Despite being part of the lifestyle mafia, Mike Andrews from Inheritance and his partner Paul don’t necessarily keep their surfaces perfectly styled 24 hours a day. They are a disgusting excuse for a fashionable gay couple, I know (that was a joke, friends). This bedroom had a lot of great elements, certainly, so when we photographed this space for the book we pulled them together to make the nightstand, bed, and even the floor tell a story, to illustrate some styling ideas for the readers. While you don’t need to keep your house styled all the time, there are times when you want things to feel/look prettier than normal, either for yourself or your guests. That’s what we do here.
Their bedroom, of course, has a lot of super interesting elements – a huge canopy bed that dominates the space, with a map hung on the headboard, all on a brick wall, with some navy paint on a few walls. It’s weird, off-beat, and totally interesting. The space was tight so they had a smaller nightstand, and while I’m sure they do sleep with pillows, the before shot had none.
What we did: We steamed the bed to give it the perfect “I just crawled out of it” soft and cozy look, and added the following – a rug, pillows, books underneath the bed, a piece of art to help break up the lines, and accessories for the nightstand. You can see it all in action:
I know what many of you have going through your heads right now, so I’m just going to address it now rather than have a comment battle – “there is NO space on the nightstand for anything you actually need.” True. Styling for editorial photographs is meant to tell a story about a person. For real life I would just put flowers on the nightstand, with maybe a ring dish, but to create a narrative of the people that live here (imaginary or not), we wanted it to be more engaging full of “moments,” and sometimes these moments overshadow function. Sometimes I agree with editorial styling, I want to see an aspirational story with a perfectly lived in/styled room. And sometimes I’m on the opposite where I’m like “there is no way that those people live like that, so just stop.” On this blog we do try to do a healthy dose of both. On Sara’s post yesterday you saw her free-standing closet, and yes, that was so perfectly styled with the right colored purses and jackets, everything draped in a lovely way, and even I was like “I’ve got to get one of those in my room” despite the fact that I KNOW that it wouldn’t look like that in real life after 10 minutes.
In the case of the “too crowded nightstand” I think it’s up for debate, and I’m on both sides. I love how this overall picture looks but I’m annoyed that I have no place to put one of my 15 glasses of water that I need every night. I styled that shot by the way (I think Scott and I were both there that day, so I don’t remember who exactly did that dirty deed).
Thoughts? Are you down for editorial storytelling or do you get annoyed by stylists tricks? Or like me, BOTH?
Meanwhile get that look:
1. Pull Down Wall Map | 2. Side Table | 3. Blue Chenille Rug | 4. Linen Pillow Sham | 5. Male Life Study Painting | 6. Porcelain Box | 7. Vintage Books | 8. Kilim Pillow | 9. Belgium Linen Sheet Set | 10. Indigo Quilt | 11. Glass Decanter | 12. Denim Quilt
For more about the book, behind the scenes, and a few more peeks inside the pages look here: Book Title And Cover Options | The Real Book Cover | Behind The Book – Styling The Perfect Shot | Styled On Shelves Now | Styling the Perfect Window Shot | How To Add Personality To A White Kitchen
***Photography by David Tsay, Styling by Scott Horne and Me
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