Too much in the bottom picture, maybe not enough in the top. Try a happy medium?

Turn on the under cabinet lighting. That is a must. And all of the rest of the lighting.

Remove all of those small tchotchkes. Nothing but a colorful coffee maker and a big wood tray type accessory. Large accessories only.

Get a nice colorful ”show” towel to drape folded over the oven door. Add the same color with a pot for a plant. It’s all too bland and needs color and wood to bring it to life.

Take out everything. Yes, everything, even the coffee pot. (Just for the photos, right?) Consider a large bowl of fruit. One or two pieces of glass or pottery. A tall vase of flowers on the island. That's all you need.

After the pictures are done, you can move things back.

I'd ditch everything for the photos with the exception on maybe 2 or 3 of the following: a plant, a few strategically arranged cookbooks, a bowl of seasonal fruits (apples for fall), maybe some cute canisters.

I used a laundry basket to contain things. And when the house was being shown, I could shovel things into the laundry basket and stow it in the car.

I agree with most everything already said. And, I’d keep things that way until house sold. At very least remove half of what’s on counters & especially non kitchen items like picture frames & electronic gadgets, pure decorator items, , paper towels sitting there in corner along with the holder for them. Remove all the cutting boards behind cooktop,little white covered bowls on top of cooktop & towels hanging from oven handle. And the frig - remove everything hanging on it! Lovely kitchen - if the rest of your house matches it, you’ll enjoy a fast sale I’m sure!

Your second picture - you need to remove all that, including the coffee maker. Remove the towels from the handles, and definitely, absolutely, remove everything stuck onto the fridge front and sides.

What is the big metal thing on the left of the oven?

Why are there no knobs or pulls on your cabinetry?

One vase of sunflowers. One bowl of bright oranges, yellow lemons or red apples. A colorful towel (brand new). Nothing else for listing photos. For showings, you could also leave the white canisters and spotless coffeemaker out.

Put the rest in a cabinet. Use a basket to collect the rest and empty a cabinet so you can put the basket in it quickly.

M Miller big metal thing on left of oven? Are you looking at the top of kitchen sink faucet in foreground or the empty paper towel holder on counter? 🙃 As for no knobs & handles on cabs - not everyone wants them as some like clean look.. I’m guessing the doors & drawers have curved finger pulls hidden just behind fronts. My cabs are that way & we lived with for awhile until I settled on handles I liked.

@KW PNW Z8 - my palm slapping forehead - it must be the sink faucet! This is what happens when viewing pics on an old phone. (I also have not had my reading glasses updated since the Covid quarantine, but I have an appointment next week. That should help.)

M Miller 🤣 I get it, truly I do!,

I would add hardware on the the cabinets

I disagree. Now is not the time. Let the cabinets go as they are. If the buyer wants to add hardware, she will, after she moves in.

They look unfinished. Buyers expect hardware. I know I would.

I agree with @sushipup1 and especially as we don’t know what the rest of this home looks like & most especially in this current market. Lack of kitchen cabinet handles is not going to make a bit of difference! If a buyer wants them, it’s a very small project.

What does the rest of the house have to do with it? Little things add up. Adding hardware is a minor thing but no hardware looks bad. Look at the picture of the cabinets. Something is def missing. Attention to details is important. It does make a difference.

At this stage the wrong hardware would be worse than no hardware…and i would guess there are finger slots ….for pulling them open…most buyers are willing to add them if they find they want/need them…

Whatever. You’re wrong. I’m right. Simple hardware would be best. I guess I know what would look best and you can’t imagine what would work. And what the heck are finger slots. I would not want cabinets with finger slots. Whatever they are. Sounds gross. Cabinets have hardware for a reason. Think about it.

Yes, it will look empty to you, but for some reason that's what prospective buyers want to see. I couldn't stand to live in my place while it was being shown - to me, it looked so barren and lonely, but that's the way it had to be. (I was fortunately able to move to my vacation home for most of the showing period, otherwise I probably would have gone nuts and moved to a hotel.)

Why is there no hardware on the cabinets? They look unfinished.

Nice kitchen, I like it. The only improvement to your listing pics would be eliminating the shadow at the back of the counters. If you don't have undercabinet lights already, leave only one or two things on the counter but pull them forward enough to receive bright light.

Oh dear, these comments. I hate to say but they’re right. Ugh. Selling your home is worse than buying. The comments by buyers and agents can be brutal, and feel so personal. Two of my kids just sold their homes this past week. I’m biased, perhaps, but they’re both beautiful homes that show well, very cleanly staged. It was a bit of a PIA to do, but — each of them accepted a full priced offer in less than a week. So, yeah. Worth the few days of misery. As far as the no hardware - my last home never had any. I didn’t mind and I don’t think it hurt the sale. The next buyers put their own on. Just based on these pix, your home looks lovely. Good luck to you!

