As a trained lifestyle editor, there was nothing I loved more than bringing a photo shoot to life. I was often more the conductor than the nuts-and-bolts producer, although I also had many days of sourcing props, loading my car, and ferrying and carrying items I could never own.
And I’ve been really, really lucky to work with some true creative professionals during the course of my career. Case in point? One of the masters: Barbara Schmidt of Studio BStyle. Barb was the woman I turned to when I was out on maternity leave to create my big spring fashion spreads because I KNEW she would nail it without any direction. (I still love that the results of that shoot, six years later.) Barb and her team have this ability to channel some of those zeitgeist-y moments and combine them with some twists and effortless cool.
So when she came out to the house and started having bursts of inspiration, even while clumps of drywall were literally crumbling out of the walls, I started to get excited. As a freelance writer, I have not produced many shoots in the last few years, and I did not expect to shoot at my house in its current condition. But sure enough a vision began to take shape…. And then we added the firepower of photographer Joel Larson, and bingo! A shoot was born.
And now the results are hitting the newsstands. This was a lovely shoot of interiors, inspired in part by what I called the “Golden Girls meet me on the lanai for cheesecake” wallpaper in the master bedroom. A little bit Miami, a a little bit ’80s, a little bit pure Barb & Co.
Here it is, from the April/May 2019 issue of Spaces magazine:
So many thank-yous to those who made this shoot possible, especially the whirlwind that is Studio BStyle; Joel Larson, photographer; and Amy Nelson, editor of Spaces. You can pick up your copy at Kowalski’s if you’re local!