How an artistic eye shapes every corner of a photographer’s home

As a photographer with sharp creative instincts, Anna Petrow Mulvihill sees her Brookside home as more than just a house. To her and her husband, Patrick, it’s an ever-evolving space that serves as a sanctuary, studio and source of inspiration for home design.

“To me, one of the most exciting parts about a home is the potential for change,” she says. “I really want it to be a space that’s special to me. I also don’t think I’ll ever reach a moment where I say, ‘Okay, my house is done.’”

The result is a century-old home that honors its age yet feels vibrant with natural light, rich color and deeply personal touches—a space where Anna’s story, style and creative flair are always in motion.

Let There Be Light

It’s no surprise that the No. 1 thing that Anna looks for in a space is light. When she and Patrick were looking for an older home, they knew one with ample natural light would be hard to find. Luckily, they found their elusive white whale.

“We have a lot of windows here,” she says. “And we have a lot of lamps. I really gravitate toward vintage and antique shopping, especially for lamps. So we have a variety of styles, and all emit an incandescent light.” Overhead lights? Never. “That’s definitely a symptom of being a photographer,” she laughs.

The Mulvihills keep their shades open all day, every day, and the paint colors chosen for certain spots were directly influenced by the light that those spaces get. Anna’s also a big fan of simple white paint. “It helps amplify all the natural light that’s already in the space,” she says. “That’s part of the reason I was able to lean into bold accent colors—by having a lot of white paint for the light to bounce around.”

Cooking and Creating

Since food photography is a big part of her work, the kitchen is a haven for Anna’s family as much as it is a workspace. “We really love dark green, kind of jewel tones,” she says. “So we painted one area of our kitchen a darker green. We call it the kitchen nook.” With two walls of windows in the space, it’s also where she does a lot of photo shoots for her home design.

Because Anna works with several beverage brands, she has an extensive glassware collection on display. More kitchen highlights include a butcher block-style tabletop and a reformed spice cabinet. “We think it used to be a drop-down ironing board,” she says. “It has tiny little shelves installed, so we use it as a spice rack. It’s just right there in the wall; it looks like it could be a utility panel or something.”

Subtle Nuances

Anna’s love for unique collections and vintage finds is evident throughout her home. Her favorite local shops include Urban Mining Vintage in Martini Corner and Good Weather in Brookside.

“I also bring little things home with me when I’m traveling—rather than just having them stuck on shelves, I try to incorporate them all throughout the house,” she says. “It’s fun when your space can tell a story.”

Many things in her family’s home are also odes to family, especially past generations. Her grandfather, a woodworker, crafted several handmade bowls strewn throughout the house, and a lamp he made was a huge source of inspiration for how the upstairs bedroom was designed—right down to the wallpaper, which follows a similar wavy stripe pattern.

And what’s a photographer without a collection of National Geographic issues? “My husband’s grandfather was obsessed with Nat Geo his entire life,” she says. “We’ve got one shelf that’s completely full of Nat Geos. We’ve also got a ton of my old photo books on display—photographers that have inspired me throughout my life, including several antique National Geographic collectible editions.”

Life in Color

Anna isn’t afraid of bold, colorful accents, and a recent trip to Portugal only reinforced that passion. “I think it was a good exercise in color and pattern play—being unafraid of color and eager to embrace bolder trends,” she says.

The boldness also extends to the home office, which sometimes doubles as her studio. Anna describes it as a modular space that gets rearranged frequently. “I think the more reasonable thing to do would have been to paint the walls white and have minimal furniture,” she laughs. “Instead, I painted the walls a terracotta orange.”  

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