Journal · Field notes
How we do virtual staging, and why it's always labelled
Virtual staging adds furniture to empty rooms in a listing photo using AI. We keep the furniture the same from every angle of a room, and every staged photo carries a label saying it's been digitally changed, so buyers know what's real.
Takahe Road, Ahipara
Wednesday for Diane Weaver at Ray White Kaitaia. Shot, edited, virtually staged and delivered the same day. Diane liked how the staged rooms came out.
How we do it:
- Each room gets a plan first. Which wall the couch goes on, which way it faces, where the rug sits
- That plan stays the same in every photo of the room, so the couch doesn't move when the angle changes
- We check that the AI hasn't moved the camera or changed the room itself
- Then a label goes on the photo saying it's been digitally changed
Here's the lounge at Takahe Road from three more angles. Same couch, same chairs, same rug, in the same spots every time:
Without the label, a buyer turns up and finds an empty room, and nobody trusts the rest of the photos after that.
Two at Cable Bay for Arizto
265 State Highway 10 was booked for Wednesday. The forecast was wet, so I moved it to Tuesday. It got shot, delivered and wrapped up the same day.
Friday was 303 State Highway 10, also at Cable Bay. Shot, folder shared, approved. Some of it is on our work page.
Videos up on YouTube
Haze asked for their Herekino and Dykin Road listing videos on YouTube, so we uploaded both.
The new website
This is the week northswellmedia.co.nz went live. Emma built it. You're reading this on it, so I guess it works. This journal is a new part of it. One post a week about what we shot, where, and anything worth knowing.
Quick answers
Do virtually staged listing photos have to say they're staged?
We always label them. Every staged photo we deliver has a clear note on it, so buyers aren't misled when they walk through the empty house.
How long does virtual staging take?
It can be same day. This week's Takahe Road, Ahipara listing was shot, edited, staged and delivered on the day.