Ok, Janetc's question of the week got me thinking. What items will you never see in a design magazine photo.
Here's my thoughts:
1. cat box
2. undies hanging from the line in the laundry room
3. a garbage can... anywhere
4. a calendar in the kitchen... where DO they put them?
5. an EMPTY bottle of wine
We could give them some fabulous new article ideas such as "How to hide the cat box", or "Coordinate the cat box to your traditional decor"
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We have a duck and a fish- I wanted to kill my mother-in-law when she made my husband take them, to top it off she told him to hang them up in our office. No way I was letting that happen, so they're off to the garage, along with the Elvis mirror and tacky souvenirs...
I've been combing all of my back issues of HH etc. and do you think that I can find a bathroom that remotely resembles the tiny space in my ensuite? I just get depressed when I see those luxurious bathrooms that are as big as my master bedroom! As for Ikea, even they show these designs for kitchens that are humungous and have skyscraper height ceilings.
The LCD/Plasma option is a bit of a farce too. We have one (I love it the picture mind you), but they make it seem like there won't be any cords sticking out- whatever! We've got the stereo, DVD, VCR and digital box attached to it, without the armoire there'd be wires everywhere!
About the clock radios, when we showed our house I hid them under the bed!
Oh another thing, I also see these homes that are so adult, with white funiture etc. and the people have kids and pets, come on, don't tell me that that is practical. I need good looking, hard-wearing, pet friendly designs and materials. It took us 3 years to find a sofa that fit that criteria. Design mags need a section called "urban mom solutions" or something...
all the stuff that came with your DH that doesn't go with anything else, is an absolute eye sore and which he refuses to get rid of. There should be advice on decorating around your partner! I'm happy to say that I don't have to contend with taxidermy, as some others have mentioned in posts gone by, however we have books coming out the ying-yang and he will not hear of editing, or even organizing them to be more pleasing to the eye. The library look can be nice...but you never see decorators contending with literally hundreds of books, nor ones that aren't all pretty, come in all different heights and can't be switched around or even laid on their side! (according to him)
electric/extension cords - I have noticed computers in ads never have cords, I wonder how they manage - I have 2 power bars for mine alone!;
window air conditioners;
newspapers/flyers - we get 3 or 4 free newspapers /week plus flyers'
dirty dishes in sink;
half the stuff I have on countertops - toaster, coffeemaker, microwave, sugar bowl, 2 wooden blocks for knives etc,
cute cuddly fluffy toys - DH knits for fun, so we have a few !
"using" towels in a bathroom (we have 3 adults and one bathroom !)
kleenex boxes
dirty windows
crooked pictures
dead / dying plants or flowers
-an unmade bed
-the inside of someone's medicine cabinet
-shampoo and conditioner bottle on shower floor
-empty beer bottles or glasses laying around house
-mousetraps
-the inside of a fridge showing leftovers from 3 weeks ago
-carpets with the ends fraying
-kids with sugo and oil stains on shirts
-woman with bed-head wearing t-shirt and trackpants
-dog growling at photographer or chewing on furniture
-man with beer belly sprawled out on couch watching tv
-mouldy fruits in bowl
-cobwebs or spiders dangling from ceiling corners
-dirty, greasy fingerprints on doors
about the t.v's (unless plasmas), clock radios, toys etc... What they do seem to show are bowls full of lemons!! Please! What a waste of fruit.
i totally agree, what you described is exactly my home and would love to see this 70's bungalow done up with different ideas, as much as i like these mags i feel that they definately are geared to the more richer homes which are lovely to look at and very much admired, but heck show us more everyday homes done up....with superstore items lol i love these fancier shops but lets face it they are not for everyones budget.
smiles
janetc
Is a normal, well-lived in house
With a cramped kitchen?
Bedrooms that are 10 X 10
Homes that are actually furnished with IKEA and Superstore
How about your typical 50's/60's/70's house that has no character, no details
Bathrooms that aren't as big as bedrooms, actually only one person can fit in them.
