Lara Kimmerer | photographer

Boston Interiors Photographer | Old Homes

Last week Peter & I made our way to Wellfleet to photograph one of our September couples at the bride's family summer home, which happens to be very old. Just walking in you could feel all of the history and all of the stories the walls hold. I'll be sharing that session soon, but for now I want to share with you some shots of another old home I had the pleasure of photographing a few months ago.

This home is located in Brookline and was built in 1862. The house has secret passages with hidden doors, detailed wood work and beautiful wallpaper. The current owners have updated some of the spaces - especially the kitchen, which makes it comfortable but keeps the feel of the original home. I've always been fascinated with older spaces. It will be interesting to see what kind of a home we end up in.

Hope you enjoyed this small tour!

Boston Interiors Photographer | What Home Looks Like

When I meet someone for the first time and I tell them I'm a photographer, they often ask me what I shoot - you know, mainly. I take a breath and say, well...two things - mainly. I shoot weddings because I love being there on one of the more important days in a couple's life together. I love seeing the in-between moments and being around people. I also shoot interiors, however (and exteriors, but interiors are way more interesting to me). I enjoy seeing how different people choose to decorate - choose to create their space and make it personal. I was once told I needed to decide on which to shoot. I have decided to not choose. I like them both.

Entering someone's home for the first time is always intriguing. You may know the person well -  or not know them at all, but when you see their space you immediately begin to tweak what you think about them. How have they chosen to decorate? What is their overall aesthetic? What does that painting on the wall say about them?

One thing I've noticed, sadly, is that many people don't really have an aesthetic - or haven't completely found it yet. Shopping in home stores isn't bad, but I think it's important to add a few personal pieces and not use those stores to decorate every nook and cranny of your home. Sometimes though, I get the great pleasure of entering a home that feels incredibly personal. In those spaces I would gladly spend all day photographing every detail and creating hundreds of tiny vignettes - to tell the story of the person who lives there. The other day I stepped into one of those homes. These are just a few overall images of this fantastic space. I think the kitchen is my favorite room.

 

 

 

 

 

Whitney Interior Design | Cambridge home interior

I had the ultimate pleasure of working with Whitney of Whitney Interior Design to create images for her portfolio. We spent the day finding vignettes throughout her client's beautiful Cambridge home. Whitney told the tale of our day together, with some behind the scenes shots, on her blog...definitely check it out!

I asked Whitney a few questions so you could all get to know about her and her business a bit more.

Meet Whitney:

How did you decide to start your own interior design business?

I got into this business after having spent more than a decade in broadcasting.  I worked in radio, local TV news, and network TV sports until I realized that I just didn’t love it as much as I wanted to love it.  My wonderful and amazing husband was super supportive when I decided to change careers. I enrolled at the New York School of Interior Design because I wanted to have a strong foundation in color and building codes to supplement my own ideas about space layout and room aesthetics.  It was very hard work, but having accurate knowledge of safety codes, architectural history, space planning and project management has helped me create safe, beautiful, happy homes for my clients.   Knowledge is power!

I worked at 4 different residential design firms while I was in school. It took a while to fully grasp and successfully manage the business and administrative demands of the business.  I established my firm in 2008 and took lots of little jobs in the beginning, no project was too small.  It’s been an adventure running a small business, and I’m still tweaking how to be my own boss.  But I’m happier than I ever was working for a famous-named media company.  I was drawn to this business because of the personal connections made through creating spaces for others.  In the process of making their homes more efficient and aesthetically pleasing, my clients and I become friends, and I’m honored to be part of their lives.

What's your favorite part of the design process?

The very beginning of the job is my favorite part of the design process, because my mind races with ideas as soon as I see a new space.  It’s also the most challenging part of the process, as I have to edit through all my ideas and develop a focused plan.  But those first few minutes of meeting a new project are wildly fun for me.  Cover the walls in velvet! Paint the ceiling glossy green! Tear out that wall and put a powder room!  Build a double-sided fireplace in the great room!  Put a crystal chandelier in the bathroom!

 

 

Where do you find your inspiration?

I find my clients inspiring!  And I make it my job to create home settings out of that inspiration.  Many people feel that their interior environment ‘should’ look a certain way, so they buy everything off one page in a catalog, or from the vignette at the showroom.  That’s just wrong.  I feel that my professional obligation is to escape the cookie-cutterness of that.

