These days it’s great photographs that sell a home even well before it’s open for inspection. But, even if you don’t want to employ a stylist to make your home look its best before the photographer arrives, there are plenty of easy tips to make your home shine.
Most important: Declutter
You’ve all seen those photos of a house for sale or rent where all you can think of is “look at all that clutter”. Clutter in photographs confuses the eye and detracts from the features and feeling of a room.
To start with, take a photo of all of your rooms and look at each one critically. Is there too much furniture? You want the house to look lived in but you also want new owners to see the potential and imagine their own furniture in the rooms.
If your rooms are looking particularly cluttered, take out some of the furniture and store it in the garage for the time being. Then, put things away into drawers or cupboards and leave just enough on display to make the house look lived in but style-worthy.
Choose display items in similar colour tones that match the room decor. These can often make the room look larger because they add an accent but don’t draw attention. Consider the placement of your furniture and play with it. Sometimes placing some furniture against a wall will open up the room and make it look larger.
If you have a coffee table in the lounge room, consider placing a few large picture books on top of each other and accenting them with a vase of flowers or an orchid in a beautiful ceramic pot. The flowers don’t have to be real because the camera can’t tell the difference. (One of our favourite fakes is the phalaenopsis or moth orchid. The fake ones look better than the real thing in photos and are just as elegant.)
For photography purposes, especially when you’re trying to create that feeling of serenity, you might want to stick to classic white or pale pink.
Give your bathroom some hotel style
Remember when you’ve walked into a hotel bathroom and thought: “This feels so luxurious.” Well, you can create that same impression in your home. The first thing you want to do is put away all your bottles of shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes and hand soap, even from out of the shower.
Then, buy some lovely white towels and some matching bathroom decanters. For added visual interest, make sure you roll a couple of the towels and place them on the counter of the basin. Accent these with a few sophisticated bathroom decanters, a matching tissue box holder and then add a pretty green plant. Once again, the plant doesn’t have to be real. Of course, it goes without saying that all the mirrors and surfaces should be sparkling clean.
Impression of a working kitchen without the clutter
The kitchen is one of the most important rooms in any home so you want to make it appear workable but spacious. Put your appliances away in a cupboard and just leave one or two on the bench. Add a few matching storage containers and a plant, if it works.
Another tip is to put just one nice pot on the cooktop. This gives the impression of a workable kitchen without the clutter. If you have an island bench, consider a bowl of lemons or green apples. Move this to one side rather than placing it in the middle.
You could even add a rustic cutting board with a freshly baked loaf of bread and a nice bread knife. Move these items around and stand back to see how they will look when photographed.
Don’t forget a nice vase of flowers or a plant or two as these add a lived-in touch without giving the impression of too much clutter.
Can we help with getting your Swan Hill home camera ready?
We’re full of great ideas on how to get Swan Hill homes ready for the camera so why not give us a call on 03 5032 2507. We’re here to help.
