Looking at "insta worthy" homes gets me down..

Why spend time on it then?

That house is nothing to aspire to, no character and the same as a thousand other houses on Instagram!

This is why I don't do social media.

OP, when you look around your home you see it exactly as it is, in all its unfiltered glory. But then you look on SM and compare your home to carefully selected and edited snapshots of houses that have been meticulously staged down to the last detail. They're more like a film sets than homes. It's the same as looking at yourself in the mirror and then going on social media and comparing your face to pictures of women who have been airbrushed, edited and filtered within an inch of their lives. It's fantasy, not reality so of course you can't compete.

Seriously, just stop looking. Life is too short.

Meh, I don’t have a porch or a garage. It doesn’t bother me in the slightest that you do. But I also have no interest in looking at other people’s houses on instagram, so I don’t. If it makes you unhappy, just unfollow them.

I like following some renovation ones, they show some beautiful rooms but then also show the rooms which are literal building sites - keeping it real! And the befores and afters. I like following them as they are useful for DIY ideas. Eg Claire Kennedy, her house is beautiful but she's been working on it for a year and there's still a lot to do. I literally don't have time for that!

Definitely take it with a pinch of salt, there is a pile of crap off shot somewhere

The Haddon Home looks crap, a load of generic white/navy/pale grey which to me is a bit passé now. And a new build style… thanks but no thanks. When I look at the photos the smell of Zoflora and plug ins gets up my nose!

Just has a look at the Haddon home,my one and only look.It is cold,no colour,soulless and dull.Makes me beyond grateful for the house I have,full of colour and life.It doesn’t have that many followers for Instagram.

I might start instagramming our flat. Just to make people feel better. From where I am sitting now I can see:
A tv unit that has buckled under the strain of too many admin folders(child with EHCP). Literally sagging in the middle, bit like it's owner.

We still have 2 Christmas cards on display, and not forgetting the Halloween pumpkin who is hoping for another year in situ.

A white board with a to do list (not done)

Some random items on the table from when we decluttered the stationery drawer and useful drawer yesterday (99% of items not useful).

See also, window frame needing painting, a bit of wallpaper hanging off (cat decorator at work) and chipped skirting board needing attention.

It will all get sorted at some point, when there is money/time in the future. For now, the house is warm, cleanish (the bits that matter), and there is food in the fridge.

I have to admit that I do get hung up about anyone we don't know coming round but DH just sighs and says its a real home not a show home.

Even I have been influenced by the social media ideal...it's quite insidious isn't it?

So - count blessings and keep reminding yourself that real life is often messy and uncoordinated. Some people have a whole room they can use as a junk drawer.

Do you do Tiktok? If not I'd consider switching and binning insta. Tiktok is so much more balanced - sure there are loads of fancy lifestyle vids, but there's a big thing of 'real' homes - people doing modest improvements in normal homes, cleaning vids in average houses, people with no money sharing tips etc. I find Instagram is focused on perfection and is much less nuanced/realistic than tiktok

PS I think the Haddon Home is horrible 🤣 to each their own, of course!

I DO love looking at interiors - I subscribe to World of Interiors which fills me with joy and inspiration, but the houses in it are SO wildly out of my sphere (like, chateaux) that I don't find it makes me jealous. I just like looking at beautiful things, and there is always inspiration there - colour combos, smart ways to use or enhance space, ideas I'd not get myself, but it's more about being a magpie and filling my mind with beautiful images. It's more like a trip to the V&A or a National Trust property. I'd recommend if you like looking at homes that won't inspire direct comparison!

Instagram is their job.

Personally I couldn't live in a mausoleum.

My house is held together with sellotape and blu tac. But we are all healthy and the bills get paid,

Unfollow snd start doing a gratitude diary.

I have a home insta account and follow lots of others, they are very clever to show pristine corners of the home and don't show the hours of cleaning and decorating that go into the pristine corner. Mine's a reno account and will show the nice finished work but I haven't posted the awful kitchen and bathroom or office as we cant afford to do those yet. I do like the inspiration of instagram and pinterest and see it as a modern day magazine where you can choose the content of fashion/ holidays/ home decor etc to suit you.

