Tag: Library

Photo Skillz

I often see my old photos pop up on Pinterest, and I’m amazed at how much my photography has improved. I still have a lot to learn, but I’m pretty comfortable with my camera now — manual settings and all.

Here’s a shot of my library from 2007, about six months after I started this blog, and then a recent shot of the same space.

I remember having trouble with that first photo way back then, but I did my best and I thought it looked all right. I still see some problems with the newer one, but it’s clearly an improvement. The first one needed a lot of help from Photoshop to even get it to an acceptable level, and the second had just a little tweak for brightness and contrast.

I’d love to learn more about lighting. There was a professional photographer here yesterday (shooting my house for a magazine’s Christmas issue to come out next year), and the contrast between myself and him was stark. He took his time, perfecting every shot and getting the lighting just right. I usually come in, set up my tripod, take a few shots, and move on. I was easily five times faster than him, but I’m sure his photos will be five times better than mine.

This was a quick snap — one that isn’t very good — but look at all that gear. I wouldn’t know how to use a lighting umbrella, or where to shine a spotlight at the ceiling to better illuminate the area behind it.

Having a blog for the last five years has pushed me to better my photography, and the constant practice has paid off, but I’m curious about what my photos will look like in another five years.

December 19, 2012
Ombré Nesting Tables (With a How-to Video)

Brought to you by 3M DIY.

I found these vintage wooden nesting tables at the Renegade Craft Fair, here in Chicago, a couple of months ago. I loved the shape of them, and that they nested together, but they looked a little plain in my library.

I decided to paint them in an ever-trendy ombré/gradient effect, figuring that when the trend moves on I can always repaint them again later. As I was preparing to paint, I look more closely at the tables and realized that someone had already painted them at some point, in a faux-bois effect. At least I didn’t have to feel guilty about being the first one to take a paintbrush to them!

I gathered everything I needed to get started: a lead test, sandpaper (150 and 180 grit), a mask, painter’s tape, paint and primer, a drop cloth, paint stirring sticks, and a good 2″ angled paintbrush. Below is a video showing the whole process.

I didn’t know how old that painted surface was, so I used a simple lead test to be sure that the tables were safe to work with. Then I sanded the tops with the rougher sandpaper, wiped them down, and taped off the edges. It would have been ideal to disassemble the tables and just work on the tops, but they were held together with a combination of dowels, glue, and magic. Prying them apart would have been difficult — possibly disastrous — so tape it was. Next I primed them, painted, sanded again with fine sandpaper, and applied a final coat of paint.

The three colors are Benjamin Moore’s Coral Gables and Petal Rose, and the third was a 50/50 combination of the two. I was careful to do a thorough job of sanding, and I made sure to abide by the recommended paint drying times (16 hours between coats because it was oil-based). I think that’s going to make all the difference when it comes to durability.

I love the way the tables play off of the new red pot of the fiddle-leaf fig tree, and the whole area feels a whole lot happier. Bringing that pillow up from the living room certainly helped too! It feels right to add a little more color to the area, since the kids play there a lot. August has already taken to using the nesting tables as stairs for his little animal figures.

This post is a collaboration with 3M DIY.
To learn more about safety and preparation, visit 3MDIY.com.

November 1, 2012
The Fiddle-Leaf Fig Tree

My friend Michelle was in town, so I met up with her yesterday we went to Sprout Home. I bought a couple of air plants (that don’t look as cute as I thought they would in their intended home), some beautiful flowers (out of season peonies!) that you’ll see in tomorrow’s post, and this guy. A fiddle-leaf fig tree (ficus lyrata).

I had to take pictures right away, while it still looks lush and full. I don’t consider myself to have a black thumb anymore because I’ve been successful with plants as of late, but I’ve heard that these are fickle. Right now, it’s beautiful, healthy, and green.

It’s a nice balance to all of the hard and straight lines in the room too. Books cozy up the space, but a plant gives it life.

All the cool kids seem to have a fiddle-leaf fig these days, and I had bemoaned my inability to find one to Jules before. I would have probably walked right this one had it not been for Michelle (she spotted it, and noted that it was only $50).

