My mom told me that her friend saw my site the other day, and remarked at how clean my house was. She said, “Wow, it doesn’t look like a baby lives there at all!”
When I heard that, my heart fell. This whole blogging thing…it’s all about inspiration. I am inspired by other people, I make projects and share how to do them, and hope to inspire others to make their homes a little more beautiful on a budget.
BUT – my home does not look like those “after” pictures that I proudly share.
Here’s a glimpse into what my home looks like on any given day:
Recognize our open shelving pantry? Isaac has discovered the “overflow” underneath, and thinks it’s greater than all of his toys. Sigh.
The thing is, I’m a DIY/home décor blogger. That means I usually have at least two projects going on at a time. Projects = mess. There’s always some kind of furniture being rehabbed, or some craft in progress. Since our house is about 1300 square feet, there’s not a whole lot of room to put those projects away.
I show you pictures of our gorgeous new bedding in our master bedroom, but you don’t see the life that’s happening in that space every day:
Some people say this isn’t truthful, but I disagree. Because I make some money from this blog (which all goes back into our house projects), I need to present things professionally. No one wants to pin a messy room.
Think of it this way – when you get family portraits taken, you will probably get dressed in a nice outfit. You’ll take time to put on a little bit of extra makeup. You’ll spend a little more time doing your hair. The photographer might even edit out a few blemishes in your finished pictures.
I do the same with our “after” pictures. I buy fresh flowers, make sure there’s optimal lighting, clear any clutter out of the way, and adjust the colors while editing the pictures before I share them with you.
Just remember – when you’re looking at gorgeous pictures on Pinterest, you’re only seeing a small piece of the picture. When you see these pictures, you don’t see what’s right on the outside of the frame:
Homes are made for living. I love making my home beautiful, and I hope you can see how beautiful your home is when it’s filled with everyday life.
Please share this post if you know of anyone that needs to hear this message today!
Also see: My Imperfect Christmas House Tour
I totally understand why you stage your house and as for people who say it isn’t truthful… well photography is about art and art is inherently truthful, even if it means you clean up first 🙂
Art shows a truth.
I think one truth it shows is how your house can be in your mind, if not all the time.
How many times have you snapped a cute picture of your kid to show to a family member to notice later some distracting clutter in the background? The clutter isn’t what the picture is about. You were paying attention to the kid. Removing clutter just pulls attention to whatever you’re focusing on.
Thanks for the pictures 🙂 It’s another truth, the truth of living in a place.
I love this, and this is so true. With doing DIY all the time my house is pretty and picture ready 10% of the time, and then project central the other 90% of the time. I guess when we take pictures of the specific project or space we should turn around and take whatever has been shoved behind us or in the next room. I have three small kids, my house is never all picked up. I do try to keep the living area of our home as cleaned up as possible, otherwise it adds to the chaos. But, DIYing is a messy endeavor but someone has to do it 🙂
This is one of the most encouraging home design posts I’ve ever read. I have a great aesthetic but it’s hard for me to pull it all together, and sometime I really wonder how all the “Pinterest people” do it if kids actually live with them. This is encouraging that I can strive for beauty but it’s not going to look staged for more than ten minutes with a preschooler and a toddler in the house. Thank you!
I’m SO glad, Ali! It’s all smoke and mirrors I promise 🙂 Don’t feel bad – and enjoy living in your house!
I know this is an old article but I so needed this today. Thanks. I often feel so despondent cause my home is not show ready but it can be full of normal life.
there is NOTHING wrong with life in your home. At all. This post is still my heart even though I wrote it years ago!
Thank you for this!!