To ask what people mean when they say ‘show home’?

[churchandstate]

I’ve just been reading the ‘lived in’ house thread and have read a few others about tidy/messy homes. I’ve seen so many people on here say ‘my house isn’t a show home’, but I have literally never been inside a show home or heard anyone say their house is like a show home.

What do people mean when they say someone’s home (theirs or someone else’s) is like a show home?

Mine, before anyone asks, is a mess.

It seems people have different ideas as to what constitutes "clutter". I don't consider lamps, books, throws or plants clutter but some might. To me clutter is piles of papers, pointless free keyrings and that kind of thing.

My friend has a stunningly beautiful home which I would describe as a ‘show home’. Very carefully thought out decor, all beautifully coordinated, expensive fixtures and fittings, modern. Absolutely nothing ‘personal’ on show, so you could view his house and have no idea who lived there at all (no photos, knick knacks, personel items etc)
It’s beautiful but not my style at all, I love photos and things we’ve picked up on holiday, musical instruments, lego, our toddlers toys etc
He does live there on his own though so no one elses tastes to take into account.

My Dsis has a beautiful home, she is naturally a perfectionist.
I don't really like visiting.
I am a tea spiller.

Show home =
Very matched/styled decor, in an extremely current style, probably overdone for the size of property. Eg a 3 bed semi new build with chandelier lights, a grey velvet chaise longue, navy blue farrow & ball walls.

Nothing indicating any personal preferences - no family photos, no unprofessional canvases with enlarged holiday shots you took yourself, no style choices that arent currently in fashion.

Absolutely no toys etc visible. Often there will be extra decorative items most people dont have in their homes because they get in the way - a trendy umbrella stand etc. These are because a property will look rather empty with no personal posessions, so these items are an attempt to make you not notice the absence of normal (messier) belongings in estate agents photos.

My house never looks "show home" even when immaculately tidy. This is because i don't like current style of interior design with a lot of grey. In addition, I dont like having the sorts of slightly useless but cool looking nick nacks.

I know a few people with "show homes".

They are immaculate, it's not even the decor(mostly everything white and glistening) but not one sign that anyone lives there. Spotless,nothing on surfaces bar a few artistic pictures etc. They do make me uncomfortable because I'm so worried all the time about me or DD making a mess, leaving a fingerprint or dropping some crumbs.

In contrast my house looks like it's been lived in... by 5 generations of 3 different families at the same time.

I bet that makes some people uncomfortable too.

My house is a bit of a mess too. I aspire to it being like a show home but I've hobbies which are reflected in my bits and bobs for want of a better word.

'Show homes' aren't real - they're impossibly clean, neat and tidy with everything put away. No personality or individuality at all, boring in fact. My in-laws that type of home - MIL hid her knitting in a box behind the sofa and the GC were forever told to 'put that down, leave that alone' (ornaments etc). Do you want to live like that?

Nothing indicating any personal preferences - no family photos, no unprofessional canvases with enlarged holiday shots you took yourself, no style choices that arent currently in fashion.

I disagree with this - show homes often have large studio photographs of a family or children, often in B&W

I think they are decorated in such a way that is quite bland and neutral, made to appeal to everyone in a way (even though they won't). Lacking in character...

Looks appealing, neat, tidy, up to date with fashions and colours but at the cost of real life function and daily living.

lots of my DH’s ‘stuff’ getting in the way of my tastefully-selected ‘stuff’

How would people go about making their homes more presentable/attractive, without leaning towards ‘show home’?

Buy a shed, a BIG shed, put your DH & all his crap out there, you’ll be 95% of the way there!

There is no such thing as decorating overdone for the size of house. What nonsense that you shouldn't have a chandelier in a 3 bedroomed house.

So many weird attitudes on this thread. No wonder the term "show home", is now meant in a bitchy way.

And why is having a clutter free, clean tidy home seen as a bad thing? Not all clean tidy homes are grey as well.

I've seen many clean tidy homes that are warm and nice to be in and in very different styles from minimalist to colourful, to very Italian and grand to very well travelled and cultured from abroad.
They were all show homes in a non bitchy way. And what is wrong with that?

I cannot relax around stuff and clutter and just by having a clean, tidy and clutter free home, does not mean you are soulless and devoid of personality.

I wanted to put this on the lived in thread, when so many people came on to say about their messy homes, "well it is better than a soulless clean tidy home."

Soulless does not equal clean and tidy and mess and clutter do not equal personality.

These threads just remind me why people will probably vote for the tories again. Same old tropes trotted out time and time again, with no analysis or critical thinking.

