Tips For Decluttering Your Home For A Photo Shoot
- Stephanie Garthie
- Apr 23, 2023
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 23, 2023
Photographing a home for sale is like placing a giant bow over a house to present it in the most beautiful light imaginable. However, moving can be stressful and a bit disorganized. Utilizing these tips to declutter your home can help showcase its bones without distracting or detracting potential buyers.
1. Utilize Garage Spaces
Photo shoot day, for many, is when one’s home starts to become depersonalized. Where photos of family, children’s toys, dog beds, and hobbies get stowed away in an extra closet somewhere and/or the garage becomes the temporary storage unit.
I have photographed several homes where I inquire if they would like their garage photographed as well. I receive a little chuckle and that makes me laugh every time. It’s like a universal knowing and I love it! But it truly is the perfect place to utilize as garages are not usually the most photo worthy space to take of a property.
If your garage does happen to have cool features (like built in cabinets, workspaces, bike storage, or electric vehicle plugins) the best thing you can do is ensure that those spaces have a clear view and we can focus on that highlighted area without needing to photograph the entire space.
2. Take Advantage of Secondary Bedroom Closets
In most cases, the primary bedroom closet is the most important closet to feature in a home. Many people can already envision the standard size of a secondary closet and don’t necessarily need an image to convey that.
These spaces are perfect for fragile items, like excess lamps, artwork, or vases you would like to keep protected. Or cleaning items such as brooms, vacuums, or baskets. A closet is great for items that can help declutter the space but make it easier to obtain access to after the shoot. A garage can feel like a giant storage unit and may overwhelm you if you go back to obtain items later. Especially if everything feels like it’s out there in a sea of other things.
3. Run Through A Home Prep Checklist
Running through a home check prior to a photoshoot can mitigate a lot of stress. Having people tour through your home is an unfamiliar occurrence. It’s not every day that someone is walking through rooms that typically no one would go into. So taking the time to stow away items you don’t want to be seen can help you feel at ease; one) knowing where things are, and two) feeling like there is less to worry about on the day of a shoot.
Take a tour of your home through the lens of a buyer. Imagine you just discovered your home on one of the various home searching platforms on the internet. What kind of things do you focus on? Are you focused on the house? Or are you more focused on the items you see in the room?
4. The Floating Box Method
One method that is best for items that are of immediate necessity is using a temporary moving box for the day of the photo shoot. Floating from room-to-room, home owners can place small last minute items like remotes, soap containers, recent mail into the box as a way to help declutter the space. The best part about this method is it eases the worry of losing some essential items that otherwise could disrupt your every day routines.
Since it’s smaller, it’s easy to move that box around as a photographer captures various spaces throughout the house. While you work on decluttering a couple items from one area, a photographer can work in another; creating a continuous flow and efficiency. Once the photoshoot has ended, you can place those items back immediately and not have to worry about misplacing a pair of reading glasses or wondering what drawer you placed your phone charger in.
Don’t be nervous to ask a photographer for a moment to scan through a room before they photograph. It’s important to remove items that reveal personal information like mail, schedules, even keys from photos. Sometimes these smaller items can be overlooked, like a note or photos magnetized onto the fridge.