Backyards with toys, bikes, blow-up swimming pools, bare patches of lawn
Is it just me or has H&H magazine become more and more Toronto/Ontario based. I've notice in the last few editions most of the featured homes and stores were from that area. I've also notice that the homes they are featuring are all very similar -- boring.
and something you never see, unless it's the special "kid friendly design issue" is toys. No stray lego, hot wheels cars, or barbee shoes. In this issue you see everything neatlly put into bins and a child playing with one toy at a time. Puh-lease!
Speakers are the bane of my existance - ours look horrid, and I can't stand cords draping along the wall.
tv's, everytime i would look at an article or watch a tv show, i would say to hubby...holy do these folks not watch tv? drove me batty, as i wanted to see different ideas on how they housed thier tv and all the great fun things that come along with it, and when you would see a tv, the furniture layout would not allow you too see it from most of the furniture, what is the point. I know its only mags and tv, but still its nice to see how real people do incorporate tv's in thier living space. Winewiththat.....clock radios, i never thought of that until you mentioned it....i have never seen one on a night stand either...they must have wake up calls in the am lol
smiles
janetc
Who doesn't have a clock radio on their night stand, yet I've never seen one in a magazine. And that brings up a beef I have... can't anyone design a nice looking clock radio? They're all so ugly! Guess that's why I've never seen one in a room design photo?
(that one really drives me crazy) you rarely see any electronics unless it's a movie room type thing. Those folks in the mags don't watch TV, don't listen to music or the radio, they only read books and magazines that match their decor and many seem to be just picture books anyway (hm....what might that tell us?). They also don't have phones or answering machines, toasters, fans (the three speed ones that I always seem to have going around my house for various reasons as well as ceiling versions). Mind you, that's probably because they rarely have electrical outlets, wall switches, thermostats, security systems or any other of the modern conveniences either. I have no idea how they get their kitchen appliances or lighting to work because there doesn't seem to be any way to get electricity to them. Those places look nice, but without heat, light (okay, they do have candles), and music I don't think they'd be all that comfortable to live in....those poor people.
Then there are always nice drinks on a tray somewhere waiting for someone in what seems to be wishful thinking because there is no one there. It's like ghosts live there or something.
After staging our house for showings, I see magazine rooms in a different light. The pics always look so good, but they always hide the important things, like the t.v. Decorating around the t.v. doesn't seem to work in the design magazine world or even on the t.v. shows. I don't know about everyone else, but I want my t.v. accessible, house else could I watch HH? :)
its your kids making the mess.My "DH" never puts ANYTHING away and wouldn't know how to make the bed if his life depended on it. I blame my MIL for his slobbiness and he blames my mom for my neat freak tendencies.
As for other things you don't see.. how about:
the crumbs from the peanut butter and otast snck after work/school (not to mention the peanut butter and bread that might still be there)
the piles of laundry on the floor of the laundry room while you are finishing the first three loads of the day
the paint brushes that you cleaned after the last project was finished and forgot about because you haven't painted anything since
the movies that are sitting by the entertainment centre so you remember to return them.
you summed up my house after the girls arrive home from school...i will have it spotless and 2 mins in the door...whamo! down the tubes with all that work lol
smiles
janetc
oh my gosh....i laughed so hard when reading this post...lol im going to have to think about this one lol.....and BJ, i have an 11 year old dropper too...oh man i call her the walking hurricane
smiles
janetc
How about teenagers socks draped effectively over the furniture. I live with a young staggered dropper. You can follow her trail throughout the house. I find it interesting how she can stuff socks into things.ugh!
Unmade beds - just evacuated, backyards in the spring after a heavy doggy winter, the burned BBQ grill caked with goo, dead or spindly plants, the pile of shoes, backpacks, etc at the door. Hmmm....shall I go on?:D