Yesterday kicked off another round of the One Room Challenge in which 20 designers transform a room in just 6 weeks, and others wanting to participate are linking up their rooms today. Although I'm not participating this Fall, I can sympathize with those who are since I've been there myself, and I have butterflies in my tummy for them! Lots of work in a short amount of time, but the end result is always worth it.
Thinking back on my own experience making over my Master Bedroom last Spring, I remembered that I had some tips I wanted to share with you then, yet neglected to do so. I recently spilled my Top 5 Styling Tips, which were for very general decorating, but these are a little more specific (and random). Some of them apply more for those of you who photograph interiors often, but others are just basic styling tips where special attention has been paid to the details.
My #1 tip for photographing spaces where artwork will be highly visible is to remove the glass. If you've never tried it, pictures with glass in them are a huge pain to photograph! You either end up not being able to see the artwork because of a glare, or it reflects something you don't want shown.
So all of the pictures in my bedroom... no glass in the frames. Confession- I have yet to add the glass now that I'm finished with the photographs! #slacker
Another photo tip, think about the angle at which you're photographing. Get up high (this chandy doesn't look nearly as special just shot from standing on the ground with the camera pointed up at it),
down low,
or to the side. The best photos might not always be straight on your subject. Get creative with your angles.
If you spend any time at all reading home blogs, you probably know this, but it's worth repeating. Hang your curtains HIGH and WIDE. Here's my husband installing the curtain rod, and the blinds will hang just below it. See how far away he's working from the top of the window? Tricking the eye to make your windows look larger will always make the room appear bigger and more grand.
You can tell the window actually stops where you see the light coming through the shade.
Your rod should always be wider than the window frame as well so that when the curtains are pushed back you're covering wall rather than blocking light that could be streaming in the room. If space allows, I add as much as about a foot extra to the rod on each side of the window. And by the way, that rod is a wooden pole from the trim aisle at Home Depot. For super long windows (I think this rod is about 12 feet), the price can't be beat and it can be cut to the exact size you want, then finished however you desire.
Speaking of blinds, I mentioned this when I shared how I added a black-out lining to the bamboo shade on the door, but in case you missed it I'll share again. I add a small cup hook under the valance of all of my bamboo blinds, then coil the cord on the hook so it will be hidden. Keeps little hands away from the cords, too!
See? No unsightly dangling cord!
Do bedskirts make you want to pull your hair out like they do me? Finding (a ready-made) one that's the right length is the first challenge... since our mattress is just on a metal bed frame, we like to use bed risers to add some height and extra storage underneath, but guess what? That always makes the bedskirt too short. So, I cheated a little bit with this one to make it work.
First, I used these twist pins to secure one side of the bedskirt so it would not shift every time we change the sheets or rotate the mattress. I like to place them way back from the edges so I don't scrape my hand across them when I'm tucking in the sheets on the top mattress. Trust me, that hurts!
With the bedskirt in just the right spot on one side, it made the other side an inch or two too short. One side and the end were perfect, but the back side looked like my bed had on capris. So, I took my scissors and sliced the top of the fabric that fits between the mattresses, almost to the bottom corner (gasp!). That allowed me to pull that side down just enough for it to touch the floor. More twist pins secured that side when it was in just the right spot.
So now you know the secret of my MacGuyvered bedskirt... I hope too many of you aren't cringing at my hack job! I'd much rather have a slice across the top of my bedskirt that no one will ever see than high waters! ;)
Alright, those are a few secrets of how I got my bedroom ready for it's close-ups. Do you have a favorite photo-styling secret?
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