Monday, November 15, 2010

After: Shelly Townsend Photography Studio

For the last few months I've been working on a photo studio!  Last week it was completed and celebrated with an open house!  I absolutely LOVE seeing finished designs!  Shelly, on top of being a fabulous photographer and actor, is DIY to the core!  Did I tell you that on our first meeting she confessed to me that she fixed her leaky dishwasher!?!  I'm not sure that's something even I would attempt.  So I knew that she could handle some DIY projects for her studio.

Her goals were to turn this room that's over their garage into a working photography studio for her growing business, Shelly Townsend Photography, as well as to leave space for watching movies as a family when not being used as a studio.  One of the big changes was to put in a more durable floor as carpet doesn't hold up as well for lots of traffic.  We needed to add window treatments too, ones that would allow Shelly to have complete control of the lighting in the space.  Blackout lining was the key to that!

Her husband works in marketing so making sure that the space was consistent with her branding was key in the color selection.  We wanted all the pieces to be able to be used as props as well.  Sounds like a tall order, huh?  But I love a challenge!

Here's what the space looked like before:



And here's the finished studio:







Guess which parts were DIY?  Would you believe if I told you everything except the sofa and lamps?  Yep, you heard me!  Shelly sewed and made the cornice board, curtains (including blackout lining), circle pillows, and the rug, which might be my favorite thing in the whole space!  We worked out all the details and she made it!  (I'll try to do a tutorial to show you how to make your own circle rug!  It's easier than you think and would be great at a smaller scale for a bathroom or kitchen.)  The end tables were made by my fantastic wood worker, Russ.  (If you are in the Dallas area and need some custom wood work done for a reasonable price please let me know because I have the perfect person for ya!  I'll never use anyone else!)  They actually have removable lids so that the insides can be used for prop storage!  The flowers are vinyl decals that can be changed out if Shelly wants, or if she's doing a themed photo shoot.  Pretty cool, huh?

Thanks so much Shelly for calling us up to help you with your space!  I couldn't be more thrilled with the results!


3 comments:

Caroline @ The Feminist Housewife said...

WOW...it looks fabulous!!

Shelly said...

Thanks for all your help and hard work! This space would not be what it is without all of your creative energy!

If anyone would like my take on the redesign, they can visit my blog at www.shellytownsendphoto.com/blog.

You are so incredibly talented, Erin! Thanks again!

Diane Jaquay said...

What a fabulous space! Love the pillows (they look like giant donuts ;), and the rug is wonderful! Great job!