Mine is more the Patti Robbins style linked earlier in the thread. I do keep on top of it all reasonably well and try to keep a balance between personality and neatness. It’s an old Georgian house and about as far from Mrs Hinch as it gets (I hope!). People do comment on its tidiness and organisation though, which I’m a bit embarrassed about because at heart I’m quite anal but would rather not admit it

I think each to their own. I do wonder if there is some envy coming out on this thread,

I much prefer a tidy clean well kept home, I do not see clutter, dust, or knackered furnishings as adding "personality" and something to aspire to as some posters are bizzarely making out.

A friend of mine had whar I would call a show home. Every room was absolutely beautiful and the kitchen was stunning.
It was just like you'd see in Homes and Gardens or one of those property mags
I did wonder where they put the gas bill and the extra toilet rolls.
Then I found the summerhoise. Crammed with stuff. And the barbecue. Where they cooked all their meals because she didn't want to ruin the kitchen.
Barmy. Beautiful, but definitely barmy

To be there's a difference between a showhome and a tidy home.

A tidy home is neat and clean but still looks like someone's home.
A show home feels almost meticulously staged and crafted e.g. spare room always done up with throw cushions ordered artistically, throw on the sofa in a certain way, limited signs of things being used or personality,

Just like on the other thread, there is a difference between lived in and a shit tip.
A lived in home will have signs people actually live there, nobody is stacking the toys stylishly in the front room, if there's a laundry basket in the utility room nobody cares.
A shit tip is dirty, very messy, not looked after etc.

Most people lie somewhere between lived in and tidy.
The people who are at the show home end tend to look down at a mug on the side like it's some sort of biohazard that offends them, whilst people who live in shit tips tend to equate tidy to soulless.

Sterile

Flirtygirl totally agree with everything you have said, I think there is definitely envy coming out on this thread.

Seeing as ‘lived in” homes are so popular I wonder why magazines have not been launched to capture this market? ‘25 ordinary untidy houses’ has a definite ring to it.

No envy here, as someone who is generally clumsy and messy I (or Dd) don't want to be to cause of blemishes in an immaculate house. So rather than relax I'm watching my every step and bite and what I touch, which doesn't make for a nice visit.

Maybe one day I'll be a proper grownup and enjoy that kind of house.

Seeing as ‘lived in” homes are so popular I wonder why magazines have not been launched to capture this market? ‘25 ordinary untidy houses’ has a definite ring to it.
The same reason Vogue would rather have 345 pages of 6foot tall waifs wearing highly quirky athleisure with heels and neon eye make rather than 32 women going to the gym.

It sells an ideal doesn't it, and if you can make people feel crap or insecure they'll spend money. I'm rather cynical.

Seeing as ‘lived in” homes are so popular I wonder why magazines have not been launched to capture this market? ‘25 ordinary untidy houses’ has a definite ring to it.

I think that was basically the 'shabby chic' trend...

totally agree with everything you have said, I think there is definitely envy coming out on this thread

I think it's more snobbery than envy TBH

The quirky, upcycled decor style is just as same-y and cliche as the new build, show house, Mrs Hinch style.

It’s just the style of a different tribe. Middle-middle class instead of LM/WC, and a bit more urban. And a bit more Mumsnet.

These threads just remind me why people will probably vote for the tories again

Lol, why does politics have to be shoehorned into every discussion these days? I mean, we're talking about home decor ffs, I'm failing to see the relevance

The only time I've ever been in an actual show home was when my mum and I went to a new development near her house, just to be nosy.

It was very bland and matchy-matchy, but there was something odd about one of the bedrooms. It seemed really oddly proportioned or something.

It slowly dawned on me that the bed was very odd. It was supposed to be a double bedroom, and had a double bed in it, with two (immaculately plumped) pillows on each side. But it looked wrong, and the proportions seemed weird.

I happened to have a tape measure in my bag, so I measured it. They'd put in a 4' wide bed, 6" narrower than a standard double. To make it look like a double, they'd put smaller than standard size pillows on it. The bedside tables were tiny, too.

I couldn't help but wonder about the poor sods who bought what they thought was a 3 double-bedroom house off-plan, only to discover that it would only accommodate a double bed if you shoved it against one wall.

There were also big mirrors everywhere, presumably to deceive the eye about the size of the place.

So, imo a show home is one with teen-tiny furniture, lots of mirrors and very matchy-matchy.

Not a show home is an eclectic mix of styles and periods of furniture, original art and books which are for reading, not decoration. Oh, and a dog or cat happily snoozing, ideally on the less than perfect furniture.