Look on any interior website or magazine and you'll see image after image of rooms that look beautiful, neat, and well thought out, all designed to whet our appetite and inspire us with new ideas, colours and products. What you might not realise though, is the amount of work that goes into getting each of these shots to that picture-perfect state, especially if it's a real home that we're photographing.
As well as the items that I'll add to a kitchen as an interior stylist, like fresh flowers, food and drink props, for instance, there are also some things we'll take out – and it may surprise you to know what they are.
These are the five items I'll often remove from a kitchen on a photoshoot…
1. Freestanding bins
No matter if it's the most well-designed kitchen bin in the world, it's still an item that no one really wants to see! It's very rare that you'll see a kitchen image with a bin in it and it's one of the first things I'll take out.
Obviously, in a real working kitche,n we need a bin, but it is worth looking into hidden kitchen bin ideas to make things look more streamlined. They don't always need to be on display, if you have the cupboard space consider attaching one to a cabinet door or installing a pull-out bin. Alternatively, you can even buy a bin disguised as a sideboard on Amazon.
2. Plug points
So this one is less about me removing plug points, and more about being able to disguise them. Where we can, stylists often place items across a plug point to hide it – or get it removed in production. Why? It may seem silly as it's something that every working kitchen has, but pictures look a lot more streamlined and aesthetically pleasing when you don't see them.
I'll often place a few breadboards in front, or a cookery book on a stand to hide the plug sockets in a kitchen, even in my own kitchen. It is important to have easily accessible plug sockets in a kitchen, but there are clever ways to make them more discreet like tucking them under a kitchen island or installing a pop-up socket, like this one from B&Q, on a worktop.
3. Old tea towels
Out goes any worn, used tea towels and oven gloves and in come some new, nicely steamed, crease-free ones instead. Although kitchens often need to look lived-in for photoshoots, no one wants to see a tea towel that's stained or had better days.
Often I'll take the old ones out and replace them with a few new ones in different colours or patterns – something that adds to the look and feel of a kitchen. In a real home, a tea towel will always need to be used but once they get to the stained and raggedy stage it is time to throw them out of the kitchen.
4. Extra bar stools
In a real-life kitchen, you've often got a set amount of bar stools to fill the space of an island or breakfast bar, and to accommodate each family member. However, for a photo shoot I'll often take one or two out to enable the space to 'breathe' better and help it feel less busy – as if you have lots of bar stool legs, the room can feel quite cluttered.
Seeing the room through a camera lens can distort where items are, so in a real home try not to be influenced by what you see on Instagram or a magazine. Choose the correct number of chairs that you need, and comfortably fits in the space.
5. Small appliances
On a photoshoot I'll often remove a kettle or a toaster if I don't feel like they're adding anything to the shot, replacing them with a plant to bring some life to a worktop, or a large vase or even a utensil jar with some nice wooden spoons.
This is not practical for many homes but if aesthetics and clear surfaces are important you can try incorporating a breakfast cupboard or appliance garage into your kitchen to hide them when not in use. If you don't have the storage space take care to consider the design of your toaster and kettle, if it's going to be on display make sure it's something you love looking at and using.
Add to basket
These under counter bins that can hang on the inside of a cabinet door are the ultimate solution to hiding a bin in a small kitchen.
Chopping and serving boards are essential for hiding wires, plug sockets and so much more in a kitchen to get that calm and curated look.
Please take this as your sign to let go of any stained tea towels you've been holding onto and treat yourself. At £12 this Sanderson x Habitat pack of 5 will instantly elevate your space.
Of course most of these items I remove are for aesthetic not practical purposes, so next time you see a picture of a kitchen before you try to recreate it at home keep in mind all the tricks behind the scenes that went into styling that shot.
