i LOVE a good before/after comparison- haircuts, furniture or a nose job- it’s just interesting! so i have totally let myself down in forgetting to take before shots for almost every single house project we’ve attempted. we’re usually about half way in when i pull out the phone to snap a few in progress shots- but thankfully we’ve at least done that a few times and i’m excited to have some documentation to share!
ok, let’s break from the house thing to talk about something- i know the issue is pretty split, and i don’t want to offend anyone, but really- i do subscribe to the theory that the best camera is the one that’s with you- so for us, that makes our best camera an iphone. we have it everywhere we go and we capture life and create art with it all the time. we play with our images with a few different apps and then we usually twitter to share them with all of you! we do love our schfancy dslrs but most of our day to day images happen with the phone and we are totally happy with that! we get asked a lot- do you make a picture every day? do you practice shooting? and i guess the best answer is yes- we practice, yes, we shoot daily- just with a phone! to quote the pioneer of it all, chase jarvis, ‘inherently, we all know that an image isn’t measured by its resolution, dynamic range, or anything technical about cameras or photos. An image is measured by the simple—sometimes profound, other times absurd or humorous or whimsical—effect that it can have upon us.’ thanks, chase, for justifying the iphone pics i’m about to put up. i agree with you and support your vision. ;)
when we moved into our house in july we found it completely empty and rather clean. we cheerfully began to move our furniture in and finally, to move the few little hand tools we had into our basement. we pushed the door open into the musty basement, flipped on the single bare bulb (much like a cartoon basement would have) and let our eyes adjust. seems when they moved out they didn’t bother to empty out the basement! it was among the old paint cans and broken windows that we found two pieces of ugly furniture covered in dirt, spiderwebs & something that looked like rat poo. i googled it. anyway, we just turned around and walked out- leaving our tools right by the door- the basement a project for another day. well, the day for basement renovation has not yet come but we did jump back in there a few weeks ago to pull out that old ugly furniture! we blasted it with a hose and stripped years of lacquer off to make it our own. free decor? i like it! now to figure out what to put in the empty spaces we created when we added the new bottoms!
and i leave you with a stressful image of our most recent project- the back yard- it has only begun!
and since that wasn’t such a happy ending- i will add this picture of our stella:
21 Comments
Great pics, Kate! I’m muy impressed with the result on those furniture makeovers–they look great. Stella is looking very regal and beautiful as well. Hope ya’ll are well. -Chris
kate is pretty much awesome at 2 things:
- furniture restoration
- aaaand life.
the picture of stella looks like it belongs in a Martha Stewart Magazine.
LOVE IT!
Oh my gosh, Stella is HUGE now! Yes, I just realized it. We need to have another puppy play date soon! & great job on the furniture…we are going through some pretty similar stuff and I know how time consuming it can be :)
Okay, that’s it. I MUST have you shoot my dogs. Stella is so cute and you always capture here in the best way!! Oh.. and great job on the furniture too! ;-)
oh my word when did Stella get so giant?!! wow! :-) your house is soo cute!
LOVE this update and sad I’m not there to see it in person! Great job with the furniture and I love the new chair with the yellow pillow and green rug – looks awesome! Can you come decorate my apartment? And, Stella, wow! Wonder what Toby would think of her now?!
It turned out great!
#1 if you like before and after’s (especially with furniture) you should check this out: http://www.designspongeonline.com/category/before-and-after
#2 we’re practically neighbors, we should hang out some time…i promise we’re not as cool as sean and erin, but we’re alright.
#3 our dogs need to meet. i think it will be hilarious to see stella play with two weenie dogs!
she’s SO cute! love the tables too : )
love the before and after! nothing a little paint can’t fix. i love how you took out the class and made the tables functional in a modern way. and OF COURSE i love the picture of stella, can’t believe how grown up she is :)
Wow that puppy has grown- gorgeous! And love the furniture. We’re on the hunt for some good yard sale pieces to redo as well. Fun stuff!
I love the furniture and Stella is so cute :) She is bigger than both of you!
I think Stella is the best decoration your living room could have!
Which apps do you use to doctor your iphone photos? Mine are always dark and dreadful!
*angelyn- kate linked to them above in “few different apps”… we’ve also been meaning to check out ‘hipstamatic’ : http://hipstamaticapp.com/ . any other suggestions out there
LOVE IT. Obsessed. Can’t wait to see the whole thing. And GOOD GOSH, where is the pitiful little puppy that crawled into my lap and snuggled up to me!? She could eat me.
awesome pictures of your house! i wanna come down soon and see it for myself. and see my big neice!
great danes take the best pics. love stella in this one. xoxo
I was showing my friend your site and in addition to loving your photos, she loves your green rug. Where did you guys get it?
thank you guys so much for all of the encouraging comments!
vanessa* we got the rug at ikea!