The Truth About Living in an Instagram Home

INSTA-INTERIORS REALITY CHECK – The truth about living in an Instagram Home

These days we all recognise that over-dosing on social media negatively impacts our happiness, but did you know the Instagram effect stretches to the way we view our homes too? According to a recent poll commissioned by Origin, 50% of Instagram users in the UK are dissatisfied with their homes after a session of Insta-interiors scrolling.

I’m Kristine Hall, the interior designer and Victorian house renovator behind @restoringlansdowne and I’m supporting the #OriginInstaReality campaign to celebrate our homes as places to live real life to the fullest. I’m here to bust some myths about the Insta-Home look and what it takes to achieve it.

MYTH - Instagram homes are immaculate. Dust does not fall, drinks do not spill, the walls are unspoilt expanses of this season’s most coveted designer paint colour and every corner is curated to magazine-ready perfection.

TRUTH - Perfection doesn’t exist and anyone who tells you otherwise has their house-pants on fire. There are cracks in the plaster in every room of my home, flaking paint on the windowsills and falling-out grout where the kitchen floor tiles meet the wall. And this is a house my husband and I just spent 6 years renovating, top to bottom, inside and out.

My husband says I have a ‘relaxed approach’ to cleaning and he’s not wrong – I’m as passionate about housework as I am about poking myself in the eye with a selfie stick. So I snap photos of whichever room is most presentable on any given day and even then there’s always a pile of stuff to shove out of view. I panic-clean before we have friends over and lie awake worrying about the hairline crack in the shower tile. But the thing is – repeat after me – no one else is inspecting your home for flaws and even if they did, I can guarantee you their home has plenty of those too.

MYTH - Insta-homes aren’t functional, they’re staged like show homes and there’s no way any actual human people live in them.

TRUTH - ‘Practical’ is relative and the goal is to find the aesthetic that works as effortlessly as possible for your lifestyle. Make it easy on yourself. If you’re a self-confessed hoarder going for scandi minimalism you’re going to have a hard time. My home is swathed in velvet not just because it’s beautiful and tactile but because our cats have no interest in clawing it to shreds, unlike every other fabric choice known to man. But what if you have a couple of sticky-fingered toddlers and a mud-mad labradoodle? Click away from that plush velvet loveseat. I promise there’s a super stylish sofa with washable covers out there with your name on it, and you’ll get to keep your sanity too.

Now let’s talk about storage. I know that heavenly herringbone-parquet sideboard is making you weak in the knees but please don’t buy it if it’s too shallow to hold the plates you’re buying a sideboard to hold. Don’t do it. Be patient and find that special piece that has the Instagrammable good looks and the right proportions for your room and your possessions. And when all the storage space runs out it’s time for a clear-out. Sell, donate or recycle anything you don’t use or love – do what you need to do. Be brutal. I know it’s hard.

When it comes to staging, well if I’m styling a shot you bet I’m going to fill a dark corner with a pretty plant that doesn’t actually live there. I will hide my toothbrush or hang a scarf that coordinates with the colour scheme. Let’s be honest, no one visits my Instagram feed to see my bedside table overflowing with seventeen half-used pots of hand cream or the little collection of rather ropey looking houseplants I’ve set in the spare room to perish in private. But I promise you every room is used for real, messy, imperfect, clumsy, actual life. 

MYTH - Only jaw-droppingly amazing homes designed with mind-boggling budgets can be Insta-hits. Unless I can find a way to fork out for a vintage rolltop bath and a bespoke oak kitchen I don’t stand a chance.

TRUTH - I follow interior accounts covering all types, sizes and styles of properties and I admire them all for one thing – doing whatever it is they do really well. Find your niche. What’s unique about your home and your style? Rustic cottage or minimalist modern lines, monochrome or mad patterns, less is more or more is more? Showcasing your DIY skills, boosting the character of a new build or creative small-space solutions in a tiny city centre flat?

Take inspiration from all over but don’t replicate – mix it up in a way that’s uniquely yours so your home is instantly recognisable as yours. Get yourself an Instagram handle that’s descriptive and memorable because if that alone catches someone’s eye you’re already winning.

And Instagram really is about community. Most of my earliest followers were fellow renovators when all any of us had to show were badly-lit photos of our ugly building sites. Engage, tag your homes in #OriginInstaReality, find the people who love what you love and follow their home adventures. Just don’t be surprised if they have the odd crack in their tile too.

For more inspiration on boosting the living potential in your home with Origin doors and windows, check out these case studies from customers across the UK.