It’s a sad, sad day for me, but happy for somebody in LA. One of my best friends ever, world famous prop stylist Scott Horne is selling his amazing Los Feliz home. I LOVE this house so much. After his breakup with his long term boyfriend he thought he was going to keep it, but he’s recently decided to sell to get a fresh start. I don’t typically do real estate listings but I thought it would be fun to show how we styled it for a more editorial site (mine and the book) compared to how it can be shot for a more informational purposes (real estate). I suppose overall one provokes more of a sense of person which gives the viewer an emotional reaction whereas the other shows the space in a broader way, giving more information. I like both and I know that some of you do, too, so we are trying to shoot more wides for you, in addition to our pretty vignettes.
Let’s start with the living room – here is how we shot it for Styled, the book:
Rarely do I see a house with no real color and wish it were mine. This is that house. I know that my heart needs to be surrounded by more color, but man, he knows how to mix a neutral.
Here is what the real estate photos look like.
They use a wider lens, to show more information which has to distort the sides and makes you feel further away, thus less intimate but it’s nice to see the whole room.
Or at times the lens squishes the middle of the frame like in this one, in exchange for showing the whole space. This is not me saying that one is better, they just have different purposes with different end results. So many people wish we took huge pulled back shots (and we are trying to do more of that) but that means you have to use a different lens which changes the perception of the space.
I love this one, by the way. When it’s a smaller scope it still works and looks great.
As a buyer, I definitely want to see these pulled back shots from every angle.
But I sure do like our Styled shots from the book, like this entry:
Here is how they shot that the entry, more pulled back which I actually love because you can see the arches and more of the architectural interest.
This one was also shot for the real estate photos, which I love. So as you can see this has nothing to do with the photographer, just the function of the photo.
We figured we’d pull together a get the look, for those interested in that beautiful living room.
Couch | Rug | Coffee Table | Side Table | Tripod Table Lamp | Fringe Pillow | Plaid Pillow | Chair | Leather Pouf | Etched Ceramic Vase | Ceramic Urchin Box | Black and White Lined Vase | Cream Pillow | Black and White X Base Pillow | Navy Throw | Brass Bowl | Short Woven Basket | Woven Basket | Brass Wishbone | Black Lamp | Gesturing Man Print | Black Lines Print
(His sofa is from Cisco Home, where I also custom ordered mine from. It’s expensive and has a long lead time, but the quality and comfort for such a slim, modern design is uncomparable for an investment piece).
Meanwhile this dining room was never shot because “it was never ready”. So we don’t have editorial shots of it, just the real estate shots.
It’s such a pretty room (hague blue, from Farrow and Ball) and its dark deep color was dramatic and yet calming.
Onto the hallway:
That’s how they shot it for real estate, and here is how we shot it for Styled:
You know, a bench in the middle of the hallway … We placed the bench, rug, plant and obviously the art/shoes to help tell more of a story.
Now the kitchen, here are the real estate photos:
And here are our styled out shots:
Lastly, the powder room. We shot it like this:
And they shot it like this:
WAY more information, but so good to see how the space works, right?
We shot his master bedroom two different ways:
1. Tight and close (for Styled)
2. Pulled back and yet still intimate (for a sponsored makeover):
And then the real estate photo shows an even more pulled back angle.
He has done such a good job of making it feel really inviting and lived in, with all neutrals.
Upholstered Bed | Rug | Nightstand | Table Lamp | Coal Linen Bedding | Linen Sheets | Cream and Black Throw | Wishbone Arm Chair | Candles | Brass Bowl | Black Bud Vase | Cream Throw Pillow | Grey Alpaca Throw
Lastly, the guest room. We styled/shot it like this:
For real estate staging it looked like this:
Bed | Nightstands: Vintage, Similar: Curiosity Nesting Tables | Rug | Patterned Sheet Set | Embroidered Duvet | Linen Euro Shams | Wall Sconce: Vintage, Similar: Princeton Junior Sconce | Plant Stand: Vintage, Similar: Ceramic Planter Stand with Pot | Art: Vintage,Similar: Hovering Union Art | Side Table: Vintage, Similar: Round Metal and Glass Accent Table | Global Oversized Pillow | Raw Edge Quilted Sham
We also shot the Izze party, tons of Target content and many Redbook DIYs here. That special house will be missed. I believe he has two more open houses this weekend if you are interested. Check it out here.
Don’t worry, his next house will be all over this blog, too….
For more of Scott’s Sophisticated Home Makeover: Bathroom Makeover | Bedroom Refresh | Bedroom Refresh
Maybe you should play matchmaker with Orlando and Scott! Talk about a power couple!
HA. They know each other and its been brought up. 🙂
I sure do love this home and it’s style and kept pinning and pinning and pinning. It is a less cluttered, calmer version of my cozy bungalow home. Particularly drawn to the neutral, sculptural, and graphically interesting art. Looking forward to seeing his new home.
Swooning over these photos and the styling. The club chairs in his living–I know you provided a “get the look” option but I want those exact.same.chairs. Any idea on source?
Best of luck to Scott in his new home–yay for fresh starts!
