Anna Spiro in Vogue

I have been dying to write a "behind the scenes" on the story I did on Anna Spiro from Absolutely Beautiful Things. It is in the September issue of Vogue Living which is finally out.
How did the story come about? It was either great timing or just meant to be that I happened to call Anna when photographer Simon Kenny and I were heading up to Brisbane to do some magazine stories.
I had been following the blog and thought she may have a project we could look at. It was good luck that Anna was just putting some finishing touches to her own house so we set the date for the shoot and interview.
On the day of the shoot, Simon collected me from the airport and we headed over to Anna's home south of the Brisbane River. Anna and I hit it off at the start. While Simon set up his camera, we just sat on the sofa and gabbed, barely catching breath! We had so much in common - a love of hot pink, painted white floorboards and eclectic decorating.
But what struck me most was Anna's passion for her profession as well as how seriously she treats every aspect of her design projects. As I touched on in the Vogue Living article, real interior decorators who have done a traditional design apprenticeship as Anna has, are thin on the ground these days. Anna knows her stuff when it comes to quality soft furnishings, overstuffed upholstery and interpreting her clients' own style.
I love that she is a modern day Leslie Walford (a famous Australian decorator who must be at least 80 by now) but brings a contemporary, 'more dash than cash' edge as well.
Her home feels exactly like the pictures - its pretty, uplifting and fun to be in. I know I am inspired, in fact after our chat I started my blog and she is my blog mentor!
Thanks for sharing your story with me, Anna.

There are more photos coming if you would like to see them...