Capturing the before and after

If you are transforming your home, why not keep a visual record of the progress along the way?

As well as being a time to tidy up, spring is also a time for change and transformation. And it can be good fun to track the changes you make along the way.

The most obvious way to log your home’s transformations is by posting on social media. Instagram in particular is perfect for photos of the before, during and after and you can create a fun hashtag for people to follow.

If you do decide to go down the photography route, here are a few hints and tips that’ll really show the ‘wow factor’ of the changes.

Take photos from the same spot in a room – if you are showing the before and after, getting a picture from the same place in a room will show exactly how it changed.

Progress photos also serve another purpose – you can refer back to them to find out information.

For example, if you need to access a specific bit of wiring that’s behind a wall, instead of having to cut into the whole wall to find the right part, you can look at the pictures you took when the wiring was installed to identify where in the wall to cut open.

And if you ever decide to sell the home, pictures can be an effective way to show potential buyers the work you put into it.

You can even buy home improvement planners and journals so you can plot out your vision before, keep an eye on budgets and then put in photos once the work is done.

So if you are the type of person who likes to chronicle everything, why not invest in a planner or get on social media? It’ll become a great keepsake after the work is complete.

• Go landscape – horizontal images (aka landscape) will capture more of the room than a vertical picture (the exception being a staircase or something narrow with a lot of height).

• Use natural light where possible – especially in the after images. Sunshine will make rooms look better than artificial lights and flashes.