You are my sunshine,
My only sunshine
You make me happy
When the sky are gray
You’ll never know, dear
How much I love you
Please don’t take
My sunshine away

Preparing for the birth of our first baby was so much fun, and challenging at the same time. After learning that we would be having a baby in March 2013, I immediately seemed to go into “nesting” mode with the drive to do all sort of home improvement projects. Our 1969  four-level-split house has a great layout and structure, but lacked some of the updates I so badly wanted. Originally, the room we knew would one day become a nursery was plastered with wallpaper, and very very old dark blue shag carpet. When we moved into the house, we removed (most of) the wallpaper, and took out the blue carpet in the later-to-be nursery. Underneith the carpet was beautiful wood flooring! What a blessing!

We decided to paint the walls yellow, because that is fairly easy to use as a gender-neutral baby room. I’m so glad we picked the color we did. It’s such a beautiful, soft yellow! Throughout 2013, we continued some updates by replacing all of the bedroom doors and trim. This really helped to brighten up our hallways, and brought even more light into the baby room.

Brynlee’s nursery colors are yellow and grey (let me just say that I picked these colors before it went “trendy” all over the place by the way!), which went perfectly with the “You are my sunshine” theme. We chose white furniture to keep the small room light, airy, and calm. These photos also capture our newly-added doors and trim, which made a HUGE difference in the look and feel of our home.

In case you are wondering where we found everything and how we achieved this look, room details are available below.

Doors: Purchased from Menards (self installed)

Dresser: Ikea

Wooden Shelf: Found this little gem at the Junk Bonanza

You are my sunshine lamp: Oh Baby!

Tree rack: Oh Baby! 

Crib: Baby Grand (St. Paul, Minnesota)

Crib Bedding: Pottery Barn Kids

Glider: Babies R’Us (ottoman not pictured)

Vintage yellow chair: Junk Bonanza

Rug: Ikea

Curtains: Target

Pink bunny: Nordstroms

Blue Bonnet: Hoo Loves You Baby, LLC

Wall Paint: Behr primer + paint combo: Caribbean Sunshine

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Wondering what to wear for your engagement photos or senior portrait session? Picking out your clothing options can be the most stressful about photos, but it doesn’t have to be all bad! To help you find YOUR inspiration, we’ve put together this outfit guide to help get your creative juices going.

What is our number one clothing tip? Pick something you feel awesome in. Photo sessions can be a fun excuse to go shopping for a few new fresh items. It’s important to feel confident and/or cute (sorry guys, we know you don’t want to look cute) so you feel great during your session!

Green

Nothing says fresh and new quite like the color green! Green comes in a wide array of shades, ranging from a yellowish, pea-like hue all the way to turquoise! Green looks beautiful combined with earth tones, and therefore makes a wonderful choice for outdoor shoots and backdrops of wood and stone. Even small accents of green, such as jewelry, scarves, or shoes look wonderful with whites and tans.

Indigo

Indigo- or deep blue- is a rich, exceedingly popular color which looks beautiful in almost any setting. Outfits with blue elements create a sense of calm and quiet- perfect for a more introverted couple or natural backdrops. Blue can be dressed up or down to fit your tastes, and can be used either as a main color or accenting in your outfits.

Orange

Orange is a tangy, optimistic color that demands attention! Strong, joyful, and happy, adding orange to your engagement or family session is always a hit on camera. Couples with a more extroverted nature might enjoy orange-themed outfits. Orange also looks wonderful in urban settings, such as against concrete, brick, and stone.

Red

Red is one of, if not the, strongest of colors in the rainbow. A symbol of power, passion, blood, and love, red is a bold and striking color for your session. Since red is truly a brilliant, attention-grabbing color, we recommend peppering your outfit with red accents instead of making red the main color for all garments. Pairing red with denim or darker neutral tones makes for striking images that create lasting impressions on your wall.

Violet

In ancient times, the creation of purple dye was an incredibly lengthy, expensive process. Purple garments became a symbol of wealth and nobility, even royalty; and were sought after world-round. Although violet is now far easier to come by, the color is still associated with its royal roots. A violet-themed outfit exudes playful sophistication and looks great on camera! Small accents of purple, such as scarves and accessories, can also liven up an otherwise muted palette!

Yellow

Ah, yellow! The color of happiness, of light and sunshine. Yellow is a wonderful color to wear in outdoor, buttery natural-light shoots, and looks amazing on camera! Although yellow can be difficult for some to wear because of its tendency to wash out skin tones, patterns with yellow or a single yellow garment in an otherwise neutral palette adds wonders to your images. Adding yellow florals, jewelry, or accents also helps to make your photos go “POP!”. I love yellow!

Have fun picking out your outfits! Feel like staying in touch? We’d LOVE it if you “liked” our Facebook page 🙂