I can’t tell you how happy I am with my decision to turn my summer house into a photo studio, now aptly named the ‘photo cottage’ (thanks Darrielle!).

I am having a great time staging my furniture makeovers in the cottage and getting great pics.  I have found that I have to time it properly.  Morning light is much better than evening light because it’s not reflecting off of my red carriage house.  Bright sunshine is best, but I can fake it a little if there are clouds.  My next goal is to research my artificial lighting options so my timing can be more flexible.  Since I have a day job masquerading as an accountant, morning photo shoots might be few and far between.

I thought I would pull the makeover all together into one final post for you.  First, a quick ‘before’ collage of the summer house.

It was charming and lovely, but sadly underutilized.  So let’s head on in and check out the new look!

The door handle on the cottage is an old hand held garden tool that Ken affixed to the door.  To the side of the door is my planter and watering can on a pulley.  Those poor begonias look pretty sad.  I never have luck with them!  I usually don’t buy them, but these were just such a gorgeous deep pink.

The bricks that make up the stoop are from an old brick patio that used to be in front of my deck.  We pulled them up a while back to make the patio larger and we replaced them with flagstone.  I saved the brick and have been using it to edge my gardens and I also used it here.  Honestly, the bricks are just stacked in place.  No mortar or anything.  They have held up quite well though.

After painting the inside walls and floor white, adding a grey diamond pattern to the floor, and having Ken build a faux wall insert for the back window, I now have the perfect canvas for furniture photo shoots.

And on the other side of the room, I have a cozy seating area in case I ever do want to just relax out there and read a book (ha, as if I really ever do that!).  Plus, I finally came up with the perfect spot for the Paris sign that I purchased from Curious Sofa.

You may recognize the chair.  It was a makeover from last winter.  I brought it to Junk Bonanza, but there were no takers.  I also had it out for my Carriage House Sale, but again, no go.  Sometimes things are just meant to be mine!  This chair is quite comfy too, especially with the added pillow which is covered in one of my favorite vintage monogrammed pillow cases.

I used the space above the window to display some of my chippy green garden tools.

And across from the chair is the cupboard for storing my photo props.

For a little better perspective, here is a shot of that entire side of the cottage.

It’s not a large space at all, but it has just enough room to make a perfect stage for freshly revamped furniture!  I know I will get a lot more use out of this space now.  You are sure to see a lot of it on q is for quandie!