Beautiful Basics {Ideal Home Shoot}

Marie Nichols — Mon, 07 May 2012 17:00:44 +0000

When you’re a stylist people often assume that everything you shoot is “your style” and while I think you can have a signature look I think that a good stylist should be some what of a chameleon adapting to whatever the latest project may be. When asked to describe my own style I always opt out by using the term “eclectic” basically meaning I like a bit of everything! That said I generally like using colour and pattern and couldn’t imagine living without it.

Back in last months issue of Ideal Home I was asked to create a feature about Beautiful Basics. A neutral colour palette and choosing items not solely upon their style credentials but for function and longevity too. So for someone who loves colour it was some what of a revolution to work with a calm palette, but I think I may just have inspired myself! I could certainly live with this look, my absolute favourite piece being the Conran for M&S bed. As usual if you want to know where anything is from just ask below!

Client: Ideal Home, May 2012. Photographer, Simon Whitmore. Stylist, Me!

Oh and a big thanks to Dream Walls for the stone effect panels -they were great!

Australian Country Style {April Cover}

Marie Nichols — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 07:30:11 +0000

Well what a ghastly week its been! I love spring but these April showers have been pretty much non-stop. I was supposed to be shooting a lovely seasonal shot this week but sadly it’s had to be postponed. The trouble is the forecast isn’t looking much better for the forseeable future. I love doing little seasonal shoots, being inspired by the season for once rather than working against it {in magazine world we are always shooting 4-5months ahead!} You may remember back in the Autumn me harping on about how inspired I was feeling by the Autumnal hues…well I got together with Dan Duchars and our dogs and we set up a little impromptu shoot. The result of which is on the cover of the April issue of Australian Country Style…I still always get excited to see my work in print and if it makes the cover, doubly exciting! How cute is Dan’s dog Beano in her first modelling role! She’s a Beddlington Terrier/ Whippet cross and quite simply adorable…

Obviously because we were shooting outdoors it decided to rain (a familiar picture!) and it was damn chilly but fun and inspiring.

Here’s another little shot, I love collections, rummaging for Autumnal inspired finds, kind oflike beachcoming but amongst the carpet of leaves…

Back later with something a little more seasonal for those of us in the Northern hemisphere!

Happy Weekend

Marie Nichols — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 19:22:20 +0000

After a four-day week filled with prepping for shoots and press shows; working on new designs for Number 57 and house hunting the weekend came round pretty quick, so quickly in fact I didn’t even have a chance to blog! No sooner than it’s arrived and it’s Sunday evening. This morning, before meeting up with friends for a coffee and a stroll in the park, I headed to my first car boot of the season. I have to say I was rather reserved for me. I just found a few things to top up the prop shed with! I’ve another Christy shoot coming up very soon so the little alarm clock is perfect! I’m not too sure what exactly I need the maps for just yet but I know they’ll come in handy for something!

This week I’ve got a stack of prep to do for a shoot next week and hopefully a little seasonal shoot too { providing all these horrid April showers don’t wash away the blossom away!} I’ll be back though sharing some of my recent shoots and a couple of lovely companies I’ve recently discovered. Enjoy your Sunday evening my friends.

Happy Easter!

Marie Nichols — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 22:25:26 +0000

Don’t you just Love long weekends? I’m right in the middle of enjoying a precious 4 whole days with the husband and dog but wanted to stop by and wish you all a Happy Easter. Here’s a few Easter inspired pics I snapped on the phone this morning before we headed out for the day…

Number 57 Blog

Marie Nichols — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 21:27:53 +0000

Hello my friends in the middle of a busy shoot week but just wanted to pop by to let you know The Shop At Number 57′s blog is now up and running…

Friday Fancies {on a Saturday Afternoon}

Marie Nichols — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 16:50:50 +0000

Whoops! it’s not quite Friday again – sorry!! This week has absolutely flown by, a trip to Manchester, several meetings, prep for next weeks shoot , Number 57 and house hunting have kept me very busy indeed but here are a few things that have caught my eye this past week…

1. Mr Jason Grant is a very stylish chap, when I first started freelancing in Sydney he was Style Director at Real Living so our paths crossed frequently. He’s now freelance himself and in addition to working on stacks of styling projects he’s just launched his 3rd Paint range with Murobond. If you’re in Sydney this weekend be sure to pop into their showrooms to visit the paper flower shop with everlasting blooms made by Paper Couture’s Jo Neville from many recycled & collected papers using Jason’s Grey Scale Garden palette for more details click here.

2. I’m a little bit obsessed with oversized scissors {have you seen our ceramic ones at Number 57?} so I love Bianca Hall’s new “Chop Chop” cushion.

3. Whilst on the subject of paint check out Fired Earth’s new range – love them all!

4. I discovered Surfacephilia at Tent last year I love Helen’s digital print wallpapers and I just discovered she has a range of ceramics too, check them out here.

Sainsbury’s Jubilee Shoot

Marie Nichols — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 08:24:59 +0000

Back on a chilly day in January I teamed up with Dan and the girls at Camron PR to shoot Sainsbury’s new Jubilee range. Despite the imminent promise of showers we managed to get all the shots in the bag and looking like a “marvelous British bash! I don’t know about you but I can’t wait to join in the street parties and get all patriotic this summer!

Seaside Snapshots

Marie Nichols — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 21:27:13 +0000

It was such a beautiful weekend here in the Uk that we made two trips to the coast, Eastbourne on Saturday and Whitstable on Sunday…

Postcard from Poland

Marie Nichols — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 16:25:48 +0000

After a slightly delayed start {2 cancelled flights and 4 countries in 24hrs!} I made it to Poznan, Poland’s fifth largest city. Arriving some what later than planned did mean we were dashing about but I did get a chance to take a few snaps of the colourful old town and a few other things that caught my eye…

New From Christy {SS12 Shot}

Marie Nichols — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 09:42:44 +0000

Back in the Autumn the lovely teams at Hillgate and Christy asked me if I’d be interested in Styling their new Spring Summer 2012 collection. Of course I said yes, Christy are such a well established textiles firm who’s name is synonymous with quality but what was most exciting for me was that they had new design manager Lucy on board and were looking to move the brand forward. With a strong selection of designs falling into three ranges Vintage, Artisan and Simplicity , we hunted out locations, and got snapping! {If only it was that simple!!} The new brochure popped through my letterbox last week and they’ve done an amazing job, it looks fantastic and is printed on lovely” un-coated stock” {as Simon would say} to me it’s just lovely paper that smells good too!

Pheeew… sorry stacks of images! and that’s just a handful of what we shot with the boys from Ikon Photography! I think my favourite new design is the Sparkle linen from the Simplicity range but I love the ticking stripe pillowcases from Artisan too! When I return from Poland I’m heading up to Manchester to catch up with the lovely girls at Christy and get a sneak peep at the new A/W collection which we’ll be shooting next month – very exciting!