Close lids and hide trash cans
Shut toilet lids, tuck trash cans into cabinets, and clear the edge of every tub.
Before anyone takes a photo, walk the rooms that will be in the set and look for lids and bins. Close the toilet lid in every bathroom. Close the washer if the laundry will be photographed. A lid that is up becomes the subject of the picture, and the room behind it disappears. This takes a few minutes and costs nothing if the lids still work.
Move trash cans out of the frame. A kitchen bin beside the cabinet, a bathroom basket by the sink, and a recycling bin in the corner of a dining room all read as clutter even when they are clean. Slide them into a closet, a garage, or the space beside the refrigerator where the camera will not see them. If a bin has no lid and it smells, empty it into the outdoor cart first. A box of trash bags is a few dollars and is worth having on photo day.
Use the main bathroom as the example. Close the lid, fold the towel once, and move the wastebasket into the tub only if the tub will not be in the shot. If the tub is in the shot, the basket goes in the linen closet instead. Then stand in the doorway and look at the same corners the camera will see. If you can still see a bin, it is not hidden.
Put the bins back when the photos are done if you are still living there. Write a one-line note on the photo checklist so the same bins get moved again on showing mornings. The habit is the point. A buyer should see the room, the fixture, and the floor, not yesterday's trash.
What to do
- Close toilet lids and any other lids in the photo set.
- Empty a bin that smells, then move cans out of the frame.
- Stand in the doorway and check the corners the camera will see.
- Put the bins back after the photos if you still live there.