Are show homes a new thing for people?

[Dojasayso]

Just musing through Instagram and I realised something.. most people's homes are borderline show home standard.

It's not a put down because my home is the same in terms of cleaning and nice decor with a lot of effort, time and expense.

But I growing up I don't remember the being as standard? I remember fridge magnets, pictures, ornaments etc.
I remember friends houses having carpets that don't match the sofas and a rug that was gifted 10 years ago that doesn't match the home but families kept anyway.

But now I can't think of a single friend or acquaintance with such a mis matched home.

Of course there were home fashions but these weren't the default standard in most homes.

Of course the grey homes with mirrored furniture were a thing (I hated that trend). But even so, people put a lot of money and time into creating that imagine.

I don't remember people putting as much into their home decor years ago.

Now most people I know have gorgeously decorated homes where things match and even family photos are up in black and white with stylish frames.

Is it a new thing to have a show home type house? What do you think has caused it?

I think it may be due to social media?

I live in a cottage that's ancient. It wouldn't suit the grey mirrored decor.

I wouldn't want a show home, I grew up in one! My mother was a nightmare for changing decor with trends and forever buying new sofas. In her last home there were 3 new kitchens in less than 10 years 🤦‍♀️

I have good furniture that goes together but isn't a set. It's cosy and comfortable and a place to relax in rather than stage for the next photo 🙂

What’s wrong with not wanting loads of stuff in your house? I go into people’s houses daily and look at the collections of plates, figurines, photo albums, crystal glasses etc. Kept lovingly preserved in a glass cupboard. And it’s all just stuff, probably likely to be binned when the owner dies. I must prefer my house with minimal furniture and some house plants than stuff everywhere. I can’t stand clutter.

Also a lot of insta posts are a form of marketing so get a lot of stuff at discount or free. A lot of people I know use FB marketplace, gumtree etc. My friends And I are partial to an upcycle project! It’s not all “the youth love to live by the credit card in sterile soulless new builds”

Not having clutter isn't the same as having a show home. I try to keep clutter to a minimum, but my home isn't a show home. My furniture has been bought over two decades, even my two sofas in the living room aren't matching ones (although they are in the same general colour and style). It all 'goes', but is a world away from the Instagram perfect look the OP is describing.

I've seen people taking Instagram photos. They pulled their second smaller sofa into dining room along with a box of super trendy but cheap scatter cushions/fake plants/photo frames etc (some from Poundland) that they'd got out of a cupboard! They put the sofa across the corner of the dining room with all the accessories in place and took the photo. They then promptly put everything back......
They'd even painted one wall of dining room some muted trendy colour especially for the photos. Apparently some days they create a 'play room' other days an 'office space'

It's quite often all fake! Don't fall for it.

Personally I find super trendy homes extremely vain.
My home is MY space. I'll have it looking how I like it! Decor & accessories which make me happy. I couldn't give two hoots if 'trendy' or showhomes/Instagram worthy or not!! I have the same attitude to clothing and pretty much everything

I love the eclectic look, but then I don’t really do FB/insta.

Ours is mismatched and messy. I like it.

I'm in my thirties and I can remember in great detail my dm watching changing rooms ect and each half term decorating a different room in the house.

One of my oldest friends mum redecorated every year (but they were rich).

No, growing up I remember most houses of my friends and family friends were pretty well done. I had a good friend at secondary school whose family were always updating the decor. Some of my friends had lovely houses.

Mine is not always "ready", but give me 30/60 mins and it's pretty much a show home.

Don't believe everything you see on Instagram! I have a home account and move all of that stuff out of the way for an "insta worthy" shot. Everyone does!

So if they are "doing their child's room" a few years after they last "did it" they literally get rid of all the old furniture, buy all new matching to a theme etc. I could not do that!

It's not just about matching, it's also about size and the kind of furniture.

Our furniture matches, but it's old. Not particularly tidy, either. We have a lot of 'stuff' and in particular, a wall of floor to ceiling book cases filled with books, photos and ornaments. Where does everyone else keep their books? No one seems to have book cases any more. I often see pictures of people's houses on insta, and think they look terribly sterile.

I have new neighbours who delighted in telling me they are recording their renovation on Insta,

All posturing about Edwardian renovations. #restoration

This includes lowering ceilings, pulling down trees and putting in AstroTurf

#tedious

I agree, people are no longer happy to wait and gradually improve their homes any more.

I can’t bring myself to get rid of or paint over perfectly good furniture or decor so our home is not show home.

I do wonder if the perfect home brigade will continue to replace and repaint as they get older or if some will keep what they have now for the longer term.

There's a fashion.