They are vintage, as you probably assumed … xx
2nd vote on the chairs! I would love those same exact ones.
I don’t understand why the guest room had to be completely rearranged and restyled…can you explain why the drastic difference?
His boyfriend took the bed with him to New York and Scott had that daybed in his back house. So it was more about inventory, not necessarily changing that room.
What do you call the type of curtains/blinds he uses throughout? They look linen-ish.
He used calico corners for his shades (which is what we are using for our new house) and he has a combo of up and down and roman. xx
OMG! I welled up. Love you! Love the round ups !! ?
they love you right back 🙂
I find the before/after staging photos of this house way more similar than the before/after of your house. HIs personal space is far more general/neutral than your more unique tastes. It’s lovely both ways, but I do like the “jazzed up” Emily style so much more!
Great post! I’m surprised how much I love the neutrals, which he made not boring at all. And comparing the photos is very interesting.
Any chance you have a source for the piece he has on the kitchen wall in one of the pics, displaying his fruit? I love that idea. Thanks!
It’s a one of a kind sculpture but h’s wanted to reproduce it forever. its the most amazing fruit drying rack.
Thank you! Didn’t realize you had already replied. (Some comments re-loaded…weird.)
I second the request for the fruit storage/display piece in the kitchen!
This is really enlightening! And I may be unusual but as a househunter I would prefer to see the Styled photos (and they would be much more likely to make me fall in love with a house). I know that conventional real estate wisdom is to go impersonal and ‘staged’ with your MLS pics – but as long as it’s not a house full of family pics that make you start wondering about the occupants shouldn’t the rule be, The Prettier The Better? Not that the MLS ones here aren’t pretty but dang the Styled ones are killer!!
I wholeheartedly agree! I couldn’t believe how much I didn’t like the real estate photos compared to the styled photos. This might be because Emily’s styling is so amazing and this real estate wisdom doesn’t really apply in her case. Probably for most of use it’s better if less “styled”. But i would have been much more interested in the house if they used the styled photos as they were (I can see how some additional views of the kitchen or the bathroom were needed). Very cool to see the difference.
He has such a fantastic house! I actually am house hunting right now and I wish it was for sale in my area.
I think both the real estate photos and the Styled photos have their place. The Styled photos are beautiful and great for decorating/styling inspiration, but they are pretty useless in terms of actually showing how big the rooms are or how the rooms fit together. When I’m looking at real estate listings, I want to see the entire space without any clutter, so I can imagine where my own stuff would go. And pulled back frames are also really
Whoops, I hit post before I finished formulating that last thought. Anyway, the close, fully styled shots are all about the items in the shot, and not really about the house. Which is annoying if the purpose of the shots is to show you what the house looks like. (But perfect if the purpose is to show you how to style pretty things.)
Emma, I totally agree with you. Big pulled back are less beautiful but good for information whereas the closer has more stuff, and is prettier, but you know, more stuff. xx
Link to brown leather chair in THE LOOK: Guest Bedroom please?
This looks like the Eiffel Chair from Crate and Barrel to me. I have this in an amazing one off grey suede and it is the most comfortable chair in history. I love it so much.
It’s vintage 🙂
Girl you better be setting Scott and Orlando up.
OMG you guys are hilarious. xx
This is my favorite house in your book!
I like both the “styled” versions and the “real estate” versions. What would you call the style here – California neutral? Whatever it is, this style really speaks to me.
Thanks for posting all the yummy images.
I think thats a great term. ‘California neutral – trad’ or Nuevo trado cali mod. what an annoying thing to write … 🙂
love it!! curious – would love to know where he got the awesome wooden wall hanging in the guest bedroom??
I’m wondering too – its amazing!
This is SO interesting! I really like how it shows the difference between the pulled back shots and the more “intimate” shots. On the one hand I always like seeing the whole room, but it’s always so distorted. The closer shots have so much more character. 😀
But I do see how both have their place.
Oh, and also: Such a lovely home! I hope you’ll take us on a visit to Scott’s new house.
Wow! What a stunning home. Can you share the paint color Scott used in the living and guest rooms? He sure knows how to choose a neutral color and make it look beautiful!
I’ve noticed a huge improvement in the spelling and grammar of this blog’s posts since your survey at the beginning of the year. I know it’s irritating for you to proofread, but the extra effort is very much appreciated! Thank you!!
Ha. No real difference. I think maybe we are all trying harder. thank you 🙂
Oh my, I am in love! This home is beautiful. I like how you show the styled shots along with the real estate shots.
Lovely home! Love the paint choices and blues.
What a great house! With great style!
What a sweet home, and perfectly done! And that pool! LMK if any of your friends are selling something on the west side 🙂
Styled or unstyled~~ so much awesome! I wanna live here!
Another plus to the real estate photos: It allows me to see room layout.
I LOVE the Styled photos (and I remember them from the book). However, I often don’t think I can achieve it. But when seeing the real estate photos, it’s easier to think “I can do this!”
Very interesting post. I do like seeing the bigger picture as it is more helpful to train my eye how things work together. Love the styled bedrooms the best.
