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Do I Need to Clean My House Before an In-Home Photo Session? | Allegheny County Family Photographer

Don’t Clean Your House for Me. Here’s Why

A family is in a cozy living room and kitchen; a child throws a cushion, another child and an adult sit on a sofa, while a man stands in the kitchen area.
A woman sits on a couch holding a laughing child in plaid pajamas on her lap, both smiling in a living room with pillows and a window in the background.


“But, our house is a mess!”

This is often one of the things a mom says when we discuss having an in-home family photo session.

So let me say this clearly.

You do not need to clean your house for me!

A young girl in a pink dress playfully holds a smiling toddler in checkered pajamas, who is lying on the wooden floor in a kitchen.


There is never a need to deep clean or stress out and go crazy decluttering and cleaning up!

When I photograph families at their homes, I am not coming to document perfection. I am coming to document real life as it looks and feels right now.

A woman and a young child sit on a checkered rug in a kitchen, building a tower with colorful wooden blocks.
A young child in checkered pajamas sits on a patterned rug, looking up while playing with colorful alphabet blocks indoors.


The house you live in is proof that life is happening

The families who book in-home sessions are often balancing kids, schedules, and a whole lot of energy in the middle of day-to-day family life.

Shoes and backpacks gather in the entryway and not on the very nice mudroom cubbies and shoe shelves you took time to set up. Everything has little fingerprints on it, and there’s probably laundry on the couch and dishes in the sink.

And that is exactly how I expect a home to look when a family with kids actually lives there!

A young child in plaid pajamas stands and smiles while playing with toy cars on a white counter in a kitchen.


This was my 4th session with this wonderful family!  I always love hanging out with them, and I love that Mom embraces the real-life photos just as much as the posed ones!  

A young girl in a pink dress plays piano while two children lounge on a couch in the background; another image shows the girl smiling at the piano.
A young boy plays a piano while two children sit on a couch in the background, reading a book together in a living room.
A young girl in a pink dress sits on a gray armchair reading a large book titled “Pennsylvania Law Encyclopedia.”.


Inside, I documented while they roughhoused, played with toys, and played football in the living room. The older kids also showed me their impressive skills at playing piano, and we got some snuggly photos with Mom in a cozy chair by the window.

None of that needed staging. None of it needed tidying first.

It was their everyday life, and it was perfect as is.

Woman sitting in an armchair hugs a smiling young child; books and shelves are visible in the background.
Two children sit together on a gray armchair in a library, reading a book. Shelves filled with books and boxes line the walls, and a window shows autumn trees outside.


At home sessions are about how it feels, not how it looks

When I do storytelling family photography, I am watching for connection, not clutter. I am paying attention to the small things that happen naturally at home.

The way your kids crash into the room and jump on the couch without thinking. Someone asking for a snack in the middle of everything. One child reading while another spins in circles on the floor. These are the moments that matter far more than what your house looks like.

Young boy with light brown hair, wearing a beige button-up shirt, sits and smiles at the camera in a room with bookshelves in the background.


Those moments do not disappear just because there are toys on the floor.

In fact, those toys are often the reason the moments happen in the first place.

The goal of an at-home session is not to create images that look like a magazine spread. The goal is to create photographs that feel like home when you look at them years from now.

A woman and a young boy sit close together, smiling at the camera in a room with bookshelves in the background.


Some of my favorite photos from when my boys were little are the ones where they are surrounded by the “mess”. What I once perceived as a “mess” was really their artwork, games, toys, and belongings.

Now that they are older, I love to look at those photos and notice the details in the “mess”. Legos scattered about, paints left open that were used to create masterpieces, a ukulele with 2 strings, and a worn-out favorite pair of Vans that went through three sets of little boy feet…each item sparking warm memories from their childhoods.

A woman and a young girl sit on a chair in a library, facing each other and smiling, with bookshelves in the background.


After spending some time inside, we went outside into the front yard. The kids rode scooters and bikes on the sidewalk and driveway, climbed trees, and swung on a swing hung in a giant tree.

This is the kind of everyday life that kids remember. And it is the kind of thing parents forget the fastest because it feels so normal while it is happening.

A young girl in a pink dress sits on a rope swing in a yard, with a brick Tudor-style house and grass in the background.
A woman gives a piggyback ride to a smiling young girl in a pink dress, standing outside in a garden with a house in the background.
A young girl in a pink dress poses outside a brick and Tudor-style house, spinning, holding a swing, and standing with hands clasped, surrounded by autumn leaves.


What I actually care about before your session

If you are worried about preparing your home, here is what really matters to me.

Open the blinds and let ALL the light in. Tidy only what will make you feel less distracted, not what you think I want to see. Then stop.

Do not exhaust yourself trying to make your house look like it belongs to someone else or out of a catalog, or worst of all, like no one lives there!

Your kids do not live in a spotless home. They live in your home.

