styling room by room: kitchen

When styling a kitchen for a photo shoot, it’s important to consider what you want to say about this room – much like lots of other areas of the home. Is this the heart of your home? Is it a space you spend a lot of time in? Is it a family room? Or is it a clean space primarily made to cook food in?

Once you’ve decided the purpose, it will help you think about the kind of props you want to place in it. For example, if it’s a family space, it might have a notice board or chalk board somewhere in it, or sometimes, the odd toy is ok. If it’s the heart of the home, it needs to be warm and feel lived in. Home comforts need to be on display here.

With kitchens, it is often too easy to make surfaces look cluttered. This is the kind of area where less is definitely more. You want to avoid over-crowding it and taking away from the design of the space and the room’s purpose.

In my opinion, setting the table is a no-go. I have been guilty of this in the past, but I have since come to realise that this isn’t realistic. It’s not authentic and it makes it look more like a museum than a home. (There might be times when there is an exception for this – in particular, a feature on dining – but generally it is unnecessary.)
Instead, I opt for items on the table, but not to the extent that they look too staged. A water jug and a group of glasses, maybe with the odd plate, or a teapot and some mugs. Whatever combination of items you want!

Kitchens are generally full of horizontal lines – the worktops, the tables, the breakfast bars, the benches and chairs..
Tall items are needed here to break these lines up. A tall vase, lighting that hangs low from the ceiling. Whatever you can get.

And use just one or two accent colours to spread throughout the frame – look at the existing colour palette and go from there.

Don’t forget, the general styling rules still apply. Keep it clean and tidy.

Here are some examples of kitchens styled in different ways:
(you might not always agree with everything in someone else’s shot. Some people hate towels on display in a kitchen. It’s all down to preference and what works for your eye)