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

@Festivemoose i agree 🤣utterly boring, uninspiring and lower end. It is very clean, I’ll give it that, but not particularly any form of taste, it’s so bland.

im not on instagram and don’t follow this sort of thing - but if one is going to aspire to something chose something better than that!

I feel like you notice more that’s wrong with your own house than you would do with someone else’s.
People say my house is tidy but I clean like mad if someone is coming over and still say ‘oh sorry for the mess’ 😬
Social media is fake, people and houses don’t look like that.

I love the haddon home too — I wonder do you also follow me! My ‘insta house’ looks like a pigsty currently, so please don’t let it get you down.

Houses are made of bricks, homes are full of laughter and love. Having a home to be proud of is so much more important than a house to be proud of!

Pinterest is a better platform if you need home decor inspiration I find!

I have no idea what Haddon Home is and no interest in finding out. But I do occasionally see pictures of "fabulous" homes in glossy mags, and what seems to make them fabulous is lack of clutter.

So I would say leave these sites alone and have a good declutter. Aim to have "a place for everything and everything in its place". A twee saying, but actually very helpful.

By all means look at these homes, but with a view to get some inspiration and nick any good ideas. Ignore the rest of it. As someone up thread said, they probably have bin juice and their teenager left the loo in a revolting state. But they won't show that!

Start looking at other things on Instagram if you enjoy a bit of scrolling, things which inspire you instead of things which make you fed up. We've started a major decoration project recently but I've not once looked at Instagram for that - I use Instagram for finding out about art and artists, crafts, language learning, films, music, scenery, comedy etc, all things that inspire me and make me feel happy.

If looking at them gets you down, why are you looking at them???? 🤔

I have never been on Instagram or any other platform like that (other than FB where I use the Groups to keep in touch with clubs & friends) and certainly don't post (or look at) photos of houses.
My home is my home and I do what I want to do to it, not what is in fashion or what some "influencer" says is the "in" thing.

I’m friends in real life with someone whose beautiful home is on Instagram and they have many followers.

They live in a new build, so had a blank canvas and only cosmetic improvements to make. Her husband had a very well paid specialist career to pay for improvements. If you’re living in a dooer upper, or don’t have a big budget, whatever, don’t beat yourself up.

Secondly, there are rooms in their home that the public doesn’t see that are not instagram worthy.

Thirdly, their home is quite large and they have prioritised storage space, so a lot of the random clutter the rest of us deal with has a place out of sight.

It's totally bland and characterless. And the GREY! Nothing to aspire to at all. Bet your house is far nicer, OP.

I’m on a forum sharing my opinion, and it’s my opinion that it looks shit 👋

I'm jealous of people with big houses for sure, but try and appreciate the home that I have.

You need to stop following any page that gets you down. I can look at millions of Insta homes or people on exotic holidays and not feel bad about myself because that’s the stage I’m in now. I still don’t follow those pages though cos I don’t want all these unrealistic things clogging up my wall when I open the app. I only follow people who I know in real life and other people who cook, bake and some budget pages as these are the things that interest and add value to me really

It is literally the job of the people posting these images to make you feel bad, so they can sell you stuff that they tell you will make you feel better for how bad they made you feel to start with. That is literally how they make money!

And it has been ever thus, just different media. See also the women's magazine industry etc etc etc.

Knowing that doesn't make us immune to it but it's a good reality check all the same.

So ... Don't look.

Exactly.my home does look staged most nights cos I tidy up bit right now there is ketchup bottle on the table, teaco bag on a chair. Mug on the coffee table but before I go to bed all those things will disappear and voila staged house!

I don't think coming on here and slagging off this insta page is particularly kind.

People have different tastes, budgets, ways of generating income. You do you.

Don't like it, don't look.

And OP dont follow them if it gets you down. Only follow people who spark joy.

Anything else is masochistic.

I've deleted SM. It all got too much for me. I'm more content day to day.

I thought I had vision issues looking at that. I like a home with tatty books on the shelves, a cat or dog doing their level best to cover the house in fur/attack the soft furnishings/generally clutter the place up. I like to see candid family photos where everyone just looks normal even if someone looks tired/grumpy, isn't looking at the camera, is showing a double chin with laughing.
Those homes aren't something to aspire to OP a home should feel warm and lived in, the kind of place you can go for a cup of tea and a cuddle when it's been a hard day. Snuggle under the mismatched blanket on the sofa that auntie Susan knitted and no one has the heart to tell her, it shouldn't have gaps in it and brown and orange zigzags aren't everyone's cup of tea, but it's chilly and it's useful. Where there's probably Lego under the sofa and crumbs under the seat cushions.
My home is my family's and I wouldn't sell it all over social media for anything, and people wouldn't want to see it anyway!

No, the rooms they show you are immaculate. You don’t see the cupboard about to pop open because all the junk’s in there, the clutter shoved into another room to allow for photos to be taken (then it all comes back out). It’s fakery, plain and simple. Don’t feel bad. No one really has a house like that and the people that do treat it like a full time job.

A lot of people will do what is called staging for house sales.
and a lot of influencers hide the mess from the camera and have an area of tidiness.

they also have £££££/$$$$$ which a lot of us aren’t so fortunate to have HOWEVER you have a roof over your head, that is a blessing!

if you’re following to aspire and use as a goal, great. But don’t compare. What they have on screen doesn’t show what you may have in abundance.

The Haddon family will be happy with the views that, no doubt this post will generate, (not from me though!)

I had a look too it's quite a simple formula in some rooms like the bedroom, tack on some panelling, bedside table ra h side of bed, white or neutral bedding. It's not hard to achieve.

If you have plaster crumbling we'll maybe work on your walls and getting them into a decent finish.

I have a certain style I like I just looked at pictures and almost.copied them. My garden is similar to the Haddon home one I like that LA look so I pit down white paving I have steps going through the grass as a path but my grass is real as are the plants and some small trees bit I got that LA vibe going. Took me 10yrs of saving to afford the garden job though.

Depends on if u want to spend the money if u can.

Comparison is the thief of joy! Stop looking/following, stop comparing your house to others’ and focus on making it as nice as you possibly can, over time. Most people can’t instantly afford show-home style and it takes years of saving.
Gratitude also helps a lot - remembering that you have a roof over your head, a happy/healthy family, etc. Honestly, being grateful for the things you do have rather than lamenting the things you don’t is the happiest way to live.

Sometimes the news gets me down. When it does, I stop watching it for a few weeks. Could you do something similar with Instagram?

Plus while you are clicking on these things that are making you miserable, you are helping to create capital for these people, so they can have even more.

I read these threads and presume the OPs comparing themselves to fake online accounts must be very young and naive.
Delete the app and live in the present. You’ll be so much happier.