Before and after: a cosy and inspiring photo studio

This season, “Home idea with IKEA” helps to find order in different areas of home, from bedrooms to children’s rooms to kitchens. But we believe that getting organised and staying cosy is no less important in your workplace. Therefore, this week we invite you to a slightly different environment – a photo studio of Karolina, which she calls her second home.

Before the renovation

Karolina owns this studio for more than five years and has already managed to reorganise it five times on her own. However, this year she ran out of ideas on how to surprise her future customers. Our interior designer Rūta was happy to help.

In a studio of 54 square meters, there are three zones for shooting: the black one, the brown one, and the white one. The first impression is great, but something is still missing. First and foremost, it is a convenient entrance hall to meet the customers, a place to keep all needed accessories, and a dedicated spot where the photographer could retouch her photos.

Challenges and results

Interior designer Rūta had a triple task: to refresh all shooting areas, to set up a comfortable spot to work on computer, and to return its primary purpose to the entrance hall so that the customers had a room to leave their clothes and handbags. The biggest challenge was to accommodate all the necessary furniture without overloading the space. After all, there must be enough space left in the studio for shooting!

The new interior was inspired by Karolina and the way she works. As she lovers calm, earthy tones in her photos, the interior designer tied to create a neutral environment, avoiding bright colours, contrasts, and profusion of different objects.

The ever-changing setup

It is not necessary to update the whole room to have different photoshoot backgrounds each time. Changing only the layout or colours of furniture could be more than enough. As an additional corner for photoshoots, our interior designer has planned a separate area with single track rails on the ceiling. Each rail can be used to hang curtains in different colours or even artificial plants and allows switching the backgrounds according to the need.

STRANDMON wing chair and footstool as well as the cushions are also easy to change, as their covers can be removed and replaced to suit other accessories and the mood of the photoshoot.

Where do beautiful photos come from?

Cosy background and honest smiles are just the beginning. To delight customers with great quality photos, a lot of time is spent retouching. To facilitate long hours by the computer, the interior designer has chosen a TROTTEN sit/stand desk. Changing positions between sitting and standing will let the photographer both feel and work better.

All props in one place

The formerly unused niche is now a great place for storage. It is fully packed with MULIG bars for photoshoot clothing, hooks for pouffes and the makeup artist’s chair, several MALM chests of drawers, shelves, and boxes for decorations. There are also two additional NISSAFORS trolleys for photo equipment that needs to be moved from one side of the studio to another.

We almost forgot...

The last place we want to show you is the first one that the studio’s customers see. The entrance hall. After our makeovers, it now has a KALLAX shelving unit for storage, some hooks for coats and jackets, and even a bench for shoes. Besides the welcoming environment, all guests of the studio are also greeted with Karolina’s photo gallery. You only get one chance to make a first impression, don‘t you?

“Mobility is key in a photo studio. This is why most of the furniture and accessories here are easy to move around and relocate in order to create a whole new setup for each photoshoot.”

Rūta Gajauskaitė, IKEA interior designer