In the 2nd photo you can see that there is room to sit at the island, because of the placemats. Without numerous photos from different angles. Is that your question?

If I were getting my home photographed to sell versus to post on a design blog, I think I would style it differently and the photographer would take pictures differently. I started to wonder why and if listing photos may look more desirable/help sell a house better if they looked more like the pics you see on design blogs. That is my question. Thanks!

I don't see the differences between the two pictures.

Don't overthink this. Hire an agent that uses a professional photographer and prices the home correctly.

Using either one of those pictures is not going to stop a serious buyer from scheduling a showing.

The difference I see in the 2 photos is that the listing photo is taken from farther back so that the entire space can be seen and some perspective on the floor plan is visible. The Houzz photo is more of a close-up that shows some details. With listing photos I would go with the floor plan perspective and Houzz type photos to show details IF there is something spectacular in the house like a grand fireplace or something similar.

The first photo shows more of the kitchen, which is what potential buyers want to see.

If the first photo is the home you are considering selling and you have not moved in, it might benefit from a little staging -- just a few accesories to warm things up, but the biggest issue I have is that all the walls I can see in that photo appear to be painted a color that isn't working.

Maybe it's a personal thing, but I prefer to look at houses which look as though'real people' live there. This can sometimes be helpful if furniture placement could be an issue, or you do not have a clue re:decorating in general. If can also give you an idea how much real space there is when furniture is in place. Accessorizing is another story. Better to have less than more, but you do want to try and bring a coziness to rooms, rather than a sterile vibe. This would not apply to am MCM style home to the degree as most other styles, assuming you're carrying the vibe of the exterior into the interior.

Thanks all for your comments.

The first photo is not my house, it's just a picture from a listing online that I thought helped illustrate my question since there was no clutter, accessories, etc in the kitchen.

I think I've read too many design blogs about styling rooms for photos lately :).

Our realtor "lent" us various topiaries, fruit bowls, small sculptures, and similar items to help stage the house for photos and showings. I'd say they placed close to 50 items across our 3200 square foot house. We packed away our "good stuff" as well as items with sentimental value that we wouldn't want stolen or broken. It did help the house look more like a new construction model which people seem to like. It's something to ask about when selecting your realtor.

This would be the typical decor-blog post ... compare it with your original one (I just cropped it).

Which one tells you more about the house and layout?

With most listings including 20-30 photos or more, I wouldn't worry about just one picture. When I look at listings, I want to get a sense of the room sizes, the layout, the quality of the finishes, and any indications of how well it has been maintained. I don't think there's any single photo of a kitchen that would tell me everything I need to know. And I wouldn't want to see deceptive photos that make the house or yard look bigger or nicer than it really is, because if I go to look at the house in person, it better reasonably meet expectations. Personally, I love to see a floor plan pic, but they're hard to find with resale homes.

Personally, I love to see a floor plan pic, but they're hard to find with resale homes.

I agree - floor plan pics are actually pretty common in our area.

I agree that the photos that make the rooms appear larger are a big turnoff. We drove 3 hours to look at a house that from the online photos looked perfect for us. They even had the same living room set that we had, so we knew ours would fit.

What the photos didn't show was that the furniture was in front of two of the doors that led to other parts of the house. The photos were so deceptive that I pulled the listing up on my phone to be sure we were in the correct house.

This gave us the impression they were being deceptive and left doubts in our mind on what else they might be covering up, and colored the rest of our viewing of that house.

That looks like the difference between a $6 photo of a house where the owner picked the stone and colors; versus a $600 photo where an architect picked the colors, and the photo was taken with better equipment, lighting, and retouching technology.

The 2nd pic is so close to the island it looks like a kitchen ad for the island. I want to see as much of the room as I can in a picture.

That looks like the difference between a $6 photo of a house where the owner picked the stone and colors; versus a $600 photo where an architect picked the colors.

I think that is why I started over-thinking this. I don't want the pics to look like the $6 version just because I de-cluttered too much and left the rooms looking bland and without style/character/warmth. Based on all of the feedback I think I get the point. The purpose of photos for a listing is different than eye candy on sites like Houzz.

I think I get what you're asking.. Do you do regular photos or magazine style photos....

Good question. I would do a mix. There have been days were I looked 500 photos so seeing something different or magazine style photos that offer the non traditional point of view or angle, would be a nice change of scenery.

It's going to come down to your home.. Photos only go so far. Think "online dating" lol...

