Free guide
Getting the real home ready before the photos, with what you already have: what to remove, what to show and how to handle the light.
In short. Staging a holiday rental means preparing the rooms before the photos, with the furniture already there. Airbnb and Booking.com give very similar advice: remove personal items and clutter, open the curtains, make the beds carefully, tidy the bathroom, hide the cables. They disagree on one point, the lighting: Booking.com wants lamps on, while Airbnb's guide to its photoshoot wants them off.
A holiday rental photo should help guests picture their own stay, not the life of whoever lives there. Most of Airbnb's and Booking.com's advice starts here:
Sources: Airbnb's guide to preparing for its professional photoshoot ('Getting Ready for Your Photoshoot') and the Booking.com Partner Hub ('Understanding photo requirements for your property').
Want to know what to remove from your current photos? We will tell you, free of charge.
| Room | What to prepare |
|---|---|
| Bedroom | bed made with the cover even down to the floor, two pillows per sleeper, no towels or soft toys on the bed, bedside tables clear, wardrobes empty |
| Bathroom | towels hung neatly, toiletries arranged, toilet seat down, shower curtain or door open, mirrors and glass clean |
| Living and dining room | cushions plumped, throws smoothed out, tables and shelves almost empty, chairs evenly spaced |
| Kitchen | worktops clean, cables hidden, food in the cupboards, a few appliances on show (coffee machine, toaster) |
| Outside | tables, chairs and parasols set up, covers removed from barbecue, pool and hot tub, entrance tidy |
Booking.com also asks you to photograph the amenities guests will find: in the room, for example, tea and coffee, a fridge, air conditioning, a safe; in the bathroom, a hairdryer, bathrobes and complimentary toiletries.
Everyone agrees on the curtains: open, to let in natural light and show the view.
Not on the lamps. The Booking.com Partner Hub asks for ambient lighting and lamps turned on, and the Airbnb Help Center also suggests turning on the lights to brighten the space. Airbnb's guide to its professional photoshoot, however, asks you to turn off all lights, so its editors can get a clean look free of colour casts.
There is a reason for the difference: lamps make a room feel welcoming, but they mix warm light with daylight, and the colours then need correcting. If you are taking the photos yourself, turn them on and check that whites and walls do not turn yellow. What a successful photo looks like, with before-and-after examples, is in The photos that get a listing chosen.
Are your photos yellow or dark? They can be corrected without a reshoot: let's look at them together.
Home staging works with what is there: you remove, arrange and show things at their best. When something is missing, because the home is empty or the furniture needs replacing, the step before is deciding how to furnish it. Virtual staging shows the real room with different furniture before you buy it: see Virtual staging: how your home could look. Where to start when choosing furniture is in Furnishing a holiday rental around your guests.
After staging come the photos. The sizes to meet are in Photo size and format for Airbnb and Booking.com. If you already have photos and the home is tidy, improving them is often enough: that is what our Photo Enhancement service does.
Send us your listing link and we will tell you whether you need new photos or can work with the ones you have.
Frequently asked questions
It is preparing the home before the photos: removing personal items and clutter, getting the bedrooms, bathroom and kitchen ready, opening the curtains and putting what guests can use on show. It is done with the furniture already there.
No. Staging arranges and tidies what is already there. If the home is empty or the furniture needs changing, decide how to furnish it first, with virtual staging if it helps, and take the photos once the home is finished.
Booking.com asks for lamps and ambient lighting on, and the Airbnb Help Center suggests turning on the lights. Airbnb's photoshoot guide wants them off, because its editors correct the colours afterwards. Either way, open the curtains.
Airbnb's photoshoot guide suggests two pillows per sleeper, plumped, with the cover smoothed evenly down to the floor.
Tissues, toilet rolls on show and bins. Booking.com also asks for the toilet lid closed, the shower curtain open, clean mirrors and the lights on.
The first step
Send us the link to your listing and we will tell you what to improve, with no obligation.
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