For some, it's seem desirable to look like page 53 of the catalogue.

Others (like me) don't really like when everything comes from a set. Looks cheap or at least unattractive.

When the fashion for expertly thought mismatched furniture comes back, instagram (or its successor) will be full of them.

I think it depends on how much spare money people have and their interests. I like my house to look nice and my old house was ‘done’ but since I moved to a bigger house and have a toddler I don’t have the time or energy. Also we took out a loan to do the last house whereas this time we are saving up room by room so it’s taking a loooong time. I think a lot of people maybe remortgage for renovations and bits and bobs etc? Which we are not willing to do this time so don’t think the house will ever be done or matching!

I find the whole thing really jarring. If you are ‘doing up’ your house, cool, but this is all about doing the things that will impress others and nothing to do with what you feel you like yourself.

Given it’s your home that’s a really disingenuous way to have to live.

I actually remember houses from the 70s / 80s obviously had some clear trends of the time but they also reflected the personality and character of the owners, it wasn’t quite such rigid fashion. The show home genre are really soulless

I must be following a different crowd on Instagram, because all the interiors I see are very (deliberately) mismatched and eclectic with lots of knick knacks and individual touches. I see plenty of these when I check out houses nearby on Rightmove as well!

I think most people I know have quite eclectic tastes and accumulate furniture over the years.

I’ve got what you’d probably call a “show home”, but no social media accounts. I just like interiors, so I choose an item or colour I like and then build a scheme with swatches (both paint and fabrics) before decorating. I don’t follow trends like grey or pampas grass or mirrored furniture. I like comfort, warmth and light.

Interiors don’t need to be expensive either, Wayfair is a great source for reasonable items and I sometimes recover footstools, armchairs etc, so they look bespoke.

I probably think more about interiors and colours than my friends. Some buy items they like without considering if it “works” visually. One of my best friends has a lot of designer furniture that are like museum pieces oddly arranged around a room and there’s no cohesiveness, but they’re “her” (e.g. her Eames chair and some special lamp designed by someone I can’t remember and a tv unit that cost more than a small car). Another BFF has really unique taste and mixes a red kitchen with a turquoise sofa (same room) with a purple rug and leopard print cushions. It’s just a fun place to be, but it’s a clash of all of the primary colours. I love it because it’s just her personality.

So I think it’s amazing when someone has a home that’s comfortable and reflects them. I’ve also got a few friends with really quite unclean homes (think “clean” water glasses covered in dog hair and smear marks). That’s far more disturbing than the colour of the walls. One of my good friends has a lovely period house and she’s spent time choosing a lovely interior, beautiful new kitchen...the inside of her fridge makes me feel sick. It’s really very dirty!!

Queen of mismatch right here🤣

I joined a Mrs Hinch type group on Facebook for inspiration and the poster who said about it all being grey and mirrors has it spot on, except for pink girls bedrooms, oh and what’s the recent trend for nailing wood to the walls for pretend cladding? It looks awful and is going to need replastering when the fashion changes.

I am curious as to what the next trend will be and I suspect whenever it comes out there is going to be a lot of grey sofas and mirrors on eBay

I think it’s down to the fact that you can buy matchy tat pretty cheaply now so an entire room can be made to look showroom-like but on a comparatively low budget. Having mismatched stuff is more organic - a ‘built over time’ feel. I think there’s a subconscious feeling in show home people that they are making it look like they are better off and don’t have to have mismatched stuff, even if their room was made up of home bargain buys! Just my opinion. I couldn’t live in the soulless grey and chrome homes, but equally, I appreciate that my lack of coordination would irk them in return. We have bits of furniture bought as students - dead cheap and/or second hand, bits from IKEA, a tv stand from the likes of home bargains, a beautiful leather recliner that I inherited from my grandpa...none of it is particularly coordinated, and it ranges in value and quality from student purchases up to current purchase on a professional wage. But it’s homely and that’s what I like.

The current trend is to paint everything dark colours. That followed the grey trend. It too will pass.

Stealth boast OP 🥱

IMO houses that resemble show homes look sterile and frankly a bit naff.
Give me a glorious mismatch, old mixed with new, and no slavish following of fashion, any day.

Definitely not a show home here. I work full time and am a single parent with sole residential care of dd so frankly if I find time to hoover and mop the floors more than once a week it a bloody miracle.

Due to an inheritance half my garden has been redesigned...nothing fancy but at over 200ft long and hideously overgrown it desperately needed a professional in to deal with it. The top half of the garden has had weed liner down but still needs some clearance work doing and will become a giant play area for dd when I can I can affordable suppliers of rubber chippings for a play area.