Help me "stage" this holiday house for sale

[thisisme]

I've offered to help take photos of this river front holiday house. The only problem is, there is no money to be spent on decorating, or as little as possible. Would love to hear your opinions on how to make the following photos look more appealing.

• I will definitely not have a towel on the shower screen. But do I remove all the products from the shower shelf?

• Do I remove the floor mat?

• Raise the shower rose, or leave it as it is?

• Also, there is actually no mirror above the vanity (bizarre I know!), is it better to exclude this from the photos, or still take a photo of it anyway?

• I will remove all the junk. Do I also remove the microwave?

• What about the vase thingo on the island? Is it passable or do I remove that as well?

• Does it look to busy with 4 bar stools? Should I remove one but leave the rest?

• Should i center the fridge or leave it on the LHS of the cavity as is?
• Remove the energy efficiency sticker or not bother?

• Horrible lounge I know! Do I leave the vertical blinds open or closed? Or half half? Depends on the view and time of day I guess, hey?

• Would it be better if all the furniture in this room was removed, as it's all so cr4p, or do you think it's better to leave it?

• There are 2-4 of those cane chairs that you see in the top left corner, can I somehow incorporate them somewhere?

[thisisme]

• I'm thinking of taking a few photos of this room throughout the day. In the morning and evening and definitely sunset. Will leave the vertical blinds open on all windows since there is a river view in the front.

• Is the vase on the dining table passable, or not really?

• Will also try one with the flood light on, at night and see how that one turns out too.

• Am also thinking of putting two sun baking chairs or whatever they are called on the balcony when I take this shot.

Will make sure the decking is clean in this one, as it currently looks really bad!

• I will remove the ugly plastic table on the balcony.

• And should probably get the old rusty "bbq" removed as well.

• What about the wood in the LHS corner? Remove or just make sure it's not in the photo?

[Emma - Nest Designs]

Hi thisisme, I think there is loads you can do on a budget to get it looking a bit better.

Firstly, in the bathroom I'd have shampoo & conditioner bottles (same brand) and a nice bar of soap on the shelf. Add a bright bath mat, bath towels and a hand towel on the vanity and another nice bar of soap on the vanity in a soap dish if possible. Add a small vase with 3-4 bright flowers (same colour as towels)

As for the kitchen, yes 3 barstools would look way better than 4. I'd replace the vase with something half the size and fill it with a brightly coloured posy of flowers. (The reject shops sells vases for $2!). And yes, remove all the junk on the kitchen bench, including microwave. A jar with essential utensils should be on the bench and maybe line up some dried herbs if they are all the same brand.. And a bowl of lemons, limes or apples?

Definitely take the photos on a sunny day so the light is pouring into the rooms. Again the dining table needs a vase of flowers or a bowl of decorative balls to bring it to life or cover it up with a white table cloth and a cluster of coloured candles on top. The lounge room is very dark so I can't see if the modular has an armchair at the end that could be moved around to face the lounge? Also, is there a rug anywhere else in the house that could be moved here? Or a small side table just to break up the space a bit? Or you could pick up a super cheap rug from somewhere like Big W?

If you feel the homeowners won't stretch the budget very far, flowers are a cheap way to liven it up!

Good luck! I hope I haven't overloaded you with info!

[thisisme]

Thanks so much for all that Emma!!!

Originally Posted by Emma - Nest Designs

The lounge room is very dark so I can't see if the modular has an armchair at the end

Yes, there is an armchair at the end

[clp]

Yes move the furniture a bit in the lounge room so its not all along one wall you can always borrow furniture from somewhere else for a photo.
Other than that I think Emma has answered all the questions.

[thisisme]

Thanks clp.

Unfortunately, borrowing furniture is out of question as we live over an hour away from this property. Too much effort taking furniture up there

[Lanne]

ThisIsMe - no doubt you will get all the tips you need..

So in short - Lose any clutter, line up what you can.. match what you can. Take towels and basic bathroom accessories. etc

3 stools not four, remove everything but utensils as suggested above.

would clean out the fridge cavity but dont worry about the sticker (they re a pain to get off mostly)

Add some cushions and throws.. some flowers etc

Can I offer some photography tips? I am def a people photographer not a room photographer but this might help?

Are you using a dSLR or a point and shoot?

Assuming it is a dSLR - bump your ISO if you need to.. and you dont want depth of field.

Shoot with the light behind you. ie. in the dining area.. stand where the sunbed looking thing is and shoot back into the room.

Keep the walls straight and when shooting the lounge room shoot to cut off the TV cabinet.. the wall will be implied

An outdoor shot would be worth including..and avoid the sun spots in the exterior shots..

My understanding is that you cant edit the images in PS if they are for sale.. even colour density etc (although I certainly spot it in ads!!). We had a rental sell and the agent had me do the images but i wasnt allowed to edit.
Check your camera and see if you can adjust the colour settings in a preset (you can often make a preset).. bump the contrast one or two notches. and if it is nikon.. bring down the temp and if it is Canon up the yellow/warm tones.

Hope that helps.. if not..Sorry!!

[thisisme]

Thank you so much Lanne. Unfortunately I will be using a point and shoot
Canon ixus 95

[thisisme]

Would light blue towels and bath mat work? I've only got pale blue and pink (were gifts) and neutral coloured ones (cream/chocolate/latte).

[thisisme]

Would any flowers work? And would some colours work better than others?

Would crystal vases work? What type would be best?