For the Fall Nights Ahead

We’ve been living in our house for about a year and a half now and this was the year that we decided to tackle our yard and garden. Our house is 110 years old, which for Seattle, isn’t uncommon! However, that meant that most of our time and money and effort has gone to renovating the inside (check out our primary bathroom renovation here). This has left the poor garden in the dirt.

With some help from professional landscapers, we’ve been working with our very mature garden to keep the good and cull out the not so good. As a native Midwesterner I never could have believed the trouble that blackberry causes in the PNW!

To get me going, I planned a birthday garden party (anyone else need a deadline to get projects done?). For weeks, I spent nights after the kids’ bedtime driving out to Lowe’s and spreading mulch and weeding and laying pea gravel and installing garden lights and and and — it totally became a different garden. Now we’re focused on a courtyard we have on the side of the house. It’s going to be the perfect place to host bonfires and to sneak out with my husband on chilly nights while the kids sleep upstairs. Swoooon!

Since we’re basically starting with an empty slate I pulled together a mood board. We already have the black bench and the fire chiminea is coming! The rest are roundups (mostly from World Market) that are on our wishlist.

Stay tuned! Can’t wait to show you once we get the rest together.

Modern Luxury Airbnbs in Leavenworth | Seattle Photographer

When I think of Leavenworth, I think of quaint shops, delicious sausages and beer, and epic mountain views.  Admittedly, I’m not usually throwing around words like “modern design” and “elevated interiors” when I’m thinking about my favorite little mountain town just two hours from Seattle.  However, all of this is changing right this moment with the arrival of Hara Homes.  Owner and developer Camila Borges has landed a serious slice of luxury into this town.  Like literally, right in town.  

While the exterior has kept with the traditional roots of the Bavarian style surroundings, these six homes are anything but traditional inside.  Each home is a unique masterpiece of interior design and style.  Camila has exceptional taste and has outfitted each vacation rental with the luxuries you’d want on vacation with clean and elevated design.  Natural light flows into each space and the open floor plan allows for long days of preparing meals, enjoying each other’s company and getting some much needed post-pandemic rest.  These are not your average Airbnb vacation homes.  

Each home is prepared for a full family and beyond.  There are bunk rooms for the kids and beautiful primary bedrooms on both the first and second floors.  The first floor rooms are the showstoppers of design with feature walls, boutique lighting and architectural side tables.

Photographing these spaces was a unique project!  I spent an entire day on the property creating with Camila.  Running from one house to the next felt a little like the cartoon hallway of doors, and me with my gear popping in and out and over!  It was truly amazing to see the way light changed in the spaces throughout the day and to slow down and create some beautiful vignettes mixed in with capturing the spaces themselves.  It’s not enough to just have good photos of the spaces alone – when you introduce lifestyle content into your vacation rental photography it stands out.  Guests can imagine themselves enjoying your Airbnb experience when they can see it with a little help from your photographer.  It’s no wonder that professional Airbnb photos help increase your listing and earnings by 20%.  

Enjoy the beautiful spaces and book your stay here!

Mod-Zen Airbnb near Seattle

Shooting lots and lots of Airbnbs around Seattle, I always look forward to seeing each space and seeing how the owners have brought out its unique qualities to make an excellent guest space. In this vacation rental, the owners worked with a contractor to design a custom wood wall divider with sliding panels to make for a really zen feel, while also offering two sleeping spaces. The panels also filter the light really beautifully and honestly I had to resist the urge to just put down my camera and take a nap. ;) Interiors photography is such a joy for me — I get to relive all the best parts of playing countless hours of The Sims as a 12-year-old, designing and redesigning spaces. The spaces we surround ourselves with are a part of us, whether we’re living in them permanently or just airbnb-it for a weekend trip.

Hope you enjoy the photos of this beautiful space!

Washington Coast Vacation Rental | Seattle Airbnb Photographer

I’ve been following Beachhousewa on Instagram for a while now. I’ve admired the beauty of the homes and the level of attention to detail. It finally worked out for me to stay with them and to photograph their newest cabin listing, the Lewis.

As expected, it was pretty remarkable. The house is not only beautiful, but they’ve truly thought of everything from having an extensively appointed kitchen to a range of media and games to instruments to play during your stay. Best of all, it’s walking distance to the Pacific Ocean.

It was such fun to photograph this space. The abundance of natural light made for light and airy photos, and the lines in all the woodwork were so pleasing — I kept gasping behind my camera. :)

The Lewis Cabin can be rented directly through Beachhousewa here.