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Beach House Shoot Inspiration

I'm working on styling a tabletop shoot for Bridal Guide next week and here's my inspiration.

Inspiration Box - Color Story: Greige

I've been fascinated by the color greige lately and decided to do a little research on it. The dictionary meaning is "being in an unbleached, undyed state as taken from a loom". The first use of the word dates back to 1926 in reference to french raw silk. It has become known in interior design circles as the color that hovers between grey and beige, a muted light grey with a touch of warmth. I always assumed a green involvement in the color greige. Here's my interpretation as I display pieces of stone, paper, silk, ceramic and steel to arrive the perfect neutral, the intersection of green, grey & beige. Photo and styling by Robin Zachary for Prop Closet.

Inspiration Box - Color Story: Baby Blue

Here's a brand new dose of color inspiration in shades of soothing blues. This box is number 8 in my Inspiration Box series. I haven't done one in over 2 years, but hopefully will work on them more frequently again. Life and work always seem to get in the way. Now there's a category on the right column so you can click to see them all. They are all based on monochromatic palettes. This one features soft, gray blues (fluffy vintage flowers) to darker blues (velvet flowers). I see it as a study in texture and hue. That's the name of the game for me and why I do them. It's a sophisticated approach to wedding reception or bridal party color. Nail polish is Oscar de la Renta's signature bridal blue. Vintage silk flowers were found at Elephant Props and wide ribbon is from Hyman Hendler. Cotton print fabric is from Hen House Linens. Silk fabric swatch is from Mood. Favor bag of tree branch buttons was purchased on Etsy years ago. That polka dot feather—like most of my things—has been hanging around a while waiting for the right moment to be included. Photo and styling by Robin Zachary for Prop Closet.

Inspiration Box - Denim & Steel

A new inspiration box! I'm taking a turn away from all the pink shades I explored in the weeks leading up to Valentine's day and finishing up a new box inspired by a piece of denim I've been hanging onto for a while from the leg of a pair of my son's jeans. Gap denim is such good quality and I hope for a great pair of jeans to last forever. Well little kids always wear out the knees before they grow out of the pants, so I made this pair into cut off shorts for him (which he never wore) and kept the fabric to use in a tabletop shoot someday. I mixed the denim with steel toned items. Other items pictured:  Number 3 laser cut steel ornament from Apartment 48, card of vintage buttons (a thrift shop find), family vintage metal hole punch, printed cotton twill tape, cloth tag from husband's jeans (10 year old son does not wear 32 x 30!), red paper tag from husband's laundered shirt and a spool of metal wire. This box has a bit of an all American garment center feel to it. If you want to read more about my color inspiration boxes you can click here. Photo by Prop Closet.

Inspiration Box - Valentine's Day Pink

Here's a palette of pinks, white and gold. As it gets close to Valentine's Day, I've been getting in that romantic frame of mind, so instead of this being a really easy project it has been quite challenging! My table has been filled with tons of frilly pink things. It was so hard to choose what to put into this box. I'm always experimenting with shades within a color and how different textures reflect the color in a different way. Multiple shades of pink make a great wedding palette. To see my other inspiration boxes click on the "Color" or "Inspiration" categories to the right. Pictured above: A vintage white beaded lipstick case, tiny pink pillows, a pair of Victoria Secret pink panties, salmon pink silk ribbon, tiny pearl strands, vintage gold thread, hot pink satin ribbon, pink resin leaf pin and assorted hearts. Are you feeling the love? Photo by Prop Closet.

Inspiration box - Vintage Ballerina Pink

This just might be my favorite box so far. Inspired by a vintage ballerina theme, I started with pleated tulle from M&J Trimming, vintage silk and grosgrain ribbons from Hyman Hendler. I added Sarah Jessica Parker's Twilight fragrance and a bottle top from another fragrance, a mini ballet slipper that I've had for so long and a tiny gold hinged box. I love how the shades of pale champagne pink merge with vintage weathered gold, glass, ballet pink, mauve and brown. A perfect wedding palette. Let me know what you think! Photo by Prop Closet. For more information on my inspiration boxes, click here.

Inspiration box - Ivory

I'm on a roll with my inspiration boxes lately. This box features a vintage sugar sack, a japanese cloth purchased at abc home, japanese yarns from Habu Textiles, a knitwear fabric swatch from Mood, some letterpress book cards found at a Chelsea apartment sale, a scrolled hardware hook and a beautiful dried leaf. Little craft brown tag is from Gap 1969 jeans I bought for my son. I worked with a natural palette of papers, fibers and organic materials in white, creams and browns. Photo by Prop Closet.

Inspiration Box - Green

Here's my latest inspiration box. These are color studies with items that I have collected over time. See my previous box here. I will continue to produce these boxes with single a single color that I'm drawn to at the time. The cars and wooden nickel were found at a yard sale in PA. The Trifari pin is from a great vintage store The West End Garage in Cape May. The box is from Terrain. Photo by Prop Closet.

Inspiration Box

One of my favorite things to do is assemble boxes. Items collected from random sources over time make their way into a collection that is only complete when it feels right. It may take months to finish one of these. The box, a vintage style chinese grain measure is from Terrain, an Anthropologie home and lifestyle concept store that unfortunately has only one location in Glenn Mills, Pennsylvania. The spools and threads have been collected over time. I can't resist a vintage wooden spool, especially if it has light blue thread! A scrabble piece, some leather laces and a wrapper from Jacob's baseball cards, ornaments and trimmings found at after Christmas sales put the finishing touches on the box. Photo by Prop Closet.

Here's another collection—white vases, bottles, mugs, old books, a mint green spool of thread and art deco building numbers salvaged from a Chelsea renovation.  What a shame it would have been if this original steel piece had not been saved from the garbage heap. The objects are sitting on white burlap layered over a piece of white crown molding. Photo by Prop Closet.