Perhaps depersonalizing the fireplace would attract buyers who prefer a more neutral look. Same with the plates on the wall in the dining room.

As in have nothing on mantel and remove the plates or put something different on the mantel/in place of the plates?

Your home is lovely and I am not a decorator but will soon be posting my home. I've noticed that a depersonalized room will appear to more buyers. It allows them to visualize their style, their things in the room. I would suggest less plates/pictures on the wall but I don't think keeping them is a huge distraction. I would take all the ornamentation down from the fireplace. Perhaps a mirror over the fireplace would work. Take a look at images of houses for sale and see homes that recently sold. I've noticed they are very pared down, even those with furniture.

Your accessories are too numerous and too small in scale. Use only items large as a basketball or bigger, and only 3 per room. Like your plant. That's one. Find two more larger scale items, like one large print instead of the two small ones.

The china cabinet needs to be pared down. Go ahead and put all of your china in storage and use the plates that you have on the wall in the china cabinet.

The other two pics aren't pics of rooms. They are pics of features. You want to stand further back in order to show the room as a whole. Like with the DR pic. You can't get any idea of the size of the room or it's purpose from a pic of a fireplace with Christas decorations on it. (???) Also, the stair isn't an especially compelling or important pic to use in a listing.

Agree on the staircase. You don't have an impressive sweeping staircase with a marble entry and an elaborate chandelier.

Agree also on the Christmas decorations: #1 it dates your pictures. #2 Religious items might become a sticky wicket - why bring it up if you don't have to?

Thanks, this is why I wanted to ask! We've lived here long enough that it's hard to look at the rooms objectively like that. So, less everything, and pictures of rooms not features. Got it!

Those aren't Christmas decorations, those are long gone :). That's what I had up to fight the post Christmas winter doldrums which have settled in for the long haul. The buying season here starts March 1, but the way things are looking we'll still have mountains of snow then!

I'm no expert, but was in the market for several years and horrible pictures are so common - even taken by the listing agent, it's one of my pet peeves. So, a few comments from one old curmudgeon on what I would find important. (I also understand you will have better photos, so maybe some of these comments won't apply.)

1. Dining room - nice and uncluttered. Those plates on the wall don't bother me. The picture, however, doesn't give me a clear idea of the room itself. The majority of the picture is wood floor (much of it not even in the room) and furniture. I'd like to see two, if not three, walls of the room - from inside the room - if possible.

2. Fireplace - first thought was Christmas decorations. Maybe just keep the containers and goblets. Secondly, while it's a nice fireplace, it's not spectacular (i.e. floor to ceiling, limestone surround & mantel, etc.). I would FIRST want to see how it fits into the overall room. I want a picture of the room with the fireplace in it. If your listing will have 15 or 20 picture, a close up of the fireplace could be one of the last few.

3. If a home has more than one living level, I prefer to have a view of the staircase. However, if the staircase is not spectacular (and yours is not), a staircase-only picture is not necessary. Your staircase, however, is nice and you have no reason to hide it. I would prefer to have the picture taken farther back/with a wide angle lens to get a view of the room (foyer, hall) from which the staircase goes. If that's not possible, include the picture as is towards the end of the set in your listing.

I agree with the others... use much wider photos. And add ones that show how the rooms flow into one another. Try to give the buyers a sense of the floorplan.
Are the prospects of your friend going to view the home?

Ok, I'm going to try again this afternoon with some 'bigger picture' photos for you all. Thanks again!

NC-- the word is they're coming up house hunting sometime this spring. They have the info and liked our house. I'm going to proceed as I would had I never heard of them and if they materialize, great. That way I can avoid disappointment and potential awkwardness with our friends.

Your house is darling! One suggestion is to get another set of curtains for your living room window. The curtains look kind of puny and don't do justice to that window. So get another set to add to the set you already have and "fluff them up" so to speak.

I also think you need to better define the living room. Right now the living room appears small to me but like there is a huge walkway to the kitchen/dining room. And it appears the the living room is only big enough for a small couch, one chair and a coffee table. Because the area is so open you really need to use furniture placement to define a larger living space. I would place the couch on the other side of the fireplace with a sofa table behind, and 2 small lamps on either end of the sofa table. Then you will want two chairs on the other side of the room (in front of the window) with a table in between them. This will put the focus on that great window and really show it off as well as make the room look bigger and the walkway to the dining room smaller. Does that make sense?

This post was edited by louislinus on Mon, Feb 10, 14 at 13:44

This is just a nitpick... and I think I'm looking at your second set of pictures. In the first picture, the painted woodwork looks pink. After looking at other pictures I realize that it's just the reflection from the red walls. I love red, but pink painted woodwork wouldn't be my thing. So I'd try to retake that picture with different lighting, maybe a bright light shining on the white column (but not seen in the picture) to whiten it up.

Is the door beyond the kitchen the front or back door? If it's the back door, I'd include a picture of the front door / entry so that people don't think you enter from the front door right into a hall to the kitchen. If it is the front door, include a picture of just the entry hall and door, maybe taken from the arched entrance into the kitchen.

Another nitpick, but I'd remove the plates from the side of the kitchen arch, and place just one large item per shelf in the kitchen corner cabinet that faces the LR.

I look at the pics while thinking "Which ones would want to make me go and take a look at this house?" The living room photo looks great--very inviting. I don't see a fireplace pic. The unusual, unmatching chairs in the dining room kind of distract me from noticing how nice the chair rail/architecture of the room is. I would maybe just leave the two head chairs in for the picture and then return them afterwards. I like the picture that shows how the living room flows to the dining room to the left and to the kitchen on the right. I'm not crazy about the bedroom shot--maybe it needs to be taken from a different angle? Maybe with a view of the bed area? Definitely continue to include the columns and all the great architectural features that house seems to have.

I usually leave secondary br pics out, unless there are some unique features. No matter what angle you use, it is, after all, just a bed and four walls, a floor and a ceiling.

Thanks for all the tips! I'm working on it :).

Nc-- so maybe include a picture of the bedroom with all the built-ins but not the other room?

I would show the built - ins.

I'm not sure what phase I am looking out but the woodwork in the first picture looks pink.

I love the color and light in your home. It is really pretty, clean and inviting.

The family room looks empty, and your poor couch looks sad over in the corner in such a sunny room. 2 yellow pillows (similar to the wall) and a few large items on the beautiful FP would help. Try homeGoods or Hobby Lobby for some big, glass items, maybe a picture propped up on one ledge.

I would move the couch something like this, and if you have a chair or to steal from the dining room place them opposite. Sorry for the 2 second photoshop job, but you get the idea.

Also remove what ever is hanging from the dining room light, it is distracting.

Gmp3-- thanks for the ideas! That room has been a challenge as I've been trying to plan how to stage it. We have six small children so I have kept that room fairly empty and it's kind of a 'rumpus room.' They roughhouse on the big rug and are always involved in some crazy invented game, but obviously that doesn't show the room off to it's full advantage. I've never put much on those mantel shelves for the same reason, but your picture gives me some good ideas.