Photography: Sue Ferris
Have you ever worried that your house isn’t perfectly styled like the homes pictured in glossy magazines, or that pop up on your Pinterest or Instagram feed? Same here! Just because I happen to be obsessed with home interiors and work at Better Homes and Gardens doesn’t make me immune to the notion that somehow my home is not living up to some kind of idealised standard.
But lately, I’ve noticed a shift. On social media we’re seeing more real homes in their unstyled, everyday glory, and I’m here for it. On TikTok, Samantha aka @sammy936 has amassed over 350K followers for her “Rich people stuff that I own” series where she highlights ordinary things about her family home that many take for granted (a wall-mounted TV, bedside tables in all of the bedrooms and owning a matching set of plates and bowls).
Another example, over on Instagram, saw Helen aka @helsmcpherson go viral with the concept of ‘family smells’. As a kid, she explained, she was keenly aware of how each of her friends’ homes had a unique scent …but in a good way. Thousands replied, sharing the simple things like scent that made their loved ones’ homes feel welcoming, safe and special. “My grandmother’s home had an intoxicating smell to me, like aged wood, Pledge, fresh warm biscuits … It was clean and welcoming and even thinking of it makes me tear up,” wrote one.
All of this is to say that your house is not a showroom, it’s a home! The thing that makes it special isn’t whether it’s spotless 24/7, or the amount you spent on your sofa, or how many Tom Ford and Louis Vuitton coffee table books are on display. Here are some things we’re often told are ‘cringe’ about our homes that are totally normal! Interior design is all about making your home feel good to you, not to make you feel like you’re missing the mark. Come on, let’s agree to toss out the rule book and embrace our home quirks!
Family photos on display
I cannot tell you how many times I’ve read the advice that family photos are an interior design faux pas. Say it with me: What nonsense! I don’t care what anyone says, being surrounded by pictures of people you love, good times, happy memories and trips you’ve been on can only be a positive thing.
If you want to display family photos in an aesthetic way, do it with intention. Collect frames and pictures that you really love and hang them together as a gallery wall. High-traffic zones of the house, including hallways or stairways, are great places to display family snaps as you’ll be able to enjoy them as you pass.
A fridge that looks like a noticeboard
If you have an integrated fridge, go on, skip this one. But hear me out. There’s something endearing about a visible fridge with all kinds of things on it; daily reminders, party invitations, kids’ drawings and photos all tacked up with a bunch of different magnets you never bought but that just appeared at some point.
If you’re anti-fridge door clutter, you do you, boo. I, too tried for years to keep my fridge door clutter free. Seeing my daughter’s eyes light up when an artwork makes it to ‘the fridge’ made me finally decide to let go of this dream for good.
Craft projects out and proud
Do you remember hearing that you’re more likely to eat biscuits if they’re in a jar on the kitchen bench? I think the same logic applies to our hobbies. The war on all forms of clutter have made us feel guilty about keeping works-in-progress out where they can be seen, reached for, and worked on.
Let’s give ourselves permission to take up space in our homes for creativity, expression and yes, a little bit of purposeful clutter. Keep that basket of yarn next to your favourite chair in the living room, or your sewing machine on the kitchen table for a day or two while you finally tackle the mending pile. It’s ok, this is what a home is for.
‘Dated’ interiors that are well looked after
The kitchen in my home is straight out of the early 2000s. It’s got a speckled-pink laminate benchtop and one of the cabinet doors has a fake stained-glass window. It looks just like a renovation ‘before’ picture. But when I look past all of that, I see loads of pantry space, a functional floorplan and finishes that are so durable I don’t have to be precious about anything.
Some days, I do feel the pressure to rip it all out and replace it with a budget-friendly flat-pack kitchen, but even then I’d only be doing it because I felt like I had to. Until I’m ready to commit to a high-quality renovation, I’ll remain content with what I’ve got!
Let’s embrace the parts of our home that are dated but still in good working condition. It’s better for the planet and for your wallet.
