Healthy Expectations

From Pinterest.com - classic example of having healthy expectations.

I am not Martha Stewart. You are not Martha Stewart. Martha Stewart is not even Martha Stewart. She has a huge (maybe endless?) budget. She has staff. Lots of staff.

You look at a picture of a beautiful home perfectly organized in beautiful and unique ways and think you can achieve the same thing in your home. But you can't. Or you read an organization tip and are then disappointed that it didn't turn out the way you thought it would. 

Here's a secret: it's not your fault. 

The issue is that most of us don't live in homes that would grace the pages of Southern Living. Even those homes aren't real. I mean, they exist. People really do live there - at least I assume. But those pictures were taken after a considerable amount of time, money, lighting, and effort. The camera people didn't just walk in a snap a quick picture. And those perfectly organized pantries? Beautifully organized desks? They took those pictures right after the initial organization and they will never look that good again.

Keep a healthy and realistic expectation of what your home will look like. Beautiful storage hat boxes on a cheap, thrift store, ugly bookcase will not look like something out of a magazine.That chalkboard paint on the pantry door is only going to look beautiful for a little bit. Then it will get scuffs and scratches. That really cute wreath DIY idea you see on the cover of Martha Stewart Living was actually the 16th one they did and ended up costing over $400.

Keep healthy expectations and you will enjoy your home more.


Disclaimer: I don't have anything against Martha Stewart, so please don't email me hateful things. I don't actually know how many times the wreath was done to make it look perfect, nor how much it actually cost. I'm sure even Martha Stewart has a budget. I can't define "a considerable amount of time, money, lighting, and energy" that Southern Living takes to shoot a picture. Yada, yada, yada.