What Really Happens at an Interior Design Photoshoot?
Photographing a finished interior space is more than documenting how a room looks. The best interior photography captures how a home feels: the way light moves through a space, how rooms connect, and the small details that reveal something about the people who live there.
Recently, we had the opportunity to watch that process unfold at one of our most loved projects.
Capturing the Feeling of a Home
We recently photographed a farmhouse in Malvern, Pennsylvania, created for a wonderful family we worked with for more than three years. We were lucky enough not only to work with this incredible family, but with the talented architects at Archer & Buchanan, and superb craftsman at Cappelletti Builders.
There was something particularly meaningful about returning once the work was complete and seeing the home through an entirely different lens. After years of drawings, selections, meetings, installations, and countless decisions, the house was no longer a project. It was their home, and it was a joyful one.
Watching that story being captured felt, in many ways, like a celebration of everything that had gone into creating it.
For the shoot, we worked with photographer Jacob Snavely and stylist Parker Bowie Larson, two incredibly talented creatives whose perspectives helped bring the story of the home to life.
What Happens Behind the Scenes of an Interior Design Photoshoot?
Long before the first photograph is taken, there is a great deal of preparation behind the scenes.
For our team, that begins with sharing the story of the project. We provide scouting photographs, walking the photographer and stylist through the spaces, discuss the details that feel most important to capture, and offer context around how the family lives in the home. Those early conversations help everyone understand not only what should be photographed, but what we hope the images will communicate.
From there, the photographer and stylist bring their own creative perspective to the project, considering light, composition, styling, and the sequence of the day. On site, the process becomes highly collaborative, with rooms being refined and adjusted as each shot comes together.
There is also a substantial amount of logistical work happening in parallel. Props and accessories may be sourced and purchased, then received, inspected, organized, stored, and transported to the project. Our team is on site throughout the shoot as an extra set of hands, helping move furniture and accessories, coordinating details, and making sure the day continues to run smoothly.
When everyone is working toward the same story, the process feels remarkably fluid.
Why Is Styling for Photography Different from Everyday Living?
A room styled for a photograph is not exactly the same as a room arranged for everyday life, but the story should remain truthful.
Photography changes the way we experience a space. An object may need to shift several inches to create balance within a frame. A chair might turn slightly. Flowers, books, textiles, or objects may be introduced to create depth and help the eye move through an image.
What matters is that those choices still feel authentic to the home.
For this project, the goal was never to create a version of the rooms that felt staged or unfamiliar. Parker styled them to reflect the way this family actually lives: relaxed, welcoming, layered, and full of life. Our goal in photography is to tell the story of the project and the home through a design lens.The most compelling photographs give you a sense of the people who might walk into the room after the camera is put away.
Why Professionally Photograph a Project?
Professional photography allows us to preserve more than the finished design. It allows us to preserve and share the story of a project.
The photographs become another way for us to draw on our experience as designers and share the details, ideas, and decisions that shape our work. They allow us to show not only what we created, but how our design became part of a much larger story: the story of our clients, their home, and the way they live within it.
Every photograph is a series of decisions about perspective, light, composition, styling, and timing. Together, those decisions can communicate something that a simple snapshot cannot: the warmth of a room, the craftsmanship of a detail, the relationship between spaces, and hopefully a glimpse of what it feels like to live there.
And while photography gives us an opportunity to share our work, it is not simply about showcasing a Glenna Stone Interiors project. We are also being invited to share these extraordinary homes with a wider audience and to celebrate the thought, care, and beauty within them. We hope that others can experience something of what makes each home special and find inspiration in the details along the way.
For me, that is what made this particular shoot so meaningful.
After more than three years spent creating this home alongside our clients, the architect and builder, I was reminded of how collaborative this work really is, even in its final stages.
Design may begin with plans and ideas, but ultimately it becomes a place where life happens. Capturing and sharing that story is the real goal.
If you enjoy seeing the stories behind our finished spaces, we invite you to explore more of our Portfolio and discover the homes and details that continue to inspire our work.
– Glenna