Definitely less is more when selling. I would keep the coffee maker on the counter, but pretty much everything else goes. Paper towel holder in my opinion is fine, and a nicer dishtowel on the range for sure. I would have a vase of flowers and or a big bowl of green apples or oranges something bright colored, and also if it has any scent it will be slight but pleasant.

I wouldn't add hardware even though I think it would be an improvment, because I agree that the wrong one ( or the wrong # of holes) could be a problem so leave well enough alone.

We really did this when we sold and thankfully the home sold in less than a week because I agree that living like that is torture but it really does work to sell/stage the home.

Your kitchen looks great. If you do have additional lighting, I would leave that on for pictures and showings. I am pretty sure that was the general wisdom. ( all lights- pendants, undercabinet, ceiling, you name it)

Look for battery operated under-cabinet puck lights that you can just stick on. But I agree that you can just pull items forward out from under the cabinets to eliminate shadow. And no coffee maker, no paper towels, no hand towel on the oven door. Sorry, this is for staging for the photos. You can add those back and leave them when showing.

Literally nothing removable should be in the photos - no tea towel, coffee maker, knick knacks, photos, magnets, etc. This isn't controversial nor a criticism of your lifestyle. Pictures are not real life. Pictures tend to make things look busier than they really are - so best to get rid of all busy-ness.

Also, you don't want to highlight that your kitchen doesn't have enough room to hold stuff.

For listing pictures, on the stove side, coffee maker and knife block only. remove everything else, including the items on the side of the refrigerator. No towels hanging from handles.

On the other counter a big bowl of fresh fruit. Nothing else.

Don't even leave the knife block out. Not only does it create visual clutter, but it provides a subtle clue that your kitchen wasn't designed well enough to have a drawer for knives.

I don't understand why people are saying "oh it's okay to leave this and this on the counter". There is literally zero benefit to having anything on the counter. It doesn't make pictures prettier, it doesn't help sell your house. While it's possible the coffee maker won't deter your ultimate buyer, there's the possibility it will. Why wouldn't you just clear everything and keep it simple? How hard is it to shove the coffee maker into the cupboard, or move it behind the photographer for one minute while you take pictures?

I would remove just about everything, especially appliances and knife blocks. You want potential buyers to see the expansive countertop space and not be thinking about "is there not enough drawer space for the knives?" or "where will my favorite appliance go?". It's nice to have a little color/life threw very minimal accessorizing like a single bowl of one type of fruit and maybe a plant in the corner of the first picture. My realtor had us do a bowl of lemons and a single flowering plant in the kitchen just to bring a little bit of color without clutter.

There are rules for photographing and rules showing.

Photography demands that everything be removed. Most of your work will be done in the kitchen, the bathrooms and table tops. Just remove everything. Clean surfaces and every light on. If you don't have undercabinet lighting in the kitchen, get some stick-on battery operated temporary lights. Remove all towels, even in the bathrooms. I don't know why. We used to buy a new set of guest towels to use when showing a house, now days they just take all towels out. This is how the stagers do it. Remove all throw rugs, too. Remove all dried flower arrangements and artificial plants, too. Dusty clutter. Open all curtains. Raise the blinds unless there is a bad view outside. Please lower the toilet lids.

Showing the house is a little less demanding. You can leave a maximum of three items in the kitchen. A bowl of colorful fruit, a coordinating towel and either a coffee maker or stand mixer on the counter. Everything else gets shoved in a drawer or closet. You are selling lifestyle.

Pictures of your lovely, loving family must be removed. You need to communicate to a stranger that this could be their house. Your smiling family looking at them wherever they move doesn't say sit down and imagine yourself at home. I shove mine in drawers. They come out after showings.

Any evidence of pets needs to be removed, too. Not only does your house have to look good, it has to smell good, too. All cat boxes and dog beds go somewhere else. I put them under beds. Water and food bowls go in the dishwasher.

Making the effort will result in making the sale.

I'd be surprised if a serious buyer walked away from this lovely kitchen due to a family pic or an extra canister on the countertop. But why not make the effort to remove most everything as suggested above - it shows you are a serious seller.

Thanks everyone! I have received some great advice for preparing for listing pics.

I will be sure to remove all of the clutter and turn our upper and lower cabinet lights on. I know there was a concern for kitchen hardware- we have been here for 6 years and I could never bite the bullet on what I wanted. Luckily, we will be taking pictures to rent this home out for a while so I am hoping no hardware won’t deter a renter 😊

The cabinets look great. Keep your money in your pocket and don't worry about hardware. Spotlessly clean inside and out will pay far better dividends.