Melissa Rieke Photography
STUDIO CHANGES
GOING GRAY … and White of Course
Ikea Hack
Kansas City Photographer
So we have been in the studio for a little over 4.5 years now. I KNOW…I can’t believe it either. Since the moment I moved in I have wanted to paint the floors white….but since they are original floors…and paint doesn’t hold up the greatest it wasn’t an option. But this year I finally broke down and had floating floors installed. And they are BEAUTIFUL! I had been wanting them for so so long and had such high hopes for them, that I was shocked that I was not filled with overwhelming joy the first time I shot with them. I loved the floors…LOVED that kids can move all about the studio now without having to stay on a 6ft square of white floor…but something just wasn’t right. I tried painting my very primer white wall to a more CREAMY (ok so the color was actually called creamy)…but it still wasn’t all I was wanting. So…I decided to make an even bigger change..and PAINT my beloved white wall! Yes…I did whip a few sweat beads off my brow!
I decided that I needed to go with a gray of some sort to blend more nicely with the floors. I have heard many horror stories of grays gone wrong so I was taking NO chances! (No way was I painting that 20ft high ok maybe 15ft wall again if I messed up….while at the same time telling myself…its only paint you can go back white). So I signed up for the amazing Jennifer Allwood’s 50 Favorite Wall Paint Colors…a MUST DO if you are painting anything. Jennifer took all the guess work out of GRAY! Truly! I watched her video (I linked her site so you can get on and get the video as well…look to the side of her home page for the link!). I choose the 3 colors I thought would best work in the studio…went and got sample pots and poster board and made big enough samples so I could truly tell. I knew right away which one was right…even though I orginally didn’t think it was the one! 🙂 MINDFUL GRAY from Sherwin Williams.
I wanted the floor to just sort of continue up the wall. If I was painting my house or something else…I may have choosen a different color..but this was prefect!
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Let the games begin!
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So….the painting started! And right about here is when I started freaking out….
It went like this…OMG I love…OMG…its sooo dark…OMG…am I going to regret not having white…OMG I love it! And so on!
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(yes that is a ladder on a table…doesn’t everyone paint like this? I had a bruise on my foot for two weeks for walking up and down that ladder, table, chair combo with no shoes on)
Coat one is on…
It’s time to start on the second project while it dries. My Ikea Hack!
I have been dreaming up this “fake wall” for quite a while now. At first I wanted it to be on wheels (ok I still do)…and just to use a backdrop. I wanted it to be magnetic so I could change out drops easy…and to not tip over (that was my biggest hurdle). As the years have passed I have wanted this wall to more than anything…HIDE MY HOARD! I love the open studio…but I have giant windows and when people look in…they can only see my treasures/hoard! 🙂 So I dreamed up building this wall as a faux hallway/wall. Shelving on one side and that beloved Ship Lap on the other! I looked and looked and studied ideas. I visited IKEA countless time with complete intent to purchase bookcases to use. But I just couldn’t figure it out. Bookcases weren’t deep enough to really store any of my props…and I would have buy a gazillion to make it 16ft long like I wanted it. Until FINALLY I came across these open shelves… the HEJNE shelving unit! It was inexpensive…adjustable in height…wide enough for my props…and I could add on to any length pretty much. AND it was 30% off! Game on!
So Lucy and I went and purchased the shelving to get started. I am pretty sure I tried to do the math on what I was buying 100 times. She was so over it. I love IKEA…but every now and then a girl needs someone to just tell her what pieces she needs!
So I put Lucy to work assembling the shelves! I think we both had blisters from the little IKEA tools screwing in the shelving!
But we got them built..
You can see my “hoard” slowly starting to disappear!
I started to paint my “Ship lap”. Using Jennifer Allwood’s paint picks…I choose Elder White from Sherwin Williams for the ship lap wall!
I wanted the wall to be 8ft tall so I could photograph adults on it as well. Also, I wanted the wall to look as much like it belonged as possible…and 8ft was as high has the opening to the other rooms in the studio so you can’t see them and it doesn’t feel awkward. My shelving was only about 6ft tall, so I had to make some tweeks. After some sage advice from others I decided to add plywood on the “shooting” side of the shelving to make it more sturdy. I chose a rather thin plywood because I was putting it up myself and wanted to be able to handle it. I had Home Depot cut the plywood at different lengths for me in the store. The first two pieces I had meet in the middle, and then the second two pieces, I centered the first pieces and put the two cut pieces on the edges. So no “joints” lined up and it helped to keep the shelving sturdy and square. What I don’t have pictures of is I slid in 1×2’s 8ft long between the plywood and shelving to brace the plywood that was higher than the shelving.
After the plywood was all screwed on, I just started adding my different lengths of “ship lap” which of course was 1×12’s from The Home Depot. I tried to find the straightest pieces they had…but nothing is perfect. To me it is character so I don’t mind it at all when it didn’t match up. At first I wasn’t going to put up the plywood…so looking back if I were to do it again I would maybe try making my ship lap look out of more plywood cut into strips. I would have been lighter and easier for me to work with…and probably laid and lined up a little nicer. (and maybe been less expensive).
All in all I am super excited with how it turned out. I am not sure which side I love more…the storage or the shooting wall! It has opened up a lot of options for me in the studio and I can’t wait for everyone to see it. I can let little ones run all around and shoot pretty much anyway and still have a nice neutral backdrop. Such freedom gives me many many more opportunities to capture those natural smiles! I can also now HANG things on the wall with push pins! My gray wall is concrete so I couldn’t ever hang anything without my trust rusty duck tape!
I hope you love the changes as much as I do. Feel free to ask if I didn’t make anything clear on the wall building…I know I start to ramble!
NEXT UP…with the shooting area looking so fresh and clean…we are really itching to update the client area in the studio! I have been on the hunt for a gray sofa and some FRENCH style arm chairs!
Enjoying the new walls!!
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