Make sure your property is photo friendly

Taking great photos of your vacation rental property can be difficult to say the least. Here are a few easy ways to turn ordinary photos into inviting, appealing representations of what your second home has to offer your guests

1. Smooth out comforters and bedspreads. Don’t let your renters think that Goldilocks tests out all the beds before they arrive. A pull here and a tug there will easily straighten out your bedspreads and prevent your renters form having a three-bears reaction.

2. Set your dining room table. Pretend you are about to throw a dinner party - you wouldn’t greet your nearest and dearest with a blank dusty table adorned only with a stack of junk mail and a misplaced toy. Use colorful settings and a centerpiece or create a scene with a bottle of wine, or a tray of cocktails. You could even place a wooden checkerboard on the coffee table; not only are you adding color and dimension to the photo, but you're giving renters some insight into everything they can do while staying at your home.

3. Angle an area rug on the floor. Everything in your house doesn’t have to line up on a grid – those rigid right angles don’t show any panache! Give your area rugs a jaunty angle to lend a cozy and eclectic feel to your home and your photos.

4. Toss coordinating pillows on the easy chair or sofa, or drape a throw over the side. Your guests want to imagine themselves relaxing, not sitting with perfect posture in a straight-backed chair. In addition to adding color, it helps the furniture look more comfortable. If you want your property to look inviting and homey, then layer on soft textures with throws and pillows in different sizes and coordinating colors.

5. Turn the TV off, as it rarely photographs well. Nothing ruins a photo of your serene living room like a WWF smackdown frozen in a blur on your TV screen in the background. Especially if your TV is old or relatively ordinary, you probably don't want to make it the focal point of your photo.

6. Pay attention to lighting. What lurks there in the shadows? If it’s your vacation rental, you may be in trouble. Turn on the lamps, open your shades, and if you have a fireplace, light a fire.

7. Arrange furniture so that it fits the picture, not the room. It’s not cheating; it’s an industry trick used by photographers who shoot editorial layouts for magazines.

8. Tame unruly cords hanging from electronics, lamps, or window shades. No one likes that tangle of unappetizing black spaghetti! You can buy cord and cable organizers to make sense of the jumble.

9. Straighten wall hangings. A guest may see a crooked wall hanging as a sign of a haphazard attitude to maintenance and presentation. Assure your guests that you’re master of the obvious by making sure your décor is perfectly perpendicular.

10. Clutter. Remove any unnecessary items on the counters and bookshelves. Just because you have a beachfront property doesn’t mean every surface has to be covered in shells and rubber squeaky crabs. Clean lines and surfaces are what appeal to most people.