That is what I want to document.

A young boy in a beige shirt stands next to and climbs a tree outdoors, smiling at the camera. A house and garden are visible in the background.
Young boy with light brown hair wearing a beige button-up shirt smiles while standing on green grass in a yard with autumn leaves and plants in the background.
A woman and a young boy pose together outside in front of houses; in one image, the boy is on her back, and in the other, he stands in front of her while she hugs him.


These photos are for the future you

One day, you will look back and notice things you did not realize mattered. The couch everyone sat (jumped) on, the piano they learned to play on, and the tree in the yard that everyone climbed.

You will not be thinking about the mess.

You will also be grateful you stayed home. Family photos in a park at sunset can be beautiful, but they will not bring back memories the way your own home will fifteen years from now.

A man wearing glasses and a blue shirt holds a smiling young girl in a pink dress outside in front of a brick house with black and white trim.
A man and a boy pose together on a swing in a yard, with a house in the background; the boy also swings alone in two side images.


And although this family recently moved into their (and my) dream home, you do not have to be in your dream home to have a photo session at your home! You can be in a starter home, an apartment, a townhouse, or a “temporary” home (I’ve been in one of those for almost six years!)…as long as it is the place that you call home!

A young boy runs on a sidewalk while a girl in a red dress rides a pink scooter behind him on an autumn day.
An adult holding a smiling child in plaid clothes, standing outside in front of a Tudor-style house on a grassy lawn.
A young child in a plaid shirt stands on a lawn, pulling the sides of their mouth to make a wide, exaggerated smile. A house with a Tudor-style facade is in the background.
A young child in a checkered outfit smiles while sitting on a wooden tricycle outside on a pathway, with autumn leaves on the grass.
Woman holding a smiling young child outdoors in front of a house, both appear happy and are looking at each other.
Three children pose and smile together on a stone pathway in front of a large brick house with Tudor-style architecture.
Three young children stand on a stone path in front of a brick house with Tudor-style details, holding hands and smiling at the camera.


During my family sessions, I love documenting real life as it is happening, but I always make time for some of those ‘looking at the camera’ photos! I love to provide the best of both worlds of candid and relaxed portraits. I never want my clients to have to choose one over the other!

A family of five stands on a tree-lined path with autumn leaves, posing for a group photo.
A family of two adults and three children stand and play on a tree-lined path with autumn leaves scattered on the ground.
A family of five stands on a tree-lined path with autumn leaves; two adults pose while three children run and play around them.
A family stands hugging on a tree-lined path in autumn, with two children hugging their parents and two younger children playing nearby.
A family of four stands and hugs on a tree-lined path with autumn leaves, smiling and enjoying time together outdoors.
Three children holding hands and jumping on a tree-lined stone path in autumn. The girl in the middle wears a pink dress; the boys on each side wear patterned and cream outfits.
Three children stand holding hands on a tree-lined path with autumn leaves; the girl in the middle wears a pink dress, flanked by two boys in light-colored outfits.
Three children stand on a tree-lined path with autumn leaves, holding hands and smiling at each other.
Three children play and hold hands on a grassy lawn in front of a decorative metal gate and a Tudor-style house.
A man stands in front of a brick house holding a young child, with another child peeking from behind his legs in the first image and standing next to him in the second image.
A couple stands closely together outdoors, smiling at the camera in front of green trees and bushes with red berries.
Three young children hold hands and run on the grass in front of a house with Tudor-style architecture and a decorative garden gate.
Three children play on a sidewalk; one rides a tricycle while the other two run beside him. Trees with sparse autumn leaves line the street and yard.


If you are in Pittsburgh or Allegheny County and thinking about an in-home family photo session but worried your house is not ready, I promise you, it already is. If you want photographs that tell the story of your everyday life, I would love to talk.

Reach out through my contact page, and we can plan a unique session for your very unique family!



If you’re looking for a family in Pittsburgh,  please get in touch to inquire about a session! I’d love to plan a photo session for your new baby!

Here are some other blog posts that you might want to check out! 


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All images by Mary Beth Miller Photography 

Mary Beth Miller Photography specializes in family and newborn photography in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and many of the surrounding areas. Mary Beth has over fourteen years of experience photographing families, newborns and babies in Pittsburgh including the South Side, Shadyside, Squirrel Hill, Oakland, the North Shore and Northside.   Her style is very relaxed and natural and your family session will feel like a stress-free Sunday afternoon with your family! 

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724.371.6575
marybeth@marybethmillerphotography.com

Established in 2009
Family & Newborn Photographer serving the greater Pittsburgh area; Wexford, Mars, Cranberry Twp., and also serving Boardman, Poland, and Canfield, Ohio.

Mary Beth Miller Photography

Established in 2009
Family & Newborn Photographer serving the greater Pittsburgh area; Wexford, Mars, Cranberry Township