Your interior environments are where you live, where you share time with those you care about and it should feel like you.  I learn about my clients’ lives and history, and as a result, I get inspired to move the project in a direction highly personal to them.  I ask for old photos of the grandparents, frame them and hang it with finger paintings done by the children and suddenly the wall is far more personally distinctive than if there was a framed painting from a catalog hanging there.

I worked with a bachelor who was intimidated by the process and hired me to furnish his new apartment.  As I got to know him, I learned he that his hobby was writing and recording music.  I transformed his entire 2nd bedroom into a music room with all his instruments on display and equipment setup, ready to jam. He was shocked that I suggested this because he thought he ‘had to’ setup the 2nd bedroom as a guest room.  There is no ‘have to.’  We put in a sleeper sofa for the occasional guest, but the client’s lifestyle really demanded a space for his music to flourish.  His hobby inspired me to create an interior that was 100% him, not cookie cutter.

As a designer you must work with your clients to create spaces that reflect them.  How would you describe your own personal style?

My personal style leans a bit toward the masculine, with aged leather and deep, quiet colors.  I layer rugs and combine bright metals with rustic woods for balance.  I often marry new and old, soft and rigid, posh and cheap.

To that end, I buck the expectations of sticking within one ‘class’ of décor. I love fine antiques and jump for custom made furniture.  But I also love cheap vintage finds from thrift stores and estate sales.  I put my stunning Hinson lamp on a side table that I bought off Craigslist.  And the essence of my style is elegant livability.  My space has to be efficient and comfortable, and I bring the same mandate to all my projects.

  

For the Cambridge job you had to travel quite a bit back and forth from NYC.  When I'm on long drives I sometimes like to scan the radio for songs I haven't heard in a while.  What's the one song you're hoping to hear when scanning the radio?

I love country music, which surprises people for some reason.  To my disappointment, there isn't a country station in New York City, which is ridiculous.  On the drives back on forth between NYC and Boston, I crank up the country stations throughout Connecticut and sing my heart out.  I hope for the late-90s country songs that remind me of my high school days!  Trisha Yearwood, Brooks & Dunn, Clint Black, but especially Toby Keith's "Should've Been A Cowboy!"  I don't sing well, but I sing loud and clear!

 

Thank you, Whitney!  If any of you are looking for a little help in making your home beautiful, but also livable - I highly recommend contacting Whitney!

Modernist Home | Metro Boston Architectural Photographer

In the last few years I've been lucky enough to photograph some really interesting homes in the Boston area.  For most of my life I've envisioned myself living in a quaint farmhouse...you know, wrap-around porch, dormers, old and historic.  I still feel a draw towards those homes, but lately my eye has been wandering.  Being able to see inside so many homes - and many of them very unique - have made me question my home aesthetic.  We'll see what the future holds for Peter and me, but for now I can dream about all of the possibilities that are out there.

Here is a house I photographed very recently.  It's located in Lexington in the Five Fields district.  You can read much more about this house - and about modernist houses in the Boston area on the Modernism in Massachusetts site.  The listing brokers are Bill Janovitz and John Tse.  Take a look.  If you are the one to buy the home, I'd love to be invited over for a glass of wine and a seat by the fire.

fires and warm baths | boston architectural photographer

As some of you may know, along with photographing people and the wonderful moments and events that make up the story of their lives - I also photograph dwellings (i like that word).  I've been told by a few people that I should choose one or the other - people or places, the thing is...I like them both.  I like them both for their differences, but also for the things that connect them.  

You can tell quite a lot about a person from the space they choose to inhabit.  Sometimes I try to guess what a person's home is going to look like, or feel like before I meet them.  Sometimes I'm right, sometimes I'm way off.  I love seeing how people choose to decorate, or what style home they choose to dwell (right?) in.

I've been a bit remiss on my blogging lately.  This partly has to do with the enormous amount of editing work I have waiting for me (because of all the lovely and wonderful weddings I was lucky and honored to photograph this year), but also because of the many houses I've been shooting this fall.  I've decided to show you a few of my favorite rooms that I recently had the opportunity to see.

I'm longing for a fireplace in my everyday right now.  I miss the smell.  My friend Allie (she spells it Ali now, but she'll always be Allie to me) says the smell of the fireplace (especially in the summer) smells like 'lara's house'...my family's lake home.  I'd like to sit in this living room and feel the warmth on my face.

Or maybe I'd like to sit in this nook with a book and a cup of tea.

This space is so relaxing and beautiful.

And finally, I'd like to take a warm bath in this beautiful bathroom...and preferably have a glass of red wine beside me.

many more photos coming soon.  promise.