Are stylists ruining it for the rest of us?

Clarity — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 12:31:31 +0000

Someone I was chatting with last week told me that some designers are advising clients against open shelves, on the grounds that unless you are professional photo stylist, your shelves are not likely to look like the just-groomed picture-perfect ones in magazines.

You know, that really saddens me. Do we live in a magazine photos, or in homes?

Photo Bruce Hemming - Stylist unknown

See, if you live in a photo, and the kitchen is pink, then yes, you do have to give your kids pink juice for breakfast. And yes, they have to eat the only cereal that comes in a pink box. Never mind what they want! That’s just the way it has to be.

Or sometimes, if you live in a photograph, you just have to clutter up your workspace by leaning pictures against the backsplash, and clutter up your floorspace with random stools that you could never really sit on – just as long as it looks good for the picture:

Styled to kill - a kitchen by Thom Felicia, source unknown

This one makes me smile – of course, if you live in a photograph, it’s fine to keep your hams and salamis on the stove – especially when cooking a big pan of unpeeled turnips, while doing some gardening and preparing omelets at the same time. All without creating a single speck of dust or spot of grease, naturally:

Stylist Victoria Nordstrom via Agent Molly

Real life isn’t a photograph – fortunately. We don’t experience real rooms the same way we do photographs. A photograph captures a single moment from a single viewpoint – and then that moment is fixed permanently. Photos always magically show up every fingerprint, smear, speck, or imperfection that you never saw with the naked eye – which is of course why styling is so important for photos. In real life, your eye isn’t fixed, your gaze is free to move, to skip over what isn’t interesting, and to focus on what is important. So I say, unless you are planning to live in a picture rather than a kitchen, don’t let those stylists scare you – plan some space to display your favorite things, and let your personality shine through.

Although, if this is how your personality tends to shine, you might just consider having a closable door on the pantry, just in case that magazine photographer does happen to call:

Really real - untouched by stylist's hand

This picture set at I lay my hat and wish to stay is almost guaranteed to make you feel better about your own place!

That lighting

Clarity — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 12:31:16 +0000

I’m not saying a word:

Yond lamp hath a lean and hungry look - via ATcasa

That whole ceiling light thing is just so over.

That Seventies Look

Clarity — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 19:16:12 +0000

Oh, the seventies – I’m pretty sure my parents had these exact same curtains:

Strange, yet familiar

Actually, I’m pretty sure my sister and I got to wear that fabric, upcycled into “midi” skirts, once it’s kitchen duty was done.

I have no record of where I found this image – please help me identify it if you can.

Kitchen Clarity » Oh, really?

Are stylists ruining it for the rest of us?

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