A friend of mine has one of those homes that's always ready to be photographed. While I'm constantly flipping over my couch cushions because they keep getting flattened and crumby, her sofa continues to look like it just came from the store. The secret, she told me after a couple glasses of wine as we sat at her soapstone kitchen island, is that they never sit on their couch. Only when family and friends are over does she allow anyone to sit there, and that's why her pillows still look fluffy and the fabric clean.
This became all the more real to me during my week of trying to live perfectly. After spending far too long organizing and cleaning my son's play space, it was picture-ready for all of two minutes. In less time than it took me to put away just the Legos, my wonderful toddler had already rifled through his toy chest and made the same mess all over again. I was momentarily frustrated by my son's unwillingness to play in an organized way. After all, did he not respect what I was trying to achieve?
It was then I realized that of course these homes on Pinterest look the way they do; they only need to be that put together and perfect for a photo. When Joanna Gaines decorates people's dream homes, it's done with their tastes and lifestyle in mind, but that doesn't mean things aren't going to get messy. Instead of getting upset at my son's lack of vision, I decided his approach was much more in line with the way our family works. We clean up our messes and keep an organized house, but at the end of the day, we are couch-sitting, Lego-building family, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
