring a professional.



Loaded up with fresh flowers and one very perfect orchid. 

Flowers in the house and into many different vessels. Yep, that's a Gurgling Cod pitcher.

Once we started shooting, I stood back and watched Lara do her crazy camera magic.  Our shot in the kitchen was fun.  The family had left the kitchen table earlier that morning with a newspaper, a teapot and some honeydew on a plate, so I used their leftovers as styling pieces!  How authentic!  I even boiled another pot of water so that the teacup would have some 'steam action.'  Fun.



Lara setting up the shot.  I stood behind the island and gawked at all the fancy equipment.

 

My attempt at shooting this space

Lara's final result*

Just following our shot in the kitchen, there was a mishap.  The family's wonderful & lovely babysitter was about to run out for an errand when her car wouldn't start.  But wonderful Lara had jumper cables [thankfully, since I didn't] and the problem was fixed in less than 5 minutes!  Lara FTW!



Drama averted.


The home's Dining Room is an homage to fabric. A historic toile, to be exact.  The walls are padded and upholstered and we shot 3 very specific spaces in the room.

Lara sets up a shot on one of the tall buffets



Final result*

In the Living Room, we shot a corner featuring some of the beautiful fine art and artifacts collected by my clients on their worldwide travels.  Setting up for this shot, Lara and I moved the rug underfoot because the fringe strip was distracting to the composition of the shot.  As much as I love my client's antique rugs, we saw that by pulling the rug out of the shot we were highlighting the house's flooring.  Hardwood floors FTW!



Setting it up



Final result*

It was a long day, but Lara and I (well, mostly Lara) worked tirelessly and cheerfully. Lara's a blogger, too! Check out her photography adventures HERE.    

I drove back to NYC late that afternoon, and stopped at a gas station along the Mass Pike where I saw this weird but funny set of stickers on a trash can.  The 'corrupt NY' sticker made me laugh out loud, as this was 2 weeks into the texting scandal with NY Congressman Weiner (ick).  The Chicken/Rat one, I'm not sure (ew).
 

Nevertheless, it was a great and productive trip to Cambridge and a funny & weird ride back home to NY.  Corrupt as it might be ; )

All photos with * by Lara Kimmerer. All images in this post property Whitney Interior Design.  There will be more photos from our shoot of this lovely house posted to my website in the coming days. 

If you're in the market for a photographer, check out Lara's site and her services.  She does beautiful interiors photography and, since she is so delightfully personable, is a genius people photog.  Weddings, engagements, fmaily portraits, etc.

Cheers,

Whitney