Using Vintage Windows for Food Styling

As pretty as this Lemon-Blueberry Bundt cake is, my attention is more on the vintage window in the background.

I added that element to introduce an old fashioned vibe to the image and throughout this post, I’m sharing a closer look at my creative process and my approach to using vintage windows for food styling.

Sometimes, the most impactful prop in food styling is a pretty linen arranged just so, or a rustic bowl with unusual coloring or texture, or primitive utensils originally used long ago.

Or in this case, it’s an old, reclaimed vintage window ready for new life.

Read more: Using Vintage Windows for Food Styling

Before I get into my new/old vintage window prop, allow me to share a quick mention of my work space in the photo below.

This corner of my dining room is where I shoot almost all my food images and videos.

It’s convenient, because it’s steps away from the kitchen but more importantly, this spot has some of the best natural light in my entire house.

I keep a wreath hook on hanging on the curtain rod, which I use to hang a large oblong diffuser, which softens the light when it’s far too harsh.

When I was planning my recent Lemon-Blueberry Bundt cake shoot, I knew I wanted to shoot the cake in the window as opposed to up against the black backdrop.

I definitely wanted to create a final image with a more vintage window vibe too, and my grid-filled, more contemporary windows would not provide the old-fashioned look I was going for.

So, I turned to a favorite local architectural salvage store.

If you’ve never visited a salvage store before, it may be worth your consideration.

It’s a great place to find all kinds of reclaimed wood pieces like lumber, staircase balusters, fireplace mantels and many other items that have been removed from old buildings and structures and are perfectly suitable for repurposing.

This particular shop also has a cute, adjoining boutique filled with pretty dishes, linens, spoons and inspiring gems that really spoke to me.

This shop also has old windows. And lots of them. Just what I was looking for for my vintage window photography project.

My daughter accompanied me and she picked out a few windows for herself too. She plans to paint the glass panes with wildflowers to create some colorful, vintage style wall art for her apartment.

Cleaning Reclaimed Wood

OK, now that we’ve found windows, let’s get these babies properly cleaned up and sanitized. Thanks to my daughter for helping with this task too.

It’s important to clean any reclaimed wood, not just from dirt and debris but also from unwanted pests that may be hiding in the wood.

Here are a few cleaning tips for reclaimed wood:

• Rinse your wood or windows using a hose outdoors.
• Dilute chlorine bleach with warm water (1 tablespoon per gallon of water). Use rubber gloves and a bristle brush to gently clean the wood.
• Wipe down the wood or window with a soft cloth and allow to dry in the sun completely.
• Mix a tablespoon of Boric acid and a gallon of water. Put solution in a spray bottle, and spray directly onto wood. Allow the wood to dry completely.

NOTE: Boric acid is used as a natural pesticide. I used Borax, which comes in a small box and contains Boric acid. You can find Borax at most hardware stores.

Here’s how my new vintage/distressed window looks sitting in my current window. I know that if I shot my dessert close, the viewer will never see that this is not a functioning window.

By the way, the wood base under the old window was made from a picnic table bench that I found years ago at a local store closing. You can read how I transformed the bench into this backdrop in an older post HERE.

Before I shoot any recipe, I typically think about how I might style the finished dish and what elements and colors are important to add to the scene and help tell the story or create the mood that I want to image to evoke.

Food Styling Elements

With the window and baseboard in place, I tested a few prop layouts to help me visualize how best to showcase the Bundt cake.

Here’s a breakdown of the elements I used for the opening photo in this post, and why I selected them:

• White dessert plates. To add a bright accent along the outer frame of the main subject.
• Silver flatware. These pieces compliment the stark white dishes.
• Marble-topped cake stand. I really liked the wooden base of the stand because it adds some warmth to the layout.
• Dark wood base (old picnic bench). It helps to ground all the brighter elements above it.
• Assorted, white blooms. More pop of brightness and pretty florals that speak to the spirit of the summer season.
• Blue linen. Slightly folded for a big pop of blue color and to play off of the blueberries in the cake.
• And finally that vintage window. In size, this window is only a small part of the image. But I think it has a huge influence over the entire image because it’s helps set an old fashioned stage and suggests a country-like, more quaint locale.

This is the process that works for me and gives me base arrangement to work with. Even after the main dish is in place, nothing is ever cast in stone and I continually shift and move things around to get just the look I’m after.

Of course, all of this may seem like an exercise in overthinking food styling.

Actually, much of my approach is second nature for me now, and doesn’t take nearly the amount of time you might imagine it does.

For me, working out the elements down to every teeny-tiny detail including crumbs or loose berries sprinkled around a dish, is all part of the fun in food styling.

I hope you’re inspired to discover new and lovely vintage elements (including windows) to incorporate into your food styling efforts.

I’m also writing a blog post on tips for finding interesting and unusual vintage props. Keep an eye out for that post down the road.

Meanwhile, thanks for stopping by.

See you back here next time. ♥