I have high hopes for it — literally. I want to see it grow to the ceiling.

October 24, 2012
Five Important Tips for Photographing Your Home

This post on photography tips is brought to you by your fellow photo lovers at Shutterfly. They encourage you to capture your memories and share your amazing pictures the way you want with their new Custom Path photo books.

I’ve learned a lot about photographing my home over the last several years. I look back at some of my early shots of the house (like the photos in this post featuring my library), and I cringe at how bad they are. Today I’m going to share all of my tips and tricks with you so that you don’t make the same mistakes I did! You can make just one of these adjustments to improve your shots, or you can combine several changes to really make a difference.

Tripod vs. Handheld

Use a tripod. Always. That’s rule number one, because it’s that important. Rule number two should be to turn off your flash.

Don’t Just Stand There

A lot of people make the mistake of taking pictures from a standing position. It looks amateurish. It’s far better to crouch down just a bit and lower your tripod. (You are using a tripod, right? Rule number one!) Photographing a room from a lower angle makes the ceilings look higher and eliminates weird perspectives from above.

Depth of Field

Want that pretty effect where the subject is in focus and the background is nice and soft? You want shallow depth of field. You use a wide aperture (small F-stop number) to get it. Want everything in focus and sharp? Use a higher number F-stop for deeper depth of field.

Lights On, Lights Off

This comes down to personal preference. My library has been photographed a couple of times by professionals (here and here), and one photographer turned off every light while the other turned them all on (and brought in a few more). I like the look of the photo above with the lights on, but the one with the lights off has truer colors. (Yes, the ceiling is a soft green.)

Proper Exposure

I was focusing on the same spot (the pillow), but that window was making the whole room look backlit. When I first photographed the library in 2007, all of my pictures had this exposure problem, but I had no idea how to fix it (other than trying like mad with Photoshop, to so-so results). I got a better shot here by keeping the aperture the same (to maintain the same depth of field), and decreasing the shutter speed to keep the shutter open longer and let more light in.

Practice Makes Perfect

I’ve been blogging about my home since 2007, so I’ve had a lot of practice and a lot of time to improve. Hopefully these tips will help you get a jump on your own photos and you can avoid some of my early mistakes!

Eventually I want to reshoot some of my older pictures. I would love to make a photo book of my house, maybe featuring a bunch of before and after shots (now that I can take better “after” shots!). Or wouldn’t it be great to make a book for you or your kids to remember their home by if you were moving to a new house? I would have loved a memento like that of my childhood home.

Are any of these tips new to you? Or do you have any you’d like to add?

May 31, 2011
Planning August’s Monthly Photos

I took a photo of August in Eleanor’s usual spot yesterday.

I’m going to start photographing him monthly too, but I’m considering a change of location. I think that the library would make a good backdrop, yes?

I don’t know if I should prop him up in the white chair that’s already up there, or if I should bring the Eames rocker up for each photo. I think it could be cool to have him in the same chair to connect his photos to his sister’s, but I also think it’s going to be a total pain to have to set it up every month. Sigh.

C’est la vie de l’overachiever.

February 23, 2011
MiY 5d: Reading Nook

James and Eugenia, our fictional couple with exceptionally good taste in furniture, have just moved to Chicago! They have a long but wide hallway in their new place that they’re setting up as a mini-library. They don’t have a ton of space, so the small scale of the mid-century rocker chair is perfect for a little reading nook.

Bookshelves with glass doors line the wall (the same bookshelves we have in our hallway library), and a glossy black floor lamp illuminates the area. The walls are painted a charming blue-green, and there isn’t enough room for a full rug but a graphic black and white runner works perfectly here. The apartment has a nice lived-in feel, so books are always scattered on the little side tables along with a few coffee mugs that hadn’t made their way to the kitchen yet. Eugenia also likes to keep a blanket (in orange, James’ favorite color) over the arm of the chair in case she gets cold.

James and Eugenia have a spare room that they thought they’d setup as an office, but it looks like they’ll be turning it into a nursery instead! We’ll see that room next time in the final look for this edition of Making it Yours.

July 19, 2010