You’ve finally brought your precious new addition home from the hospital and you’re exhausted from staying up with a crying baby all night and adjusting to life as a family of 3 (or 4 or 5)! It’s such a special time as your family enters this new stage, and having a newborn lifestyle session at your home is such a sweet way to remember the little details of these precious days, especially since you may feel like you’re in a fog at the moment. (Need a refresher on the difference between a lifestyle newborn session and a posed newborn session? Check out my blog post here explaining what to expect at a lifestyle session!)

It can be stressful to think about preparing your home for a photo session within days of acclimating to home life with a newborn, so here are my top tips for preparing your home for your lifestyle session with ease:

DON’T STRESS IT!

Trust me, I’ve been where you are, and you don’t have to impress me with an immaculate house! My house has a constant trail of crumbs, baby bottles, and diapers that I can’t seem to contain for more than a day at a time. These lifestyle sessions typically take place in two or three spots in your house: Master bedroom, nursery, or living room. So, focus your energy on these locations and leave everything else just the way it is!

THINK LIGHT!

When taking photos indoors, it is so important to choose a space that has beautiful light in the morning so that your pictures don’t come back dark and grainy. Does the master bedroom face away from the sunrise and only have one small window? It may not be the best spot for photos, so we may need to find another brighter spot in the house or know that I will most likely need to use my flash in this space.

LESS IS MORE

One of the biggest things we can do to make your photos look clean and beautiful is to declutter the space where we will take photos. Perhaps move the baby rocker to another room or move the dog bed for a few moments. Put the water bottle in the kitchen versus on the nightstand. Making these little tweaks will allow your family to shine in the photos rather than allowing the stuff around you to overtake your pictures. (If you’re not sure where we are going to take photos until I arrive, I am more than happy to help you move some items out of the way for photos and then back once we are done!)

NEUTRALS ARE BEST

If your nursery or bedding is a bright color like an orange or hot pink, these tones from the walls and comforter are going to reflect onto your skin, potentially making you look like an Oompa Loompa or Troll doll. That’s not going to make you feel your best! It’s helpful to stick with rooms with white or light colored walls and use beddings that are light ivory or cream colored to brighten up your space, bounce more beautiful light white across the room, and allow your family to remain the center of attention.

If you are looking for neutral, bright comforters, blankets, or wall decor to spruce up your space before baby arrives, Pottery Barn offers tons of beautiful options, and you can always find beautiful simplistic decor for baby’s nursery from Etsy.

EXPLORE OTHER OPTIONS

If you just don’t have a space that you want to use for photos or if it’s too much to make your house photo ready, we can find other options for you! Using a studio space is always a great option for newborn photos. There are several spots around town I’m happy to recommend. If the weather is appropriate for a newborn, we can always have your session outside at a local park, too! So, don’t stress it, Mama! There’s always a way to make it work! 

If you keep these tips in mind when preparing your home for a lifestyle newborn session, your space will be perfect when capturing this special season!