Welcome back to our much loved Covet My Coffee Table feature! It’s been too long! Today, we’re sharing a snapshot of the home of Lucia Braham. Many of us struggle with styling our coffee tables, yet done well, they can really make or break a living room. Who better to show us the ropes than a stylist? Over to Lucia…
“The styling on my coffee table is ever evolving and changing, depending on the seasons, what I’m working on, recent travels or my latest obsession. Styling throughout your home, I believe, should be a reflection of you, and a coffee table is the perfect platform to tell a micro story.
“Books and magazines are an obvious element. I love to stack them at different heights to create layers and plinths for other pieces. Some sort of greenery, even a leafy branch in a vase, always adds a little life.
“The candle is a limited edition fragrance/collaboration between Lumira and Monster Children which I absolutely love. The Henry Wilson Vide Poche was a gift for Christmas.
“I’m always swapping plants around to different spots in my home which I find keeps them thriving. I’m obsessed with artisan ceramics at the moment and loving this pot and tray by Wingnut & Co. The shapes are from Marble Basics, and the circular glass boxes are from HAY.”
Our recent post where bloggers shared a favourite corner of their home was so popular, it got us thinking who else’s homes you’d like to take a peek inside. And surely stylists would be top of the list? We asked seven of our favourites to kindly give us the tour…
Steve Cordony: “With the little time I get to spend at home, this is my favourite spot. The light streams in through windows and I grab and iPad or magazine, curl up in the cushions and shut off. Bliss!”
Lucia Braham: “I think it’s pretty predictable that the favourite corner of anyone’s home would be a place where your favourite pieces accumulate, right? I love this sun drenched spot for the multitude of lovely memories it evokes. The mantle is home to a small collection of my global flea market finds and a self portrait my mother drew in 1974. The chair was a bargain purchase which I restored myself and had re-upholstered in remnants of Belgian linen. The un-fired clay wall hanging is by Sydney artist Angela McNay, and I picked up the Pendleton rug, direct from the Wool Mill in Portland, Oregon, on a recent trip. This spot is a little insight to my travels overseas and I love it for the crazy mix of vintage, contemporary, antique and handmade.”
Jessica Bellef: “Owning a wall of shelves had been a dream of mine for so long, a sign that my stylist/hoarder tendencies are on the extreme end of the spectrum. My custom shelving was designed and built by my fiance’s dad and I, quite soon after my fiance and I bought our house. Running almost four metres across and housing favourite books, records and objects, I love how the shelves fill the space and compliment our 1970s home. And yep, our poor dog Charles Barkley is sporting a very undignified cone on his head in this shot. The little guy had surgery recently and he is now on the mend. The tail wags again.”
Aimee Tarulli: “My favourite corner of my home is my bedroom. It’s my quiet, calm sanctuary away from the hustle and bustle of my day to day life! I love the soft layers of Cultiver linen on my bed in pastel shades, it’s so cosy and I get up every morning and just want to jump right back in. I’ve added lots of layers and texture through linen and velvet cushions and my favourite throw from Tribe & Co giving my room a lush, inviting feel. This is the spot I look forward to getting back to after a long busy day!”
Photo by Red Rabbit Photography. Click for details
Adam Powell: “”I’m enamoured by the theatricality of lighting so at night, this little corner comes alive. My newest addition is the lava lamp; time to bring them back I say! It’s hard to miss my obsession with colour, especially against that amazing chalkboard wallpaper.”
Julia Green: “I love my dark walls and how everything seems to pop with colour against them, including this photographic artwork print from Lumiere Art + Co.”
Photography by Annette O’Brien, table and chairs by Huset
Sophie Thé: “My favourite corner is the cockpit of my boat, where I can seat, read and daydream while looking at the world go by.”
After the success of last year’s Search for a Stylist competition, Inside Out magazine and The Home are once again on the search for the next big thing in photographic styling.
Taking eight emerging designers from around Australia and giving each the opportunity to create a mock Inside Out cover, the winner will get the opportunity to style an Inside Out magazine shoot and the cover of The Home’s Summer Style magazine.
