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You are here: Home / Interior Decorating / How to decorate / A fun way to get a fresh perspective of your room (and a few bonus photography tips)

A fun way to get a fresh perspective of your room (and a few bonus photography tips)

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How to decorate

You know how the difference between seeing yourself in the mirror and seeing yourself in a photograph can be huge sometimes?  Our rooms can be the same way.

Sometimes we need a fresh perspective of our rooms, whether they’ve been arranged the same way for years or we just re-decorated yesterday.  And sometimes, all we need to do to get that new view of our space is to take a photograph or two of it.

How to get a fresh perspective of your space

It’s amazing how things jump out at you in a picture that you’ve never noticed in person.  It could be little things like electrical cords that you didn’t realize were visible to something big like the sofa not complimenting the room at all.

I’m a borderline-terrible photographer not very good at photography yet.  But there are three things that have started making a big difference in the photos around here:

1. Use natural light whenever possible (and don’t mix any other light with natural light–it will make everything look muddy).

2. Take photographs from hip-height (or waist-height if you’re a shorty like me).

3. Face your subject straight-on.

I always photographed our rooms at an angle–from the corner–so I could fit the whole room in one picture.  And that’s another reason my photographs were always ugly.  It’s just not flattering, and it really is okay to not get the whole room in one photo.  So try facing the wall squarely when taking pictures.

The tips can seem strange and unnatural, but they really make a difference, try it both ways and see!

So go take some photos of your rooms and see if anything stands out to you that you never noticed in person.  And come back and let us know, we’d love to hear the results!

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  1. Sarah

    January 10, 2014 at 10:26 am

    Hi Christina! These are really helpful tips. Thanks.:)

    Reply
    • Christina

      January 13, 2014 at 4:22 pm

      Very glad, Sarah!

  2. [email protected]

    January 10, 2014 at 2:07 pm

    I agree with you, pictures are better taken with natural light… But in winter, I really can’t do it in my cottage that has small windows.

    Reply
    • Christina

      January 13, 2014 at 4:21 pm

      Yes, we have a few rooms in our house that hardly get any no matter what time of the year…that’s when I use a flash bounce. But the lighting in your photos always looks very nice to me!

  3. Inge @ Simply Fabulous Chic

    January 10, 2014 at 2:40 pm

    What great tips! I am also not good at photography yet, but I also have seen that my pictures taken in natural daylight without any other light are much more clearer and better looking. Others sometimes just look too yellow. 🙂 How great of you to share these interesting tips, I’m definitely going to keep these in mind when I’m shooting the baby room for my next future blog posts… Thanks so much Christina!! I hope all is well with you and that you had wonderful holidays and that you will be having a magical, wonderful 2014!!
    Hugs, Inge x

    Reply
    • Christina

      January 13, 2014 at 4:14 pm

      Thanks, Inge! I look forward to seeing the baby’s room!

  4. Sarah

    January 10, 2014 at 10:11 pm

    What interesting, unexpected techniques to apply! I can see you used all of the above in the great living room photo (love the relaxed Roscoe on the couch; our Heidi is still too young and rambunctious for furniture yet ;-). I’ll be sure to photograph the new bathroom using some of these ideas; if we ever get it done, that is!

    Reply
    • Christina

      January 13, 2014 at 4:10 pm

      That’s Roscoe’s favorite spot when we’re busy. (And he wasn’t allowed on either when he was young and crazy.) 🙂

      Aww…you two are persistent, you’ll get it done! I look forward to the photos.

  5. Leena

    January 11, 2014 at 5:46 am

    What natural light? 😀
    That hip hight perspective does look good, I had never payed attention to such detail. It’s like you are looking at a room from a sofa, sitting.
    I too try to take photo so that everything fits in and therefore back into a corner to take the photo, but usually the less you see the better the photo looks. I’m really not a good photographer, but I’ve noticed that I’m better taking pictures of details than from the bigger scale, maybe I’m just trying to take picture of a too big area.
    Thanks for the tips! And I agree, you can see your environment in a new light by looking it through a lens.

    Reply
    • Christina

      January 13, 2014 at 4:00 pm

      Your detailed pictures are always beautiful! You really have a good eye for those.

  6. homestilo

    March 11, 2014 at 11:27 am

    I am always shy about my interior photos as well- so thanks for the tips. I am with you on natural light- every time.

    Reply

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Ugly photo time! We're doing the $100 Room Challen Ugly photo time! We're doing the $100 Room Challenge on our dining room (that you guys haven't even seen the "before" of yet). It's a super fun challenge to stay within $100 and makeover a room in a month. We're behind schedule, but there has actually been progress. I'll try to remember to share here, but there's more on the blog! LittleVictorian.com
#100roomchallenge
Update: the MCM is officially sold! We did eventua Update: the MCM is officially sold! We did eventually finish most of our restoration/renovation projects. I'll share the updates in the coming months as we get settled in to our new place. 😁
House update! The realtor is still confused about House update! The realtor is still confused about why "it's such a popular house." When she arrived yesterday for a showing, there were 8 cars in the driveway. 😃

We had three offers the first day, one of whom hadn't even seen the house in person yet.
Surprise! The house is going on the market today. Surprise! The house is going on the market today. (Long story that I'll fill you in on when I have more than 2 seconds.)
.
But we're once again with a realtor that calls our house "unique" instead of calling it a Mid Century Modern. 🤦‍♀️
.
We can't count how many locals came into this house and mentioned that those windows should be removed and walled up and the beams cut off. And then it would be a "normal" house. 🤯
.
Still can't really identify with people in this area. 🤷‍♀️ SO happy to be going back home to the East coast TOMORROW!
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