Am I being unreasonable to think Instagram perfect houses don’t exist ?

[ScarlettnotOHara]

I am a neat freak and like to think I have a good flair for interior design but I constantly struggle to keep the house tidy !! AIbu to think that nobody unless you have full time staff or ocd cleaning have these Instagram perfect houses/lifestyle? Just laughing at the video I just watched of an immaculately dressed lady arranging her hydrangeas and lighting her Jo Malone candles whilst her croissants bake in the oven 😂

Maybe they’re like Monica from Friends and have one cupboard packed with their crap.

Most people don’t live in immaculate homes but some people genuinely do. I certainly do not!

Some rooms can be Instagram perfect, but only at the expense of the “reality” rooms elsewhere. Houses are made for living. Never being able to keep it tidy is usual a sign of (a) small children or (b) owning too much stuff.

I’ve got a friend with an Instagram perfect home - though she’s not on Instagram - but she’s a minimalist, easy to stay tidy when you own virtually nothing!

I know it’s made me feel quite inadequate 😂 every room is perfect and I didn’t realise this was such a big thing ! Loads of these videos but all their houses look the same 😳

Not sure why you'd light a jo malone candle if you have fresh baking smell permeating the house (not the point I know)

My favourite Instagram thing is a big butler sink with fresh flowers in it and a clean tea towel draped over the side, rendering the sink completely out of use.

YANBU. I have a family member who is desperate to 'make it' in terms of fame and fortune. She has an instagram house account and is showing her house renovations in great detail, down to the colour of cushions etc.
On the outside it looks like a dream. In reality they've had so many issues and it's causing a huge headache for them. I also secretly cringe when I see her posts - full of desperation to get free stuff from companies and millions of bloody hashtags!

SIL has an instagram ready house. Her secret is her husband is a big a neat freak as she is. Keeping things constantly tidy and clean take a lot of time personally I don’t have the commitment to it!

No they don’t exist.

My friends built two identical houses on a site, and sold one. No shortage of money either for decor or extra help (nanny and cleaner). Their family home is beautiful, well kept , but it’s perfect obvious that they live in it.

When they were selling the next door it was fully furnished and staged, and very much an Instagram house. It’s only seeing the two houses at the same time that it was obvious how fake the second one was.

My house isn’t as immaculately kept as my friend’s house as I’m the housekeeper, nanny and maid of all work. But I’ve realised that while I might aspire to her house one day, I’m very clear on how impossible the second house is - it’s a complete illusion. A very compelling illusion though.

I love watching the videos and photos. My favourite details are vases of flowers on the cooker and so many pillows and blankets on the bed it looks like a jumble sale.

They don't. I like home accounts that are honest: the ones that show the beautiful corner and then also show the rest of the room with the laundry basket, pile of junk mail and general detritus.

The only time I had a house that was 100% tidy all the time was when I lived alone. Once DH plus dog, followed by children came along, I was fighting a losing battle. I am very nostalgic for that period in my life!

the only things I seem to manage to decorate my stove top is a bouquet of pots and pans. Sometimes I'll add a dried arrangement of beans or chilli for aesthetics.

My mum has one because both her and dad are naturally very tidy. We've recently moved into a 5 bedroom house (only three of us) and find it so much easier to keep the main rooms clean and tidy as we really have too much space so shut off DS playroom and my dressing room.

The only truly immaculate house I've ever seen (& I've seen a lot over the years as I work in property) turned out to be a bloke with some very dodgy domestic violence issues. Even the cupboards where you'd normally chuck the rubbish were totally organised. It was pretty uncomfortable, even before I knew he was abusive to partners. Was also a senior policeman...

I think it'd be possible if I lived alone so had total free reign over what was in the house and what got chucked, and if I had enough money that I could 1) decorate however I want and b) reduce my working hours so I can spend a lot of time cleaning and tidying. In theory I could spend a lot of time cleaning and tidying as it is, but I hate it and it feels like extra work so I resent spending my free time on it.

