The brief was to come up with 6 ideas to revamp nanna-style pieces of furniture. I wanted to do it in a way that wasn't so obvious. After all, we all know that a lick of paint can save anything. I wanted to present some new takes on old ideas. And I had to tie it all together so the feature didn't look disjointed. That's when I saw a chalkboard room reference from Anthropolgie, which gave me an idea of how it might work.
I drove from one end of Sydney to another to find the furniture. Literally. I tracked a few pieces down at St Vincent de Paul in Sutherland. And the next day drove in the opposite direction to Vinnies at Brookvale. I also asked for friends and people via the online noticeboard at work to donate pieces for the photo shoot.
Then came the hard work. Night followed by day followed by night and day and on and on and on in a cold factory in Alexandria painting not only more than 20 pieces of furniture but also a dozen sheets of MDF with chalk board paint. Thankfully I had my trusty, dedicated and talented helper Renee Anne Baker (who also did the beautiful illustrations on the walls and floors).
Then came the official shoot prep day. The goods got loaded onto a truck and taken to Mondo Studios in Alexandria. The walls went up, the floors were laid down and then the furniture was put into place. We had to alternate between two set-ups. Build one, shoot, build the other, tear the first one down, put another up, shoot the second one, tear it down and so on until we had six room sets. Then it was time to pack and label all the boxes and goods and get out of there before the studio closed at 6pm.
The shoot is in the October issue of real living, which went on sale today. And it's also been featured in this week's issue of Woman's Day.
images real living and chris warnes
15 comments:
Oh my goodness - I got my real living yesterday in my mailbox (yay) and was just reading that nanna-furniture feature over breakfast and thinking to myself "Some poor soul has had to traipse around to every garage sale, op shop and charity bin in Sydney to find these pieces" I loved the white table and chairs, just shows you need to look for sturdy structure, nice lines and great shape to end up with something fantastic. Love it! Thanks :)
I Love it. The effect the blackboard creates is just beautiful... and who doesn't love a bit of granny vamp?
Natalie, can I just tell you what an inspiration this feature is to me? I recently found a beautiful old dressing table on the side of the road — complete with silky oak drawers! I instantli wanted to turn it into a sewing table, as I’ve just started learning to sew. It’s my first ever furniture ‘makeover’, so I can’t wait to see how it turns out!
I’ve already formulated my ‘plan’ — check it out here:
http://myflyingducks.blogspot.com/2010/08/sewing-table-plan.html
And here’s a picture of the drawers inside:
http://myflyingducks.blogspot.com/2010/08/so-i-found-my-sewing-table-sort-of.html
Bet you slept well that night! What an amazing amount of work - it looks fantastic.
Emma, that poor soul was me! Although I have to confess I have many pieces of furniture at my place that would have been well-suited, except that they've all already been revamped!
Thanks, Bluecaravan. Yes, it's great to see the furniture live another day.
Looking good, Kylie. Just watch out. It's addictive!
Style Guide - collapsed, more like it! Which is what I'm going to do tonight. Big shoot tomorrow and I've already worn myself out!
Just wonderful and very creative. I'm going to collage a beat-up set of drawers. Thanks for the inspiration.
Great work - love the styling!
Great to hear that you are so hands on over at Real Living and find out what goes on behind the scenes! I too read that article and loved it, must say it's one of the best Real Living editions I've read recently, had to read it in 3 sittings just make it last a bit longer. Keep up the great work...
Just got your Daily Imprint in my Inbox. It's always a great read. It's so nice to get a glimpse behind the scenes. I recently used chalkboard paint on a small wooden stool and some picture frames, and yesterday just blogged about black interiors!
I love these! I love blackboards anyway but the furnishings as line drawings are really clever and intriguing to look at.
Looks fantastic!! The illustrations are wonderful. I love the granny vamp, you did an amazing job:)
i absolutly fell inlove with this spread as soon as i saw it in my mag!! i love nanna chic!!
was so great to see a behind the scenes for this too, as im studying styling and would LOVE the opportunity to do this kind of work!!
This shoot is right out of dreams!
Adore.
TTGB
x
Fantastic work. It is really addictive and catchy furniture. Which focus the modern style. Nice to share .
Bet you slept well that night! What an amazing amount of work - it looks fantastic.
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