I have a special treat for your guys today, before you head off to your weekend. The girls over at Love Me Do Photography recently moved into a new studio, which meant they got to design a whole new space and they have been kind enough to share it with us!

who are you/ what do you do/ where are you located?
We are Carina and Amanda, freelance and wedding photographers operating under the trademark Love Me Do Photography.
Our studio is located in Philadelphia, Pa.

what is your favorite thing about your job?
Taking pictures! You’d think we get tired of always photographing things, but every chance we get to do something fun with photography, we’re on top of it! Also, we like hanging out together. It’s really nice to have a partner working along side with you, especially when you’re self employed. We could be working on totally different projects, but having someone there to talk and joke around with really makes the whole working experience a lot more enjoyable.

how long have you been in the space?
We moved our studio back in May of 2011, but there was a bit of construction still going on, so we officially starting using the space around July or August of 2011.

whats the square footage?
apx 600 sq ft

whats your favorite thing in the neighborhood… or what do you love about the neighborhood?
We have an authentic mexican restaurant right across the street from us. I mean, can you really get much better than that?? There’s also an abundance of coffee shops, bars, restaurants and boutiques just up the block from us, and we share the building with dozens of other artists. It’s a nice little community.

what are your must haves for a creative space?
Good natural lighting is #1. We work with light, so having our space well lit is a must. Also, we didn’t want it to be too bright in there because we work on computers. So we picked a studio that faces northwest. We also wanted the studio to be spacious, yet manageable. We didn’t want something that was going to be overwhelming, but we didn’t want to be squished either. This space turned out perfectly for us!

what was your biggest resource for designing the space?
Thrift stores and our friends. We had collected a good deal of antique furniture and items from thrift shops, flea markets and estate sales. Putting them together took some thought on our end, making sure pieces fit well together and that it just didn’t look like a bunch of mis-matched furniture and items throw about. We also have a good deal of talented friends who hand-made a bunch of our items in the studio.

Here’s a short list:
Desk and bookshelf: made by Kaman + Erland
Large wooden table: made by Jesse Parsons
Buffalo paper mache head: Meg Lemieur

We took ideas from Design Sponge to paint the buffet table (grey and white stripes).

do you have a favorite item or area in the studio?
My favorite item is definitely the Buffalo Head. A close second would be a 4-way tie between my desk, the table, the coffee table, and our pink couch.








I hope you all enjoyed the space as much as I did! Thanks for sharing Carina & Amanda. If you haven’t already checked out the amazing photos that these two take, please be sure to do so…you won’t regret it. Have a happy and inspiring weekend everybody.