Where can I find photos of real peoples's apartments/homes?

February 26, 2015 11:39 AM

I'm working on a project, and for inspiration I want to see photos of real apartments/homes. Google tends to spit back a lot of stock photos, real estate photos, or interior design photos - those are all too tidy. Basically what I want is The Selby but for less fancy folks. Any ideas on how to find what I'm looking for?
posted by malhouse to Home & Garden (12 answers total)

Apartment Therapy has good house/apt pics. They're skewed toward people with an interest in interior design, but they're real people, not celebs.
posted by quince at 11:45 AM on February 26, 2015 [3 favorites]

How about AirBNB? There are a lot of interior photos of varying quality.
posted by amtho at 11:45 AM on February 26, 2015 [4 favorites]

Check out some Houzz Tours - a wide variety of styles from very staged to very lived-in.
posted by muddgirl at 11:49 AM on February 26, 2015

Oh, totally forgot to add Offbeat Home Tours. These are, like, the realest of the real people at all levels of fanciness. A recent example.
posted by muddgirl at 11:51 AM on February 26, 2015

I like Normal Room.
posted by jgirl at 11:51 AM on February 26, 2015 [2 favorites]

Another recommendation is Craigslist in the rooms/shared category. You'll find some empty rooms, yeah, but also a lot of normal-looking apartments. (Try various cities, too.)
posted by darksong at 11:52 AM on February 26, 2015

This book, Life at Home in the 21st Century, gives a glimpse into actual families homes, unvarnished, and provides some info on the families habits. It's California specific, and doesn't feature any apartments that I remember, but it's very interesting.
posted by cosmicbandito at 11:53 AM on February 26, 2015

FSBO real estate listings on sites like Zillow.
posted by adiabatic at 11:58 AM on February 26, 2015 [1 favorite]

Unfuck Your Habitat shares lots of before/after photos of real spaces that are definitely not overly-designed and styled.
posted by barnone at 12:08 PM on February 26, 2015

Google instagram and a whatever hashtag you can think of (#mylivingroom, #messyhouse, #homesweethome, etc)
posted by Kabanos at 12:46 PM on February 26, 2015

I believe "room tours" are still a thing on YouTube, if you're ok with taking stills from vids and are interested in teenagers' digs.
posted by cotton dress sock at 1:11 PM on February 26, 2015

Corners of my Home is a longstanding flickr group.
posted by coevals at 3:53 PM on February 26, 2015