A lot of our winter shoots start the same way. We pull up and the driveway is half plowed, there are boots on every step, and the front window is fogged from the inside. None of that is a big deal in person. In photos it all shows. Snow covers up plenty, but it also makes the small things stand out, like a dark entry or a trail of salt across the tile.
This is the list we'd give any seller the week before a winter shoot. Most of it takes one evening.
Clear more snow than you normally would
On a normal morning you clear a path to the car. For photos, clear the whole driveway and the full width of the front walk, and brush the snow off the porch steps and railings. When buyers see snow in a listing, one of the first things they wonder is how hard the place is to get in and out of. A wide, clean driveway answers that for them.
Pile what you shovel along the sides of the driveway, away from the porch and the front windows. The plow will leave a ridge at the end of the drive, and we can usually frame around that one. If the snow in the yard is fresh and nobody has walked through it yet, keep it that way. An untouched yard photographs beautifully, and footprints across it are hard to hide.
Put the winter gear away
Boots, shovels, the bucket of ice melt, a sled or two. Winter stuff collects by every door, and it all ends up in the exterior shots. Move it into the garage or a closet before we get there.
Check the entry from the inside too. The boot tray, the coats hanging on the banister, and the rug soaking up slush by the door all go somewhere out of sight. Salt dries into a white film on tile and hardwood that reads as dirt in a photo, so give the entry floor a quick mop.
If there's room in the garage, park the cars inside for the hour we're there. Otherwise, parking down the street keeps them out of the front of the house.
Holiday decorations
A wreath on the door and lights along the roofline are fine in December. The catch is that listing photos stick around longer than the holidays do. A Christmas tree in the living room looks a little odd to someone scrolling in February, and it dates the listing the moment January hits.
If the home is going on the market soon, we'd suggest keeping the outdoor lights and the wreath and taking down the tree, the inflatables and the indoor decorations for photo day. If the tree is staying up, let your agent know before the shoot so nobody is surprised by the living room photos.
Every light on before we arrive
Winter light here is low and grey for most of the day, and it fades early. Turn on every light in the house before we pull up, inside and out. That includes lamps, the lights over the stove and under the cabinets, and the porch light. Swap out any dead bulbs, and try to keep the bulbs in a room the same color, because a mix of cool white and warm yellow shows up in photos more than you'd expect.
If you have a gas fireplace, have it running when we get there. It adds a lot to a living room shot this time of year.
Windows and frost
Cold mornings leave condensation on the inside of the glass, especially in bedrooms and bathrooms. An hour or so before we arrive, run the bathroom fans and wipe down any windows that have fogged up. Then open every blind and curtain in the house.
Space heaters and humidifiers tend to end up sitting in the middle of a room in winter, and they end up in the photo too. Tuck them into a closet for the shoot and set the thermostat somewhere comfortable instead.
When there's no snow at all
Some winters barely get any snow, and the yard is just brown. That's fine. Rake up the last of the fall leaves, sweep the porch and the walk, and coil up any hoses still lying out. A tidy exterior holds up well without green grass. If the sky is flat and grey on shoot day, we offer sky replacement as an add-on, so mention it when you book.
We wrote more about winter exteriors in Winter Curb Appeal.
The last hour
Right before we arrive, it helps to walk through the house once more:
- Lights on in every room, blinds open
- Counters cleared in the kitchen and bathrooms, toilet lids down
- Boots, coats and shovels out of sight
- Pets and family out of the house for the shoot
That last one matters. We need the home empty while we photograph it, so plan a coffee run or an errand for the hour we're there.
Homes sell here all winter long, and a little prep before photo day helps yours show the way it does on a good day. For the full room-by-room version, see our Upstage guide. And when you're ready to get on the calendar, we'd love to help.
