A Dose of Reality

by Katy on August 15, 2011 · 30 comments

I love the internet. I love the information, the distraction and the the inspiration. I drool over the aesthetics over at Modern Thrifter and Apartment Therapy, and I love trying to create a similar drool-worthy look in my own home.

However, reality is a hard hearted mistress.

My house rarely looks worthy of a photo shoot, and the current state of my dining room table is sending out a beacon to the staff of Hoarders to come and stage an intervention. Because instead of doing a post-vacation tidy-up yesterday, I spent the day pissing and moaning about how tired I was, which was followed by an evening watching Mad Men episodes on Netflix while cramming my face full of chocolate that the neighbor had brought by.

It was not pretty.

So today, I gift to you the above photo for comparison. Not a photo of my incredibly clean and sophisticated interiors, a photo designed to  make you feel like you’re more on top of your home than you ever dared to realize.

You’re welcome.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without”

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{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }

Amy H. August 15, 2011 at 9:57 am

Katy, as always, you rock!

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Nancy August 15, 2011 at 10:23 am

Thanks, I needed that!

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Becky August 15, 2011 at 10:30 am

Hahaha! You are only saying that because you can’t see *my* dining table.

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Su Mama August 15, 2011 at 10:31 am

I like that you include the newspaper in the photo. Sort of like in kidnapping cases, where the culprits have the victim hold up a copy of the paper to prove what day it was taken!

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Ann August 15, 2011 at 11:47 am

hahaha

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Cate August 15, 2011 at 11:00 am

Hahaha! My house looks like this half of the time, too. The clutter just rarely makes it into the photo frame.

My only question is this: were you eating the cheerios and decided to get up mid-bowl to take a picture, or did someone else vacate their seat before you started snapping away? 😉

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Katy August 15, 2011 at 11:16 am

That’s the bowl of cereal that my son started, but didn’t finish. It has since made its way into the kitchen.

Katy

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Kristi August 15, 2011 at 1:08 pm

Katy. I think I love you. ;-P

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Katy August 15, 2011 at 10:23 pm

Mwah!

Katy

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anotherhousewife August 15, 2011 at 2:57 pm

Love It! I did a Martha Stewart Pop Quiz of basic daily chores and failed every single task! I’m working on a deadline right now and apologized to the hubby in advance.I let him know I will pencil in housecleaning for Wed. but refused to use pen 😉

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Kimi August 15, 2011 at 3:02 pm

Thanks …I needed that!!! Love your blog.

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Margaret August 15, 2011 at 3:19 pm

oh my goodness, I love you. Wait… did I really just write that on a random blog??? Seriously, though… AWESOME. and thank you. we all need a reality check. especially SAHM moms. and I have definitely stuffed my face with chocolate while watching too many episodes of Mad Men.

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Katy August 15, 2011 at 10:25 pm

Messy houses are not just the domain of stay at home moms. Us working stiffs get pigsty-ish as well.

Katy

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Mary Edwards August 15, 2011 at 3:38 pm

Katy,
I appreciate your honesty and relate to much of your life. I often feel like I’m pursuing this frugal thing by myself with few friends that can relate. It helps to read about your life and know I’m not alone!
Thanks.

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Karin August 15, 2011 at 4:47 pm

There’s still an amazing amount of wood surface visible! 🙂

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Kristin @ KlingtoCash August 15, 2011 at 5:08 pm

That looks like my dining room table. Except mine is probably twice the size and has much less wood showing. It’s nice to know I’m not the only one that’s behind on housework.

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Tracy August 15, 2011 at 5:35 pm

Oh Katy..You make me proud to be a real woman. That is what real women’s house look like..right?? Mine does. Thanks for keeping it real.

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Katy August 15, 2011 at 10:26 pm

Do false women keep their tables and various horizontal surfaces free of clutter? Hmm . . . that might explain a lot.

Katy

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Barb @ 1 Sentence Diary August 15, 2011 at 9:02 pm

Cracking me up! If I only had a dining table, it would be much much messier than that.

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Susan August 16, 2011 at 3:30 am

My living room table frequently looks like that. I think everyone thinks its for storage, myself included!

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Elaine August 16, 2011 at 8:16 am

HAH! You call that “messy”?

I can have every single spot in my house cleaned and tidied, but my table always looks like a paper recycling center. I usually just scoop it all up and hide it in the closet when someone is coming over, and put it back after they leave.

I do go through my mail as it comes in though, so it’s only junk mail and catalogs in the mess.

Your picture does make me feel a lot better, though.

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Thursday's Child August 16, 2011 at 9:21 am

Thank you! I really need to get into the routine again now that school’s started. I did get a bit more accomplished today than yesterday with a sick kid home from school, but still. I’m here, right? 😉

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Elizabeth August 16, 2011 at 9:27 am

OOPS..I thought someone had come in and taken a picture of my dining room table…Glad I’m not the only one!

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Sheryl August 16, 2011 at 2:31 pm

LOL….me, too. I even have the same table. I was trying to figure out where the yellow smiley face mug came from, when I realized it wasn’t a photo of my own home!

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Lisa P. August 16, 2011 at 11:43 am

Thanks Katy! It makes me feel a lot better.

My reality this weekend was the force of gravity. 🙂
Note to self – eventually a “leaning tower” will topple.

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Trish [ modern thrifter ] August 16, 2011 at 9:16 pm

If you could only see the piles of unsorted papers and random projects on my desk right now. Have you noticed I rarely take pictures of my office, kitchen or family room? I think my living room and bedroom are my sanctuaries. Even if the rest of my house is a disaster, if those places are at least somewhat in order, I feel more sane.

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Kate in PA August 17, 2011 at 6:16 am

Thanks for the smile! I’m not perfect, and I never expected you to be. P.S. My dining room table is routinely this way or worse. If it weren’t for Sunday dinner, we would never see it at all.

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Roberta August 17, 2011 at 8:55 pm

Yay! It looks just like MY dining room table! 🙂

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Lisa@Granola Catholic August 20, 2011 at 7:35 pm

My dining room table is doubling as a sewing table these days. Covered in several over due projects, good thing we have a kitchen table we can eat at.

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greenstrivings December 19, 2012 at 4:22 pm

The only way I can tell the difference between your table and mine is that mine is also dolloped with dried-on paint from kids’ projects and has more mugs with leftover cold coffee sitting around. THANK YOU.

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