How to Stage a Dining Room for Real Estate Photography

A house’s dining room can help spark a homebuyer’s interest in the property. As outlined in a previous post, dining rooms are also crucial in real estate photography, as they create an element of homeliness. In fact, 29% of homebuyers pay more than the asking price when they perceive a property as more than an asset but a home. Presenting and highlighting your dining room through real estate photography is crucial, as 97% of homebuyers look for properties online, making photos their first point of contact.

Investing time and resources into staging your dining room for real estate photography can help frame your home’s aesthetic. This ranges from adjusting furniture pieces and lighting fixtures to playing around with decor and accessories. In this post, we’ll be sharing some tips for staging your dining room for real estate photography:

Varying dining room seating

Depending on the decor and the rest of the house, it may be wise to rethink your dining room seating plan. A conventional dining room setup may look cluttered in pictures if the rest of the room is busy with decor and other furniture. Instead, you can click here to see how a dining table with a bench setup can provide a new, refreshing aesthetic. For one, a single bench can look less cluttered than the usual number of chairs pushed up to the table. Functionally, a dining bench also provides flexibility as people won’t be restricted by the amount of chairs available.

Additionally, dining sets with benches still use conventional chairs as part of the setup but help open up the furniture arrangement, making the whole dining room look more open in pictures. You can also experiment with dining chair designs and table sizes to go with the bench, such as the Mariko extendable dining with bench sets, which can work as six- and eight-seaters and use high or low backrests for the regular chairs.

Paying attention to lighting

While lighting is certainly essential for elevating various forms of photography, lighting can also help transform your dining room and make it more inviting and homely. Depending on the design of your house and how rooms are laid out, you can read this article to examine how strategically placed windows can create well-lit spaces for cooking, dining, and spending quality time with loved ones. Light-filled spaces for food are also flexible as they work across different finishes, from marble, concrete, and wood to glass.

For example, if your dining room and kitchen are joined or share the same space, you can opt for skylights or ceiling glass windows to maximize lighting and warmth. Of course, there are other ways to light up your dining rooms, including artificial light fixtures like a hanging light over the table. If your kitchen and dining room are separated, you can also consider sliding glass doors so the two spaces can share light.

Accessorizing the dining room

Finally, aside from changing furnishing and lighting, it’s also important to take the time to accessorize the dining space. Even the most minimalist dining rooms can be elevated with a few decor pieces and accessories. Most of the finishing touches detailed here can liven up the dining space and work similarly with decor for other rooms, including indoor plants, light fixtures, wall decor, and a good old rug.

A well-placed potted indoor plant can make for eye-catching photography as it can add a splash of color, especially if your dining room focuses on minimalist design. You can also accessorize your dining room’s walls with framed pictures, art prints, and mirrors to create the illusion of space. It’s also vital that you arrange any furniture on the floor — whether potted plants, a rug, or a floor lamp — so that people can still easily move around the dining space.

Editing for Perfect Presentation

Once you’ve snapped those stellar shots of your staged dining room, it’s time to jazz them up with a little digital magic through real estate photo editing. Even the best-styled spaces can benefit from a tweak or two to really make them shine online. Here are some tips to spruce up your photos:

1. Tweak the Lighting and Exposure: Get those photos out of the shadows by fine-tuning the lighting and exposure. Brighten up the dim areas and balance out the exposure to make your dining room look like the inviting haven it is.
2. Boost the Colors: Make those colors pop by adjusting the saturation and contrast. This’ll help draw attention to the standout features of your dining room, like those funky decor pieces or that sleek furniture.
3. Banish Distractions: Whip out your editing tools to remove any pesky distractions from your photos. Say goodbye to unwanted objects, pesky reflections, or any other imperfections that might steal the spotlight from your dining room’s charm.
4. Straighten and Crop: Get those photos perfectly aligned and cropped for maximum impact. Straighten out any wonky lines and crop out any unnecessary background clutter to keep the focus squarely on your dining room’s fabulousness.
5. Add Depth and Dimension: Give your photos a bit of oomph by playing around with shadows and highlights. This’ll make your dining room feel more lifelike and immersive, like you could just step right into the picture and pull up a chair.

By giving your photos a little digital TLC, you’ll ensure that your staged dining room looks its absolute best online, enticing potential buyers and leaving them itching to schedule a viewing.