I would agree with the others, unfollow anyone that doesn't make you feel good though.

Paint is cheap enough, just wack ten litres of battleship grey everywhere and tell your kids never to play or eat again. Slogan shit is basically free at B&M.

They sign with an agency who gets them sponsorship deals. That's why 25 of them start advertising Sky Glass TVs or Lenor in the same week. Or "I love these #Disenio prints, use code BUYMYSHIT to get 15% off".

I gave that account views by having a look too! Not my style, but that’s fine - we don’t all like the same thing.

OP, social media is affecting your happiness. Step away from it. Only follow accounts that make you really happy (“good news broadcast”, friends you love to see, or similar) and put a limit on it. I have a 30 min limit a day on Instagram and mumsnet (!). I don’t have any other social media. (I could do with the limit being 15 mins to be honest!)

There have been so many studies on how social media makes us unhappy. The cliche is true: “comparison is the thief of joy”.

Comparison is the thief of joy! Don't look at their homes, look at yours. Make one space nice, the way you want it - maybe it's only the top of a bedside table. Take photographs. Later, another day, do another tiny space. Photograph. You'll win.

I couldn't think of anything worse than an 'Instagram' house; they aren't homes. I agree with @Festivemoose that it looks utterly soulless and with @SgtJuneAckland as to what a house should look like.

My house has got character (and mess). All these grey modern houses with nothing in them! I'd hate to live in one of them. They have no originality - they are just following a trend for minimalism. I always feel sorry for the kids who live in one.

It’s all fake for the camera. Lots of Instagram content is fake. No one is going to post pics of a mess or tell you how they loathe their marriage but are staying for the house. It’s designed to make others envious. I see what people I vaguely know post. I know what their reality is. I know for a fact it’s all lies. I cringe because calling the husband “Mr D” when he’s been verbally abusing her for years. The kids have sunshine coming out of their arses when I know they are a pair of rude fuckers who talk to her like shit. Take no notice x

Is this just a post by the haddon women to generate views?

"How do they do it?"
Very simply. They move all the crap to one corner of the room, snap a few pictures/videos of the clean area, use filters and lighting props to make it look nice (usually over-exposing images to hide imperfections). Frankly, I have better things to do with my life.

How do people even earn from this? The haddon one doesn't seem to have many followers (I also don't get why you'd follow pictures of someone else's home) the back garden is nice enough but it looks like exactly what it is- a new build back garden 😂

I don’t generally look and just focus on my own life.

I know people with much larger and more beautiful houses than us and I do get pangs of jealousy but it’s fleeting and I remind myself how much I have to be grateful for. I have a house that meets our needs and now we have no mortgage so can afford lovely holidays. It’s only 3 beds and semi detached so nothing special but it’s ours and that makes us incredibly fortunate.

I don’t do instagram which helps, FB is bad enough!

When I was a kid we lived near some very large fancy houses, my nan used to clean some of them and I'd go with her in the school holidays sometimes.

Whenever I used to talk about wanting a big house when I grew up, she'd say something along the lines of 'think how much it'd be to heat it and clean it, or how much you'd have to work to pay someone to do it'.

Honestly that's really stuck with me, whenever I occasionally get a bit envious of people with fancy homes I do remind myself that I'm happier not having the responsibility!

Also genuinely never understood why kitchen islands are aspirational, surely they just get in the way? They're so blocky and impractical!

Hmmm I didn't pick up on that but you're right

It's called money op. I'm sure we could all have incredible looking houses with the right budget but for most of us that isn't an option. I try to focus on the positives, and I'm not on social media which helps. I have a nice little house, I've made the best of it that I can, but I cannot afford to do what I'd like to do with it and that's okay. Instead of comparing yourself to people who have more than you why not try comparing your house with others who don't have as much, it puts things into perspective. There will be lots of people who would be over the moon to have a house like yours (or a house full stop!)