My friends house is totally perfect (despite having 2 kids and a massive dog!)
She and her dh are both neat freaks and they're also very rich - this is the key!!!

we have a lovely home it’s very Instagramble when tidy full of Danish midcentury furniture, however I’m a antiques/ vintage dealer and my husband deals in trainers and other things, we are both artistic and collect things. The house is always cluttered. we leave dishes for a few days sometimes,
We don’t have the money for a cleaner and I would inevitably clean before the cleaner came.
i say as long as the house isn’t dirty then it’s fine. and how long must it take for those people to decant all their food and detergent and things into little boxes, and what happens with the stuff left in the boxes!
I was an auctioneer for many years and went into lots of houses, the mix of how people kept their houses was massive. I personally liked the ones owned by the creative class ( a lot of people would say messy and cluttered) I say full of fantastic things

I can't keep a house Instagram worthy, even when it's clean and tidy it's got too many flaws.

I've just had a bit of a tidy round and a clean in places but it still looks a bit crap. There are grubby marks on the walls and doorframes that I need to wipe off, the inside of the windows need cleaning as do my mirrors...

I just don't have the time unless I never sit down and I value my sitting down time more than I do cleaning the house. It would be easier if I had a cleaner but we don't have the money to justify one. It's money that could be better spent on days out but I would definitely have a cleaner if I had maybe £500 extra every month.

It probably is possible even with kids if there is a cleaner, everything is new, the kids aren't feral like mine or the adults are natural clean and tidy people. None of that applies to the adults, the kids or the cat. The hamster is alright apart from the bits of bedding and sand that escape but nothing that can't be solved with a quick hoover before I take said Instagram photos.

My friend's parents' house is like this, it looks gorgeous and I always feel like I'm in a magazine spread when I'm in it! Fresh flowers and no streaks on the shower screen and perfectly folded towels and pristine carpets and perfectly clear kitchen sides with no stray letters or keys or random household shit accumulated... it's so soothing (except for the fear I'm somehow messing it up by being in it, haha).

The key is that her mum doesn't work and is a super-Hinch-fan so has plenty of time to keep it nice (all 4 kids are adults, only one - my friend - still lives at home so no childcare to take care of), they are very well off and they get it redecorated seemingly about every 18 months so nothing ever gets shabby or knackered, they have a cleaner 3 times a week, and the house is pretty big so they're not short of space to put things.

So... yep, totally possible, if you don't have small children or pets or a lot of stuff, and you have loads of free time and enjoy cleaning/can afford a regular cleaner!

My friend’s house is absolutely perfect. She has a great eye for style and her husband is a cleaning obsessed neat freak. Everything is tidy and neatly labelled in stylish canisters. There’s a little chalk board where they write out all their family plans for the week eg ‘Monday - Sarah Yoga, Daniel taking children to dance class, Dinner - Tibetan unicorn curry’ I always feel like I’m in a magazine when I’m over there.

Should add my friend is absolutely lovely.

We are on the minimalist side and have added lots of storage to our house. Everything has a place but it’s not very often that everything is in it!

Our house can be Instaperfect if we put some effort in, but what’s the point of spending all your time staging your life to impress people you will never meet? Unless we vacuum pack the DC and all their stuff, we may as well widdle in the wind.

They do.

My Dsis house is stunning and immaculate.

She always had an eye for style, she has worked very hard and is naturally very tidy.

She always looks polished too.

I stayed one night last weekend it was depressing coming back to my home after spending the morning in the home gym too.

I can't lie, mine is 😂 my friends always joke about it - they've spent time before checking all of the cupboards to find some "junk" or mess and they couldn't - they said if my DH ever goes missing the police will never find him as Id have cleaned and tidied all the evidence away 😉

There's two of us, two cats and no DC. We're in a 4/5 bed house, so tbh it would take a lot of crap to make it messy! We're both also very neat and clean, I clean every day so it all adds up to being easy to keep up!

Yeah I guess it's harder for things to look cluttered in a mansion 😅

Sometimes it is all in the lighting/photography though - I decorated our bedroom a colour I'd seen on a home Instagram account and loved and it looks horrible 😂

I agree though, these people are out there and they are generally people with either time or money (usually both) and no spaniels that jump in muddy puddles and shake themselves next to the cream walls