Website Photography Tips
for Interior Designers

Photography is the foundation of every interior design website. Your images do the heavy lifting — they communicate your aesthetic, demonstrate your skill, and help potential clients imagine working with you. Poor photography undermines even the most beautiful design work. Great photography elevates everything.

In an industry as visual as interior design, the quality of your website photography isn't just important — it's often the deciding factor in whether a potential client reaches out or moves on to the next designer. People make judgements about your capabilities based on how your work is presented. Fair or not, mediocre photos suggest mediocre design.

Here's how to approach website photography in a way that serves your studio well.

Start with the Right Photographer

Not all photographers understand interiors. A portrait photographer, wedding photographer, or generalist may struggle to capture the subtleties that make your work special — the way light falls across a room, the texture of materials, the sense of atmosphere and calm that defines a well-designed space.

Look for photographers who specialise in interiors or architecture. Review their portfolio for work that feels calm and intentional rather than heavily styled or artificially lit. The best interior photographers understand that their job is to capture the space honestly, not impose their own aesthetic. They know how to make a room feel inviting without making it look staged.

Pay attention to how they handle light. Interior photography is fundamentally about light — natural light streaming through windows, the interplay of shadows and highlights, the warmth of evening sun on a west-facing room. Photographers who understand this will produce images that feel alive rather than flat.

Tip: Ask other designers who they use. Personal recommendations are invaluable. A photographer who comes recommended by someone whose work you admire is likely to be a good fit.

Prepare the Space Properly

The difference between good and great interior photography often comes down to preparation. Professional photographers can work wonders, but they can't fix a space that wasn't properly prepared. Before the shoot:

• Declutter ruthlessly. Remove anything that doesn't belong — cables, remote controls, personal items, everyday clutter, anything that creates visual noise. Even small items can be distracting in a photograph.
• Style thoughtfully. Add books, flowers, or objects that complement the space without overwhelming it. Less is almost always more. The goal is to suggest how the space might be lived in, not to fill every surface.
• Clean everything. Glass, mirrors, surfaces — smudges and dust show up in high-resolution images. Pay particular attention to reflective surfaces and anything the camera will focus on.
• Consider the light. Schedule the shoot when natural light is at its best for each room. This might mean shooting different rooms at different times of day. Discuss timing with your photographer.
• Remove personal items. Family photos, children's artwork on the fridge, personal toiletries in the bathroom — these items humanise a home for the people who live there, but they distract from the design in portfolio images.

Plan to spend at least half a day preparing a home for a photo shoot. This isn't wasted time — it's essential investment. The preparation makes the difference between images you're proud to share and images that leave you slightly disappointed.

Think About What You Need

Before the shoot, create a shot list. Think about how these images will be used across different platforms and contexts:

• Hero images: Wide, impactful shots that work well as headers or feature images. These are the images that will appear at the top of portfolio pages, in slideshows, and as thumbnails in project grids.
• Detail shots: Close-ups of materials, textures, and thoughtful details that show your attention to craft. These images prove that your design thinking extends to the smallest elements.
• Context shots: Images that show how spaces connect, how light moves through a home, the overall flow of a floor plan. These help viewers understand the project as a whole, not just individual rooms.
• Vertical options: For mobile displays, Instagram, and Pinterest. If your photographer only shoots horizontal, you'll find yourself cropping awkwardly later.
• Before and after potential: If the transformation was significant, consider capturing comparable angles to any "before" images you have.

Having variety gives you flexibility when building your website. A portfolio with only wide shots can feel monotonous; mixing in details creates rhythm and keeps visitors engaged. You'll also appreciate having options when creating social media content, press submissions, and other marketing materials.

Quality Over Quantity

It's tempting to include every image from a shoot. The photographer delivered 80 images, they're all beautiful, why not show them all? Resist this urge. Your website portfolio should show only your strongest work — the images that make people pause and look closer.

Overwhelming visitors with too many images doesn't impress them. It exhausts them. After scrolling through 40 photos of a single project, most people have stopped really looking. They're just clicking through, waiting for it to end. A curated selection of outstanding images leaves a much stronger impression.

For each project, select 4-8 images maximum. Choose ones that:

• Show the space at its best
• Demonstrate different aspects of your design
• Work well together as a set
• Tell a cohesive story about the project
• Include variety — wide shots, details, different rooms

When in doubt, leave it out. Your website visitors will never miss images they didn't see. They'll only remember the strongest ones.

Technical Considerations

Once you have your images, there are a few technical things to consider for web use. Getting these right ensures your beautiful photography actually looks beautiful on your website:

• Resolution: High-resolution files are essential for flexibility, but they need to be optimised for web to load quickly. A 10MB image will slow your page load significantly. Images should be compressed without visible quality loss — typically 100-300KB for web display.
• Aspect ratios: Consistent aspect ratios create a cleaner, more intentional portfolio. 3:2 or 4:3 work well for most interior shots. If every image is a different shape, your portfolio grid will look chaotic.
• Colour consistency: Images from different shoots should feel cohesive on your website. Discuss colour grading with your photographer to ensure a consistent look. This is particularly important if you're combining work from multiple photographers over time.
• File format: WebP offers the best balance of quality and file size for web use. Most modern browsers support it. Your web designer should be handling this conversion for you.

Building a Relationship with Your Photographer

The best results often come from ongoing relationships rather than one-off bookings. When you work with the same photographer repeatedly, they learn your style and preferences. They understand what angles work for your aesthetic. The shoots become more efficient and the results more consistent.

Consider negotiating a retainer arrangement or regular booking schedule. Some photographers offer discounted rates for repeat clients or ongoing relationships. This consistency also helps create a cohesive look across your portfolio, which strengthens your brand.

What If You Don't Have Great Photography Yet?

If you're just starting out or between shoots, don't let this stop you from having a website. A website can be built with a content-first structure, using placeholder layouts that make it easy to swap in images later. The structure, copy, and functionality can all be in place, ready for photography when it comes.

What matters most is that when you do have photography, your website is ready to showcase it beautifully. Having the framework in place means you can add images immediately after a shoot, rather than starting from scratch.

In the meantime, focus on capturing what you can — even phone photos of details and materials can be useful for social media while you build your professional portfolio. Just be selective about what appears on your website. It's better to show less, beautifully, than to compromise with images that don't represent your standard.

Your photography is an investment that pays returns for years. The images you capture now will appear on your website, in press submissions, on social media, and in client presentations. Take the time to get it right.