Monday, April 18, 2011

perfect makes me throw up a little in my mouth



I used to think that being a perfectionist was something to strive toward.  Can you even imagine?

I think you all know that although I love the pretty look of a Pottery Barn life as much as the next person, it isn't something I buy into. Anymore.

When I was younger I thought that if I worked hard enough and long enough I could live in those rooms and have children that played sweetly together under the christmas tree with a gorgeously groomed golden labrador by the fire.

Here's the thing about Pottery Barn. Even if I had a humongous budget to decorate my life with all of their products it still wouldn't look the same.  For one thing, have you ever noticed how much gorgeous wood work is in the rooms they shoot?  I swear, it's like they have layers of pretty starting with the bare room. As a general rule, track homes do not come standard with wainscot, let alone twelve inch crown molding.

Second of all, there are no children running around the shoot breaking things and getting everything sticky with grape jelly hands.

Thirdly, there is no Manic Extrodinaire farting and generally stinking up the place with doggy smells.

Pottery Barn is a fairy tale for adults.

Now. I have been known to go and sit in some of my favorite stores.  I just sit there and soak in the pretty. I like to step into the fallacy every so often.  I even, yes it's true, love to go to Pottery Barn.  

And I love to collect gorgeous photos of beautiful places and things.  I love the fairy tale.

But I love the sticky jelly hands that are connected to little beating hearts much, much more.

Having said all that, is there anyone out there that can come help me redecorate my living room? I'd like it too look like this one room out of Restoration Hardware catalogue...

8 comments:

Laurie said...

I also love Potter barn and I know someone who's house looks like a pottery barn catalog, both she and her husband work and they have two boys ages 10 and 5. She works her butt off to keep the house looking perfect all the time, that's not for me, life is too short to be cleaning all the time, there's a saying that a super clean house is the sign of a neglected child, and that is so true. Someday when the littles are grown and moved out we can have our pottery barn house, but by then I think we'll be broke...:)

Elizabeth said...

You should check out the hilarious blog www.catalogliving.net --

Bohemian chic said...

OK, that one gave me a good chuckle.

From the Kitchen said...

My home is a combination of Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware. It's very easy to keep since Nanny takes care of the children and my full-time housekeeper does the rest. it leaves me time to cook in my Williams-Sonoma kitchen. Please feel free to stop in and photograph my living room to copy as your own.

= )

Best,
Bonnie

Jan said...

The jelly covered hands belong to a 25 year old in my house. I tell him all the time that when he gets his own place I'm going to walk down his hallway with both arms extended with my dirty hands sliding all the way down and that I will shower and leave my wet towel on his new hard wood floors. He answers by kissing me on the forehead and says he loves me . Sigh

Princess Danell said...

You got that right, sista! Pottery Barn is a delusion perpetrated by the Man. And it's tax day! The Man stickin' it to us again.

Kathryn Zbrzezny said...

Even if we ever could come close to a perfect Pottery Barn home, the fun would be gone. It magically disappears when the Quest for it is done. The fun is in the dreaming and scheming and trying....and even secretly knowing that it will never BE. Now, back to the sticky jelly of real life...

Unknown said...

You'll excuse me as I comment on week old posts. I really like this post too. So very true. Pottery barn is really, really nice. Sticky hands - though tiresome at times - are so very much better.