Here's my condo photos from my listing. I sold my condo in May and I was getting lots of interest from the photos. I cleared out anything personal, but still kept some decorating touches. (Notice the bowl of green apples in the corner of the kitchen counter and of course the flowers in all the rooms.) It looked like people lived in the condo, just barely. LOL.

People don't want to see close ups of islands, or decorate magazine photos. They want to see photos that give them an idea of the space they will be living in. And also do it in a way that creates a story of moving through the house.

"People don't want to see close ups of islands, or decorate magazine photos. They want to see photos that give them an idea of the space they will be living in. And also do it in a way that creates a story of moving through the house."

That's what I'm thinking too.

Frankly... I hate the sterile all-white second photo, and think that the first one would move me the most.

I do understand staging. I do understand removing personal effects (to SOME extent). But I personally can't see me moving into a STERILE environment - I don't mind, and in fact this buyer, relishes, a past connection.

I do want to see space. If I see how a previous owner used space, that does help -- which is why staged homes are NEVER empty. If I see a personal touch, in my case, I feel more in tune with the place. Obviously, no clutter, but your first example didn't have that. Unfortunately a lot of stagers think the more sterile, the better. PUKE.

Everyone is different. You can't always focus on the "mainstream" buyer. I still regret the fact I couldn't buy a lovely property owned by a bank after the elderly woman passed away in her home. The grounds were beautiful, and had a stream running through it far enough from the house never to be a threat. The house dated to something like 1790. The kitchen dated to 1940.

It was filled with objects and items and b&w photos from her life. They'd all convey. I had no clue what I'd do with all this, but somehow I wanted, and still wish I could have, done something to honor this nameless woman who died alone, with no heirs available to carry her legacy on.

It wasn't the "stuff" I would have to deal with, that kept me from buying this home. It was the fact that half the doors were shorter than myself (1790's, remember), and that the kitchen was from the 1940s as far as the appliances went, and that the basement was a half-size crawl space that I'd never stand upright in. At that point, 25 years ago, I had nothing like the funds to make this place my home, to properly renovate,, or to give her the honor this woman deserved.

I HATE "homes" that have been lived in, and where no personality of the original owner is allowed to convey.

I'm like Artemis I guess..I connect to a house-partially-through its owners..

Personality-even when very different than mine-doesn't scare me away, and doesn't prevent me from "seeing myself in the space", and all that.

"Hate" is too strong a word probably..:) but I'm okay with homes that look like homes.

Now the question was about the photos-I agree with everyone, blogs/magazines concentrate on details(not only, but details too) because the details are often most interesting to the readers..they read for inspiration, learning, and many other things.

Buyers look at the listings with more practical intentions-they try to understand whether a house might work for them. So they are interested more in a layout, general feel, making sense of what a house is. Then if they come to see it-they'll look into details.

Of course it won't hurt to put a couple more detailed pictures, if they're beautiful and you feel they enhance the impression from the listing, but most of them should be layout pics rather than "to scale pic"

They don't let me to save photos on that website, but it is illustrating the difference very nicely:) "Layout sample" and "Sample to scale":

http://www.tempaperdesigns.com/shop-tempaper/order-samples/chinoiserie-by-tempaper/chinoiserie-cg900s-sample.html

I agree with almost everything that I read above.

We need to be able to see the rooms. All this up close and personal is for a different reason: people showing off their islands and such.

I don't like wide-angle lens. I cannot help but feel as though I am being misled.

And I don't like too many pictures. Let me see something for myself when I come to visit. Only choose the best of the best (photos) and leave me wanting more.

On an emotional level (and quite a bit of home buying is emotional), the main difference I see is that the kitchen is 'styled" as a kitchen, i.e. attractive food, expensive pot, wine, etc. rather than a random bunch of flowers; bathroom accordingly, i.e. spa like, good looking soap, plush towels (not your old tooth brush and cleaning supplies), etc.

A Pinterest/Houzz style photo would have looked better for the first house because it would have focused more on the Wolf range which kind of gets lost in the first picture. And, the flowers on the island block what might be a double oven.

And, its not like the first picture really showed off the layout of the kitchen that well either. Instead, what it shows the relationship of the kitchen to the other rooms in the house.

Although, I will freely admit since it isn't the OP's kitchen that I prefer the second picture because I find the first kitchen kinda fugly with that old worlde Tuscan wood elements juxtaposed with that modern back splash.