Melissa Stewardson Photography, Placentia, CA

Although my studio has been up and running since December, it has taken me a couple months to get it completely decorated and perfected! Today I am beyond excited to reveal the new MSP studio!

Before building my dream studio, I worked out of my master bedroom (I know…I was insane!) in our old home. It took many hours and lots of energy to set up and take down for each session. By the end of the day I was exhausted. Fast forward a couple years and my family and I were ready to move. On our wish list was an extra bedroom/room with a northern facing window (I am natural light) where I could set up a permanent studio. That turned out to be harder to find than we thought. Long story short we ended up finding a home we loved, but ahem, no extra room for a studio. So, my awesome husband and I decided we could add on a room – HOORAY! It was a pretty daunting task to have plans drawn and plan each detail from the ground up. I was so lucky to have other photographer friends as sounding boards to help me along the way.

Construction started in October and was completed in early December. I was able to start working out of the studio in mid December and it was amazing!! Over the past couple of months my husband and I have been working tirelessly to make my vision come to life. Lots of shopping, drilling, hammering, organizing and wall decorating went into the final product and to say I am in LOVE is an understatement! It’s not a super large space, 240 sq. ft. total, but it’s mine and it’s permanent! The size has proven to be perfect for me. Enough space to work, hold a family, all my props and tools. I was even lucky enough to host The Simply Fresh newborn workshop in January. And the extra thick insulation we had installed keeps the heat in so well.

So look below and check it out!

My very talented sister of Driftwood Studios 2015 makes handmade wooden signs and she made this custom sign for me. LOVE IT! Check her out on Instagram!

Closet organizer from Home Depot and installed by my hubby and I. Cube storage units from Ikea.

Frames from The Organic Bloom. I am a proud distributor of these beautiful frames. Bonnet and Headband hanging organizer (probably not the official title..haha) from IKEA. I also love having a couple sets of blocks around for siblings to play with while they aren’t getting photographed.
Parent/Family seating area. Torquoise love seat from World Market, vintage camera pillow covers from The Pillow Factory.

Extra pacifiers, hand sanitizer, diapers, wipes, lotion, baby combs, etc. – all essentials for a newborn photography studio!

I couldn’t resist getting M, S, P mugs from Anthropologie for my coffee station! Cute arrow water bottle holder and snack jar are from Home Goods. Small bowls and gold candle from Target. And you can kinda see my little spoon. It’s special to me as my mom picked it up on a trip to London. 🙂

I really like having my backdrop fabric and blankets hanging vertically. Not only does it look pretty, it’s easy to grab and re-stock when I am done using it. I made the vintage ladder out of some reclaimed wood from my dad.

Yellow storage cabinets are from Target.

Let’s talk about flooring. I went with a grayish tile that looks like hard wood, with dark gray grout. It’s easy clean up when baby’s have accidents and I can use it as a back drop for prop shots…bonus!

One component I knew I wanted before I even started the planning was a barn door entrance. This beautiful door was hand crafted by my contractor and I just love it!

While working with the architect I made sure there would be a wall long enough for my 107″ Savage paper rolls. Having them permanently up on the wall is so great. I hardly ever have to use my stand anymore.

I bought the Fotodiox Triple Roller Paper Drive Set with Wall Mount Support for Mounting 3 Paper Background Rolls from Amazon. It holds 3 rolls, and I just need to order some more rolls when my smaller 53″ ones run out.

Canvases from Canvas HQ and Artsy Couture. And special appearance by our dog, Charli.

I never want to take this space for granted. So blessed and grateful to have been able to build this baby! I also want to publicly thank my husband for supporting me every step of the way throughout the process. He never once questioned my decisions and was always willing to help with anything. I had a vision and he backed me 100% of the way and that meant the world to me!