Bethany Nauert is amongst my favourite photographers/contributors here at Apartment Therapy, in no small part due to her photography skills. Her eye for details and composition of her photos make for engaging house tours. But even the best photographer has a few secret up their sleeves once they transfer over files from their camera to their computer. Bethany has a few excellent tips to improving images in Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom...
Whether you're taking photos of your own home or for someone else, beautiful photos like Bethany's shot above takes a little post processing.
Video lessons Bethany covers:
Dirty Little Secrets of Tidy Families
Hillary & Michael's Refined Roost
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Nomade Express Slee...
How To Cook Fluffy, Tasty Quinoa
Easy Pickle Recipe: Cucumber Kimchi Bites
"If you have a good tripod & you're careful, then you can avoid this barrel distortion."
I thought distortion came from the lens and the focal distance. Perhaps you mean a tripod can help ensure a level photograph.
yes that's what i meant. unfortunately the wide angle lenses have this problem.
but a tripod can certainly help you straighten and level the image...then theres Adobe to do the rest for you.