The Real Society Socials No. 4 {Brooke and Dustin Tell Their Story}

{Photography by Lawrence Te}

Brooke was one of Society Social's very first customers. Just 4 days after our launch in 2011, she ordered the Marilyn sofa then followed with colorful pillows and for good measure, a bar cart! We've kept in touch here and there, to finally meet her and her precious family (she now has a 1 year old baby girl!) is one of the very reasons I love what I do!

Certainly it's fun to decorate with the latest decor favorites (The ginger jar bandwagon dropped off like 15 at my house!), but at Society Social we also believe what truly makes a home special are the unique items collected along the way. Brooke and Dustin are a picture perfect example of that and shoot day was pleasantly filled with interesting and funny anecdotes prompted by seemingly random items that tell a story about this sweet family and their journey to make a house a home.

Take a peek!B: "We definitely have a lot of collected pieces and we are constantly adding new things. I think the interesting thing about our collection is that we incorporate unique pieces that truly mean something to us with all the other things that are basically a dime a dozen."

Accessorized with the space's pink pop of color, the Marilyn sofa sits in the couple's formal living room, which is situated at the front of the house, inviting guests to sit and stay awhile.B: "Apparently every home in America now has a white elephant, but ours has a bit of history. My great uncle brought our elephant back from Thailand when he was in the military. The elephant is one of the things I remember being in my grandmother's house my entire life. It sat in her bathroom, seriously...

...I have no idea why she had an elephant table in her master bathroom, but I remember playing on it as a kid, and it is one of my most treasured pieces.

I think we have to credit Dustin with the wood in the fireplace because he cut it all. When we moved into our house, we had two beautiful oak trees in the front yard. Unfortunately they were both rotten and had to come down. The wood in the fireplace is from one of the trees."
B: "If you've ever been to New Orleans you know they have gator heads EVERYWHERE. But Dustin brought this one back just for me. He was in New Orleans for a bachelor party of all things, and he knew I would love it. It was also right around the time...
...I found out I was pregnant with Elliot, so it brings back a memory of that time in our life, which makes it really special.
B: "The gallery wall in our living room is constantly evolving...meaning, I didn't plan it at all and as I get new things, I just throw them on the wall. Nearly every piece is special to me for one reason or another. The white window is from a cottage in Tennessee that was built during the Civil War era. Dustin and I were antiquing one Saturday, and I really liked it, but I refused to buy it because it was hanging from the ceiling and seemed like a hassle. He travelled during the week at that time, so he called the shop to get them to hold it for him until he could grab it on his way back into town. He actually hid it under the bed and surprised me with it.  That's another one of those things that reminds me of a time in our lives-- we had just moved in together so it's just a nostalgic piece. The two green Chinese prints are my grandmother's. She purchased these at a Chinese market, and they remind me of her. There's a tiny piece in a black frame on the wall that we literally found in our house when we were renovating Elliot's closet. I am not even kidding when I say that I just wiped it off and threw it up on the wall. Our house was built in 1921, so who knows the story behind that one. I bought the framed photo of a boy and his dog at an antique shop near Dustin's home town in upstate New York. It just resonated with me, and now it's special because it reminds us of that trip."

 Many people ask me how to style a bar cart. Don't put too much pressure on yourself to buy up every type of liquor and fancy bitter or accoutrement, stock it with your favorite spirits and the piece becomes a hundred times more functional ;) Brooke and Dustin, who love whiskey, obviously have their bar cart "styling" down...

...and their little baby girl Elliot is not left out of this focused curation. The bowl of citrus was such an amusement for her and as we focused on other shots, she "styled" the accidental arrangement herself-- we made sure to leave it just so!
Thank you again to Brooke, Dustin, and Elliot for warmly inviting us into your home. We so enjoyed learning about your sweet family through all the pieces you thoughtfully collected and are honored to be a small part of your story!