Recent Projects - Photographed Almost Professionally with my iPhone

Recently I’ve delivered a number of large projects. Coincidentally I also took a photography seminar with Boston Interior Designer and professional photographer Linda Holt; a fellow interior designer who showcases her fabulous, fresh and vibrant portfolio on her website (https://www.lindaholtcreative.com/). A perfect storm of events for this week’s blog post!

First, a little bit about Linda’s iPhone class and tips, or what she calls “iPhone-ography.” Cute! Linda gave a photography seminar to the Eastern Massachusetts Window Coverings Association of America (WCAA) Chapter, a professional group I belong to that is dedicated to education and networking in the window coverings and soft furnishings field.  https://www.wcaa.org/AF_MemberCommittee.asp?committeeid=8 

Linda’s seminar was held at the Duralee showroom at the Boston Design Center (BDC), a lovely place to shop for sumptuous fabrics in a bright and cheerful atmosphere in the Boston Seaport area. Here’s a link to the BDC (http://bostondesign.com/showrooms), which is open to the public for browsing, but if you want to purchase something you need to be with a designer that’s registered with them. So if you are interested in seeing lots of professional interior design products in one place, call me and we can go together!  

In the photo above Linda is instructing our group (with our past Chapter President Gabe Fitzgerald on her right).  Linda described that there are two parts to better iPhone photography:  taking better photos in the first place, and then doing post-processing with easily downloaded and free/dirt-cheap apps on your phone.  Linda’s first bit of advice was to take better photos in the first place, making sure to get your vertical lines actually vertical, with helpful gridlines turned on in your iPhone camera.…and do you notice how straight my (unretouched) photo looks? We had a great time setting up our iPhone cameras properly and testing things out.  Check out Linda’s advice on iPhone photography on her website…you will be able to wow your teenager with your iPhone prowess (well, at least for a minute or two).

So what have I done to practice my new photography skills?  When I delivered three projects last week, I decided to shoot the “after” shots with my iPhone instead of my larger Nikon camera. 
 
Below is a family room in Lynnfield, MA for a lovely couple who wanted a relaxing, put-together and textural family room. The only thing they started with was the griege sectional. I suggested Navy walls to give some punch to them since they have incredibly large windows.  I then fabricated cornices made out of Lafayette Manh Truc woven wood material (Kaliko Smoke) http://www.lafvb.com/woven-wood-shades and put those cornices over extra wide Sheerweave roller shades from Lafayette. 

The couple was glad to have some privacy instead of their initial “fishbowl” setup, and the cornices on top added some textural interest without taking over with too much pattern. I also fabricated some new pillows to punch up the sofa, and the couple found a rug they liked to round out the seating area. Finally, my client accessorized the table behind the sofa himself—well done!  All in all, a nice room, and a wonderful collaborative effort with some amazing and fun clients.

Curious about what the “before” arrangement looked like? Here you go:

​The second project that I delivered last week was a new window seat in the same client’s kitchen.  Here I made a tufted bench seat in a Crypton (spill-friendly) fabric with a faux roman valance over Comfortex Shangri-La horizontal shade.  Think that it needs some pillows? You are so right! 

​To try out my new photography skills and “TouchRetouch “ app I edited this photo directly on my phone using Linda’s tips. It was easy to get things straight, balance out the color, and do some magic with removing objects on the shelf with the app.  Below is a straight-on shot of the bench:

​The last project that I delivered last week was a set of woven wood cornices to a wonderful family in Weston, MA. My client and I searched for a cool “statement” chandelier over the round table in her eating area that is in the same space as her large gray/taupe kitchen. This “Sputnik” chandelier was just the thing to fill the space, and we decided on the cornices to visually raise the windows in the room with 9’ ceilings.  Here’s the after shot, “straightened” just a bit by me on my iPhone:

I just love that floral arrangement….makes me think of ….SPRING. Just what we need this week, since there is still snow on the ground here in Massachusetts and it will be April this weekend. 
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Hope your week is a good one!  Tomorrow I’m off to the 2018 International Window Coverings Expo (IWCE) in Tampa. I’ll be sure to take lots of photos with my iPhone and update you next week on all the new interior design products and looks!