Featured Photography: SOTA – Studio This Is

I love photography, and it's been awhile since I have presented some great shots to you all. Hiring a good photographer makes a huge difference in any photo shoot. Featured today is SOTA –Studio This Is. I have shown their work once before on my old wedding blog, and one of their studios happens to be in the Chicago area.

I always go back to their site to see what new projects that they have been working on, and here's a snippet of a few shots that I love. These images that have been selected are subjects in dramatic environmental shots. And they have a very chic, editorial feel.

(Images are from StudioThisIs.com}

Sneak Peak: Our Wedding Coffee Table Book

This is one of my projects that I have been up to – the design and layout of my wedding book. It's going to be a hard bound 12" x 12" book with 60 pages and 113 photos of our special day. The overall design is very clean, simple and graphic allowing the gorgeous photography of Marcin Harla to tell the story of our day. My hubbie and I are very excited to see the book finally printed! However, I have a few remainder things to finesse in the book, but we should have the tangible book printed by the end of the month. I am printing my book with Blurb.com.

Obviously, as you look at the pages, you can see our main wedding colors (yellow & blue) come through. I embraced the design of my invite to set the tone and design of the wedding book. For example, the cover and the backside (the 1st image) uses the same typography and graphics.

(cover & layout designed by Design w/Chon}

Sofas I Like.

I had a special request by a commenter for sofas. These sofas featured are my personal taste and style that I think are classic and will last over time. For the main living room sofa, I prefer a clean, classic shape that has strong lines and good structure. And I think these particular sofas fit the bill and will work in practically in any space. I just love Room & Board's selection of sofas and custom fabrics that you can choose from. The sofas seen are the Westwood, Andre, Brook and the Dean.

{Images from RoomandBoard.com}

One other thing about these sofas selected, they all have a fixed backs such as no loose back pillows. That's what I mean by good structure. You never have to fluff the back pillows which is ideal for me since it's low maintenance, and the couch will always look perfect. Another thing to consider when choosing a couch are the arms. High arms are more formal and really don't allow you to lay down and rest your head. Low arms are more casual and allow more comfort such as lying down. So pick your couch based on how you would like to use it in your particular space.

For our living room, we bought the Dean couch in graphite that is pictured in the the lower-right hand corner. I would have loved the detail of the pintucked couches, but my husband wasn't too keen on it. Plus, I wanted something a little more solid and masculine in appeal and the comfort of low arms, so the Dean was the best solution for our needs. It's our everyday, main living sofa.

Obviously, Room & Board is on the higher end for price; however, there are always good alternatives elsewhere. I just like to refer to Room & Board for furniture, because they have good design for furniture. For example, Urban Outfitters' has a great version of the Andre sofa from Room & Board, and they come in nice colors too. And it's practically a third of the price.

Also, I was looking into their European chaise-like sofas for my boudoir. (I love using this word for some reason for bedroom.) I love the funky, bold green color. However, they don't have the color I wanted. I am looking for a bold yellow patterned couch, or a wing chair with an ottoman to make a statement. My bedroom is pretty neutral in shades of gray, white and yellow pillow accents, and I wanted a punch of fun with the seating area where one can read a book under a lamp. :)

{Images from UrbanOutfitters.com}

I know I am out of it.

For those who do follow, I apologize for the lack of posts. Of course, I am gonna make some good excuses for not posting... :)

– I was sick and missed 3 days of work because my head was pounding with a severe headache and my eyes hurt when I moved them. The doctor said it was a sinus infection. I was on drugs for 10 days.
– I am helping with 3 baby showers and just finished designing, printing and packaging all the invites.
– I am also helping do the decor and favors for the baby showers.
– And lastly, I have been working on my wedding coffee table book which I just finished, and I retouched all 113 photos for it. I had to make sure my skin looked flawless in the book. ;)