Answers

How should I photograph my room for a furniture preview?

Stand as far back as the room allows, hold the phone at chest height, keep a good stretch of floor in the frame, and clear the spot where the new piece will go. Those four things fix most disappointing results.

Distance matters because scale is read from what else is in the picture. A photo that includes a doorway, a window and the skirting board gives far more to work with than a close-up of an empty wall.

Chest height, phone held level. Shooting from hip level or tilting up stretches the room and makes everything placed in it come out too large. Shooting down from above does the opposite.

Floor in frame is the one people miss. Furniture stands on the floor, and the strip of floor in front of the wall is what makes the placement sit rather than float.

Clear the spot. If the old sofa is still standing where the new one goes, it has to be removed and the wall and floor behind it rebuilt. That works often, but an empty corner gives a cleaner and more honest result.

Daylight beats a ceiling lamp. Even, indirect light keeps colours true and avoids a strong shadow that the model then has to explain.