As a magazine stylist - and indeed as a consumer myself of beautiful interiors images - I’m always looking for one essential element in a photograph above all others: ambience. For sure, the furniture, colours, light and accessories in a room matter. But most importantly, it’s that soulful feeling that an individual has just been in the room - reading, cooking, relaxing, or simply sitting - and that they’ll be back at any moment. A sense of movement or of lifestyle, a candle burning or fresh flowers just picked from the garden … it’s all in the careful placing of a chair, a newspaper discarded, shoes kicked off. So often, styling is about the tiny details, a deliberate decision to keep things simple, rather than adding masses of props or complex furniture arrangements. Anyone can learn to employ a few tricks of the trade, and so …
… I’ve distilled the key principles I’ve learned over my years as a magazine stylist into an online event for the British Institute of Interior Design. The workshop will run on 3 November 2021 from 3-4.30pm and is a whistle stop tour through Styling Interiors for Photo Shoots. You’ll learn how to fine-tune interiors with a stylist’s eye. We’ll cover the importance of ambience and lifestyle elements, key props and flowers to select, how to tailor a variety of styling ‘styles’ to a variety of interiors, and how to plan a day’s shoot, from whole room shots to details. I’ll be on hand to answer your styling queries, too. The workshop is booking now - so do join us!