My pick by Emma Duckworth
Here at Interiors Addict, Jen and I have our favourites. Mine is Emma Duckworth’s Scandi inspired cover and Jen’s is Lucia Braham’s light and warm space.
Hard at work behind the scenes of a shoot with mentor Steve Cordony
By Lucia Braham
Lucia has been assisting some of the country’s top stylists for the past seven years and she still doesn’t think she knows it all. Think you want to be a stylist? Read on to discover if you’ve got enough passion and the right attitude to make it.
Recently, a friend of a friend called and quizzed me about being an assistant photographic stylist. She was working as an assistant set designer and told me she was sick of lugging heavy things around on set and physically exhausting herself at work. I told her she was talking to the wrong person if this was what she was looking to escape in her next career!
Lucia Braham loves learning from the best and isn’t afraid of hard work
My very first day on the job was shooting a linen catalogue, assisting Megan Morton. I spent the entire day in a room, iron in hand, delicately removing every tiny crease from countless sheets, pillowslips and duvet covers. Three months ago, nearly seven years after my very first styling experience, I had a very similar day assisting Kirsten Bookallil.
There have been days I have done nothing but open boxes, sort through stock and pack it all away again. Many times, I have spent the entire day meticulously painting sets over and over. Sure, this does not sound at all like the creative industry I was so excited to jump into but the truth is, every one of those glossy pages in books, magazines and advertisements takes hard work, a lot of sweat and sometimes (but rarely) blood.
The “glamour” of being an assistant stylist
So what’s so great about being an assistant stylist? As you will inevitably be the face to face contact for the stylist you assist, you will, over time, develop relationships with retailers, suppliers and other essential contacts within the industry, which will in turn help you build your career. Almost every shoot for both editorial and advertorial will be in advance of its release date so you will be constantly exposed to the latest and greatest in product and design.
Being an assistant to a stylist is not always easy or super rewarding to begin with, but if styling is your passion, finding a stylist you respect and admire is the key. For the last four years, I have been so fortunate to be the right hand woman to Steve Cordony (interiors and event stylist and contributing interior design editor for Belle magazine). Although I do occasionally branch out and work on my own jobs, I’m in no rush to give up the incredible opportunity to work beside him and learn all I can.
With Steve, I have worked on high profile events with some of the country’s most exclusive designers and florists. We’ve had studios full to the brim with beautiful furniture and accessories into the hundreds of thousands of dollars in value, ready for us to get creative and play with.
Have we got the right shot yet? At work with mentor Steve Cordony
In my opinion, there is no study or diploma you can do to fully learn the job of a stylist. It is all about experience, like an apprenticeship.
Here are a few tips and a bit of inside info if training to be a photographic stylist is on your agenda:
1. Be prepared to do the hard yards. There’s no 9-to-5 in the styling world. Get ready for 12-hour days on your feet, loading your car with props so high you can’t see through the back windscreen and paint, glue and tape on your shoes.
2. As an assistant, your opinion is not (at first) valid or invited. I have seen so many first time assistants jump in front of a high profile stylist or photographer and make suggestions for a shot and although it’s great to be enthusiastic, it’s just not your place.
Steve making the magic happen
3. Stay up to date on current trends, designs, exhibitions and retailers so that when you’re asked to research a product or collect an item for a shoot, you know where to go straight away.
4. Work as though you’ve read the script. In other words, listen in on what’s happening on a shoot. For example, if you hear the stylist and photographer saying “maybe we should change the colour of the roses in that vase from yellow to white,” jump the gun and be ready to swap them over before the stylist has even turned around.
5. If you’re not sure, just ask. Time is of the essence on a shoot and more often than not, every minute of the day is accounted for. Accidentally painting the set the wrong colour because you didn’t want to look silly asking, will make you look even sillier.
6. Check with the stylist or photographer before you Instagram your day’s work.
7. Start a styling kit to take with you on shoots. Multiple pairs of scissors, every type of tape you can find, glue and staple guns, pins, a Stanley knife and a few screwdrivers never go astray.
—Lucia Braham is a Sydney-based stylist for events, interiors and photography.
