How to Prepare your Home for a Property Photography Shoot

No matter if you're selling, renting out or just listing on Airbnb, when it comes to home business, all online tips will tell you that great photos of your property are essential. Professional interior photographs will make your listings stand out. Don't trust your mobile phone pictures, please. Having bad quality photos can be even worse than having no photos at all.

However, professional looking property photos aren't that easy to achieve. You'll need professional equipment and specific photography skills to obtain them. Luckily, Perfocal's on-demand property photography services will eliminate any obstacles to do with the photography. You can now book a professional property photoshoot for your home anytime, at really affordable rates, and with just a few taps.

So, now you've scheduled your property photographer. What's next? The photographer can't do all the magic for you. Much of an interior photography project is preparing and organising the space. In this article, we'll provide you with a few tips to help you prepare your property, so it'll look as exquisite as possible in the final photos.

The gist of the matter is this - declutter your space as much as possible, remove anything that couldn't be from a catalogue, and add as much as light as possible to your space. Read on for more in-depth guidance on how to achieve this!

The following steps are a must for pre-photoshoot preparation:

Add light and space to your property

1. Open all your curtains and blinds

This lets as much natural light as possible into your space. Natural light is much more flattering than artificial light. It will illuminate and give your property the bright and airy feel that everyone’s looking for.

2. Be Tactical with Timing

An extra hack for this step is to try and schedule your shoot for a time when the most light hits your house (i.e. if you have some west-facing windows, take your photos in the evening so you get that beautiful golden-hour glow in the room). If you don’t have many windows in your place, or natural light isn’t abundant, you can turn all the lights on in a room. Place lamps strategically in any dark corners, maybe even string a few fairy lights around any shadowy areas. This will still work to brighten up your room!

3. Open your Doors

Another way to maximise on light and space is to open all your doors. Open doors will allow light to travel from room to room, and give shoppers a sense of the flow of your property and perspective on which rooms are connected.

4. Adjust your Furniture

If you’re really short on space, this is another tip that might make your place seem a bit bigger. Try pulling large furniture away from the wall slightly. Furniture pushed right up against the wall can make a space feel cramped and crowded. Even a couple of inches’ space will help your photographer’s wide-angle lens to capture your room in a flattering way.

De-cluttering

5. De-clutter as much as you can

When people are looking at your property in photographs, they don’t expect to have to try and see the room from behind all your belongings! Shoppers nowadays are looking for that minimalist Marie Kondo-esque look. That’s not to say you need to throw away all your non-sparking-joy things! However in order to give the idea of space and light, the less clutter in a room the better. A good rule of thumb is the ‘cantaloupe’ rule, meaning any objects in your room that are smaller than a melon look like clutter, especially in photographs. Do your best to remove any smaller-than-a-melon objects.

6. Clear space on tables and work surfaces

As well as generally de-cluttering, you'll want to make sure tables and worktops are clear. However instead making them bare, add small flourishes to show homeliness. For instance candles, books, vases of differing heights. This phenomenon is called 'tablescaping'. What a world we live in.

7. Remove any rugs or mats from the floor

You should consider putting away bathroom or pedestal mats, as well as larger bedroom and living room rugs. Although a shaggy rug is cosier and comfier than a hard floor, they will make your room seem smaller in photographs. The trick is to try and give the sense of wide, unobstructed floor space which will again add light and space to your room.

Extra tips when preparing for property photography

8. Highlight your property's best features

Think about how you might want to display amenities your guests will enjoy. For instance if you have a garden or a balcony, ensure their view is unobstructed by moving any objects in front of the window and opening the curtains/shutters as much as possible. If you have a fireplace, perhaps add some stacked wood nearby to highlight the fact that guests can use it! If you have some instruments that your AirBnb guests might like to make use of, place them strategically in rooms so that guests will know they can enjoy some musical entertainment if they stay at yours!

9. Do your Laundry

In the bedroom, ensure you make your bed with fresh, clean sheets. It’s best to choose a light colour. This way the bed doesn’t look as though it swamps the room. Dark coloured bed sheets would give the bed an elephant-like presence in your bedroom, and take the focus away from the space!

10. Don't Forget the Bathroom!

For the bathroom, there are still several things to keep in mind. Besides making sure there’s no visible grime or mould in the room, you’ll also want to ensure all towels are folded neatly, the toilet seat is closed (no-one wants to see what’s in there), the shower curtain is open, and the mirror has been cleaned until it’s sparkling! The cleaner the mirror, the more light it will reflect around the room, giving you a light, bright bathroom.

11. Go Outside

Outside the property, move any wheelie bins out of view. If you have a driveway, you'll also want to try to move your car so that it doesn't block the photographer's view of the house.

Get your house photo-perfect

It's simple, get your space clear of trinkets and trash, add lots of light and make sure to highlight your best assets. The photographer will do the rest. Good luck with your property shoot!

Want some more inspiration? Check out our recent blog post with some amazing examples of property photography at its finest!