Zones that are undecorated … for now
There are two types of home decorators: those who furnish and decorate everything as soon as they move in, and those who decorate gradually, allowing their home to evolve slowly over time. While there’s no right or wrong way to decorate your home, if you’re rushing to fill every space because you feel you have to, you could just end up with a bunch of objects that take up space without adding any actual substance to the style or character of your home.
Trendy, decorative, wooden bead chains are a prime example of this. You know the ones… Just because they’re being sold everywhere and you’ve seen them on social media, doesn’t mean you need one draped over the side of an empty bowl on your coffee table. It’s okay to leave a console, coffee table or bookshelf a little empty until you figure out exactly what your style is. You’ll stumble upon the right treasure to display there eventually.
Cooking smells
It’s no secret that one of the first things guests will notice when they visit your home is how it smells. But at what point did it become a bad thing for a home to smell like … a home? I’ll share a recent experience. Someone came to my house recently while I was cooking dinner. They made a comment about how my house smelled … like food. Um yes, that’s right, it’s dinner time, so I’m making dinner. Are we really expecting people to keep their families fed without producing a single scent molecule?
I’ve become so conscious of how my house might smell that I’ve got a whole arsenal of products designed to combat the issue, including scented candles, essential oil diffusers and more. I’m not the only one. Australia’s home fragrance market is projected to grow to $442.8 USD million by 2030. It’s something we’ve become so conscious of we’ll do anything to mask it. Indoor pollution levels? We don’t know her.
I guess what I’m trying to say here, dear friend, is that everyday, normal smells are not something you should be ashamed of.
Making purely practical decisions
Kitchen lamps, have you seen them? They’re a trend I really, really wish I could embrace. They are such a mood. The problem is, I also happen to be a germaphobe and any unnecessary items sitting on my kitchen bench really bug me. Everything becomes an obstacle when I’m trying to clean and sanitise the kitchen after cooking.
Kitchen lamps aren’t the only example though. Open shelving in the kitchen can either be cute or a storage nightmare. They say to pick your battles, and I can tell you now, keeping mirrored furniture free from streaks is not one of them. Maximalism is another design movement I love, from afar. Dusting all of those trinkets? It’s a no from me! It’s more than okay to make design choices about your home that just make sense with your lifestyle. White boucle sofas might look incredible in an influencer’s reel, but that doesn’t mean it’ll survive the rigours of life with kids and pets.
Worn-in furniture
Nothing says ‘take a seat’ quite like a big, comfy armchair positioned right next to a pile of books. A close second would probably be a sturdy old timber dining table, scratched and pocked by countless family meals and get-togethers. Just because furniture has a ‘worn in’ look, doesn’t mean you need to replace it with something straight off the showroom floor.
I think it all boils down to the fact that people just feel more relaxed when a home isn’t filled with precious, pristine furniture. No coasters? No worries – put your cup down anywhere, it’s fine. Make yourself at home.
If you are concerned that your furniture is looking more shabby than just worn-in, consider giving it a glow-up, rather than replacing it altogether. Regular steam cleans or a trip to the re-upholsterer can work absolute wonders and make old favourites feel like new again.
A visible television
The more prominent technology has become in our homes, the more devoted we’ve become to concealing exactly how much technology we have in our homes. In high-end kitchens, for example, both fridges and dishwashers are expected to be fully concealed. Charging cords, game console wires, power outlets – all must be concealed to achieve design nirvana … Or so we’re told.
The biggest offender, though, is probably the TV. But here’s the conundrum: to be useful, it must be visible. I’ve seen all kinds of DIY hacks designed to conceal the giant television screens we’ve all grown accustomed to. There was the one where a vintage easel was transformed into a TV stand, to make it look like, art? Or dinky little barn doors attached to the wall you could slide close when the TV wasn’t in use (I can’t work out whether barn doors or a TV are the bigger eye sore?). One thing I’ve learned is that no one is expecting your living room not to have a TV in it.
