For the last couple of weeks I have had the pleasure of working with photographer, Kent Dayton, on capturing new images for Merida Home to help tell our incredible story!
The Team (Left to Right) – Christina / Carrie / Kent / Whitney / Maegan / Heather (Front-Center)
Carrie (Merida’s Marketing Manager) and I planned for 2 separate shoots. The first was at our Fall River facility where product swatch and studio photos were taken. Kent also explored our manufacturing facility and started capturing the people and development behind our products.
The second shoot was located at a beautiful home on New Hampshire’s Lake Sunapee. This shoot was meant to help express how the rugs are used in an actual room setting. I thought this was a perfect location for Merida Home. The house used to be an old camp, and has now been updated to have a very sophisticated presence with a fun, comfortable feel. Below are some behind the scenes photos of setting up each shot and the final images Kent captured at Lake Sunapee.
BEFORE
Viewing some of the first shots on Kent’s laptop of the living room with our Kona rug
AFTER
Final shot of Kona Black Walnut
I ended up using a bunch of throw pillows and blankets to help tie in the rugs with their surroundings. The wood floor in the living room had been painted a deep indigo blue, and walls a warm orange. I thought it would be best to enhance the complimentary colors and add persimmon toned pillows to the couch. With all the hues combined the rug popped and completed the setting!
BEFORE
Whitney and Christina arranging the children’s room to feature our Kids Viewpoint rug
AFTER
Final room shot with Fair Isle Capri
We really wanted to keep each photo clean and focused, so for the kids room we eliminated any clutter and simplified the elements. The dark blue throw was a bit too heavy and didn’t work well with all the lighter tones in the room. It wasn’t really allowing the rug to shine. We replaced it with a cream waffle weave throw. This brought in a new texture and softened the color palette.The final shot shows the light pale yellow walls and sea glass tones of blue in the furniture. This allowed the garden of color from the Viewpoint rug to glow. We threw in accents of toys and pink slippers, but kept the overall feel clean and inviting with the focus being on the rug.
BEFORE
Kent snapping images of our Madagascar Glacier rug while Carrie oversees
AFTER
Final shot of a Madagascar Glacier runner
This was a fun shot to set up. The painted wood floors of solid blue to checked yellow draw your eye through the composition. Even though there are a lot of elements to look at in the shot, the rug still is the main feature. It’s texture is so dimensional against all the other smooth surfaces in the room.
I’m really glad we were able to use this beautiful home to showcase Merida’s rugs. It was a very successful day and we were able to get 14 different room shots. We are in the process of finalizing the photos now and I’m excited for them to be posted on our website soon!
Tags: natural fiber rugs
Really cool, I love this backstage view of the action!
It is pretty incredible to see some of the before and after shots — what a transformation! The rugs look natural and stunning in this house, and the photography really highlights the incredible textures and colors seen in the Merida rugs! Well done!
This is very nice!! The rugs really bring out the character of the house. Good work!!
Great work. Kent did tremendous job focusing on the rug while capturing the entire room setting. It’s very hard thing to do and he nailed it.