How to Look Like a Model

I have always noticed that builders’ model homes simultaneously attract and repel me, like a wax statue that you know is not real and yet you just can’t help looking.  They seem so lifelike… yet, there is something missing… oh, yes, it’s people!  Actual inhabitants, and their actual stuff. 

Syndicated columnist Marni Jameson just wrote a great article called Model Homes: Just Too Perfect for the Real World, in which she reveals some of the tricks of the trade.  Here are some of the techniques, quoted directly from the article:

• Fresh start. When doing a model, designers begin with a clean slate. They come in at the ground level and specify every single finish and detail in the home – tile, grout, wall colors, flooring, cabinetry – to make sure the whole house coheres. Most of us, on the other hand, simply make do with what’s there.
• No baggage. Model designers don’t come to the project with favorite pieces of art they’ve collected or furnishings they’re attached to. Instead, they custom order and select art, mats and frames, and every stick of furniture to coordinate with the interior scheme.
• Smoke and mirrors. Model designers order furniture that allows foot traffic to flow, and that makes rooms look larger when necessary.
• Where’s the stuff? Because their goal is to let people see the home and its architecture, not the stuff, they allow zero clutter (emphasis mine).
• Storage style. Model master closets feature a monochromatic wardrobe that ties into the master décor, meaning all the outfits go with the bedspread. No one actually buys clothes that way.

So there you have it, the magician’s secrets… read the article for more.  We are always telling our Clutter Diet members that perfection is an illusion, and that your home is not going to look like a model home any more than you are going to magically look like Gisele Bundchen.  I hope we can all be realistic and forgiving with ourselves when our homes don’t seem to measure up to perfection.

Imperfectly yours,