Here’s a little behind-the-scenes Friday story from our house-hunting adventures. Remember when we discussed how we wanted to share our house hunting experience while still respecting the privacy of the sellers whose homes we were critiquing? We ultimately decided to publish a doctored exterior image instead of real photos — an approach that allowed us to show the character of a property without revealing identifying details.
That solution came after a less graceful first attempt at disguising each home. Our initial idea was to obscure real photos with a hand-drawn style so the houses couldn’t be recognized. The result was charming in concept but not quite what we needed for a polished, privacy-conscious presentation.
I love my wife, and I genuinely admire her creative talent. She does incredible little illustrations — like the colored-pencil floor plan and lot drawings she did of our own house — and those came out beautifully. That’s why it was awkward to tell her that her crooked colored-pencil “interpretations” weren’t the right fit for this particular project. They were delightful, but too obvious and playful for disguising real listings.
Fortunately, Sherry saw the funny side and laughed at the first attempt. We decided to fall back on a more reliable method: Photoshop. Using digital image editing allowed us to preserve the feel of a property’s exterior while masking identifying details. In our case we relied on the Paint Daubs filter to blur and soften features, producing a stylized, anonymous exterior image that still communicates the house’s curb appeal without exposing the real home.
Choosing to anonymize photos is as much about ethics as it is about aesthetics. During house hunting, sellers deserve privacy and discretion; prospective buyers deserve useful context and honest impressions. Using a doctored image strikes a balance: you can share layout, scale, and the general mood of a house without reproducing an exact, searchable photograph. That approach is especially useful when blogging or sharing commentary about listings, because it respects the seller while still letting readers get a sense of the property.
From a technical perspective, there are several effective ways to anonymize an exterior image. You can apply artistic filters like Paint Daubs or watercolor effects, adjust contrast and saturation, crop to omit distinctive landmarks, or overlay graphic elements to obscure specific features. We opted for a filtered, hand-rendered look so the final image felt warm and intentional, rather than clumsy or deceptive. The goal was to retain honesty about what the property conveyed — size, style, and curb appeal — while removing anything that could identify the actual house or neighborhood.
As for how the first attempt went so sideways, Sherry blames a bit of distraction and a Real Housewives marathon in the background while she was sketching. The result was endearing but not ideal for anonymity. In the end, Plan B — a controlled, digital approach — won out and produced a final image that felt right.
This little outtake is our way of showing that good intentions and creative experiments sometimes collide, and that it’s okay to pivot to Plan B when Plan A proves to be an epic fail. Have you ever had to abandon a creative idea midstream and switch tactics? We’d love to hear about your Plan B moments, whether they happened during home projects, art, photography, or anything else.