Laurelhurst Renovation | Seattle Interior Photographer

I’m so excited to share this renovation with you today! In one of the historic neighborhoods of Seattle, this home got a full lower level refresh with a new kitchen, living room and dining room. It’s beautifully designed for its resident, a baker (who graced us with scones on the shoot day — they were props and then became our snacks!). I worked with the Seattle interior design team Corr & Steele on this shoot day. A wonderful pair, we collaborated on making each shot just perfect.

My approach to photography is all about collaboration and creativity. I focus on maintaining consistency in my work through careful composition, natural lighting, and elevated styling. The best shoots happen when both my client and I enjoy the process of capturing beautiful spaces. I'm passionate about what I do, and shoot days are always enjoyable. By shooting tethered to a screen, we can make small adjustments to styling and composition, resulting in inviting, editorial-quality images. When it comes to editing, I prefer a clean and natural style, with minimal use of Photoshop tricks. I achieve a bright and natural light look without the use of flash, which I feel makes for a flattened image.

I’m based in Seattle but take projects all over! I was recently in Orange County and Atlanta, and often take photography projects in my hometown of Chicago. The best thing about traveling for interior photography work is seeing how architecture and design styles vary depending on the location.

Design: Corr & Steele

Construction: Darren Patt Construction

Phinney Modern Tudor | Seattle Interior Photographer

This modern Tudor in Seattle’s Phinney Ridge neighborhood is a spectacular example of what happens when a good design and build team put their minds together to create an entirely new space. I couldn’t believe the way they changed the layout of this residence in every single way, still preserving the historical Tudor aesthetic of the home, but making it a way better place to live for the modern era. I don’t think I could pick a favorite spot, but how gorgeous is that entry?! The wallpaper and painted paneling make it such a great way to enter the home every day, and especially when greeted by sweet Nelson (spot her?).

The design was created by Kallan Nelson of Kallan Interiors. Kallan is highly experienced in residential design and it was fun to pick her brain about her process on this project:

"When our clients came to us needing help remodeling their charming 1929 Tudor home, it was clear it needed quite the overhaul but we wanted to make sure it didn't lose its character. We did this by adding archways in the entry and kitchen, selecting timeless finishes like the entry wallpaper and white oak hardwood floors, and keeping with an overall neutral color palette with the occasional pop of color. The guest bathroom being the exception as we saw this as being a fun area to go a little crazy and add mauve tile wainscoting as this was one the clients favorite colors."

The build was done by RW Anderson Homes, and left no detail untended to. The craftsmanship in this home is top notch.

I was really inspired by the arched doorways when photographing this space. Architectural details like this help delineate spaces and create natural opportunities for photo vignettes. These details create visual frames, making glimpses from room to room an actual picture. In my natural light approach to interior photography, one of the challenges is representing the light of a space accurately as it appears to the eye. This involves some technical footwork in capturing many exposures of the same composition and blending them together in my editing software. This creates a true-to-life impression of the space and honors the way the design intended for light to enter the home.

Hope you enjoy this beautiful project!

Design: Kallan Interiors

Build: RW Anderson Homes

Seattle Interior Airbnb Photography | Queen Anne

It’s a two-fer! This beautiful Queen Anne home is actually a duplex, both with stunning views of the Puget Sound. Located in my favorite part of the neighborhood (where we first lived when we moved to Seattle!), it’s a short walk from Kerry Park, Parsons Gardens and the downtown core of Upper Queen Anne. We had such fun styling this shoot, creating a dreamy tablescape (using discards from the landscapers working outside, yes, literally!). A bit of greenery goes such a long way in creating inviting images, even with short term rental photos. Bringing an Airbnb or VRBO listing to life means treating the photos like a magazine shoot. It goes way above real estate photos (whose goal is to show each room looking its biggest and brightest). In interior shoots, the goal is to create a mood on the inside. It helps a prospective guest imagine what a stay would look and feel like, inviting a little more imagination. That’s also why good interior shoots take TIME. This is a big expectation shift if your only experience previously has been real estate photos for listing. The intentionality in composition and styling is huge, and really makes the difference in stellar listing photography.

You can book this beauty right here and now on Airbnb.

Seattle Interior Photographer | Eclectic Architectural Renovation

Like many cities around the US, Seattle is full of amazing old properties that deliver big on charming tree-lined streets and character, and maybe not so much when it comes to square footage. With a competitive real estate market (and a knack for historical preservation), many homeowners are deciding to renovate older homes to create modern, inviting living spaces that cater to today’s needs. With many interior design and architectural firms in Seattle, homeowners can put a little vision into a set of very professional hands for optimal results. In this case, the owners entrusted Office of Ordinary, a women-owned and operated architecture firm to take a small and very divided Seattle home and transform it into a spacious retreat with vaulted ceilings and an open floor plan.

When I showed up to photograph this project, I was floored by the homeowner’s amazing antique collection, including bentwood Colonial chairs and historic French armoires collected over the years by the homeowner, having lived France for many years. As I picked my jaw up off the floor, Office of Ordinary’s founder, Sandy Wolf, explained to me that the space was actually designed to accommodate these pieces. To me, that effort of historical preservation and reverence for antiquity is noble, commendable, and just really super cool.

As an interior and architectural photographer in Seattle, I’ve learned to never rely on sunshine for beautiful photos. Sure enough, on shoot day it was pouring down rain and I opted for a single-trip gear haul, white-knuckling and hunched as I darted from my car to the cozy oasis of the house. By using a tripod and long exposure method, I’m able to ensure the interior photographs are bright, natural, and inviting. Dark days present a fun opportunity to share with my design clients the technical tricks to my work that make changing light conditions just another variable in creating beautiful images. The same rule applies when I’m photographing in the winter months in Chicago — even if the sky is full of clouds and snow, I’ll insist we turn off all the lights and use the powers of long exposures and bracketed images to achieve that natural glow look and feel.

Enjoy this beautiful home and check out Office of Ordinary for your renovation project!