Curious why the kitchen clock is hung so high? It’s not just in this house but many houses seem to hang the clocks near the ceiling and I don’t know why it would be hung lower like other decorations.
That should have said “why it would not be hung lower….”
I’m curious, do you know the reasoning for turning all of the lights on in the real estate shots? It’s clearly daylight.
Good luck in your next home, Scott.
oh, i didn’t even notice that. i’m curious as well. i recently told someone to turn her lights off in her listing photos. eek. although her pictures were really bad and the lights on weren’t helping anything. oh well.
Do you happen to know the paint color in the living room? It is a great neutral.
I have used Sherwim Williams Alabaster and while I like it, may be a little ‘whiter’ and less warm than the walls in the photos.
As always, great content.
Name of paint color in living room, please?
For some reason the real estate staging for the guest room makes it look much smaller than they way you had it for the book!
It took me a long time to pick out why I have never liked most real estate photos. I feel like the distortion isn’t always worth viewing everything. It’s not natural to the eye! I like your styled photos better. The pulled back real estate ones are good for information for sure, but I fall in love with the close ups!
Stunning! I love every room! Amazing that desk in the kitchen! Nice idea!
This is just awwwsome….!!!
I love the fruit holder on the kitchen wall! Is that a unique piece or readily available?
What an awesome post! I’m about to list my home and this is very helpful. In the past I’ve been critical of real estate photos because they didn’t look like magazine photos, now I understand why.
I’d always wondered about the justification for wide-angle lens shots — thanks for sharing your thoughts on its usefulness! In real estate like this, I find them to be really misleading; you get to the house and feel let down that the room isn’t nearly as big as it seems in the photo! It also seems like they’re often used as the “after” part of “before-and-after” photos, to make the end result look bigger. Feels a bit sneaky 🙂
Is there any push to use wide angles less in before-and-after shots, to minimize the enhancing effect of the lens itself?
I love that house! So chic!
oh, he does have a nice house!! i like seeing those wider shots too, especially for a listing. it’s neat seeing the comparison, styled vs. not.
interesting seeing that tile in the kitchen!
Totally love this beautiful home, but my favorite thing may be that ladder display in the kitchen office. I assume it’s vintage?!
Thank you for all these terrific photos. Scott’s house is beautiful. I like the styled photos best because I do not like the insistence by agents to depersonalize houses. I am sure Scott’s house will sell quickly and I wish him all the best in his next adventure.
Hi Emily,
I can’t find a way to contact you by email so I’m going to put this comment here:
My browser (Chrome) says your site is “not secure”. I think it’s been dong that for a while but today the first time I clicked on this post from your main page I got redirected to something called “dirty Tindr” which included a stream of pictures you might expect on a site with that name. I’m not a prude but I would hate to open that page with my kids in the room. I hope you can figure out whatever the problem is.
Love your site!
Great masculine style.
Random but I LOVE the round fruit holder hanger in the kitchen!! Where can I find it?
I really like those bar trays. I’ve been semi-obsessed with bar trays lately. Could you do a post (or even just an insta-video) on styling a bar tray?
In the guest room, I must ask where he found that hanging wooden wall art, with the varying horizontal wood slat pieces. Even if it’s vintage, what would that be called? I’d love to have something to go on to try to find another one out there!
Such a a gorgeous house!
http://www.petiteandhungry.com
I have a hard time figuring out what Scott’s house looks like when he comes home on a Tuesday evening. All of the switcheroos are confusing to me, though it all looks great. Eh, such is the life of a Hollywood stylist/designer I suppose.
So bright. I am in love! This home is beautiful. I like how you show the styled shots along with the real estate shots.
Jio TV
In the dining room, is that a giant glass bin of matchbooks? What a cool idea! How long did it take him to collect those?
Yes – I want to know too! Are they matchbooks? 🙂
That master bed is great, and great price! Do you know — 1) It says the color is charcoal, but in the pics it doesn’t look that dark. Is it really a dark charcoal, or a lighter gray? 2) the box spring situation… The website says use a box and shows one, but I hate the look of seeing the line where box and mattress meet. In the house pics it looks like he has a box or something that comes just to the top of the frame edge… ?Perfect! Do you know what that situation is?!?! If I have the details I would order the same and be hap-hap-happy!!
Oh maaaan. When I got “zen/contemporary” for the OG styled quiz (book not web) I was like nope! And then I saw these photos throughout the book and I knew I was just lying to myself. This is my absolute favorite house. I’d buy it in a heart beat. Unfortunately I just bought in Brooklyn and the coffers don have enough for two houses at the moment. Shucks. Others have asked but I’m going to upvote those comments, can we get a roundup of the paint colors he used? It’s really nice to see neutrals done so well and not feel like someone gave up. I always thought I’d do white in the living room (cause I’m a sheep) but that cream white combo is giving me feelings.
I love his style! Where is his dining room rug from?
A second request for the beautiful neutral wall color in the living room! Seriously considering moving to LA so I can buy this house.
I just delighted to be here and to read this perfect post ever.Thanks for share this with us.