Where have all the saucy dwellings gone?
April 21, 2018 10:20 AM Subscribe
Where are non-designers posting photos of their homes nowadays?
Back in the olden days, I used to love poring through Saucy Dwellings or the home tours on Offbeat Home. What I loved about them: lots of different styles, often brightly coloured, done on a minimal budget, looked like places that people actually lived in, mostly reflected their owners’ tastes rather than mimicking whatever was cool at the time (OK, there were quite a few “Keep Calm and Carry On” posters).
But Livejournal has died a death and Offbeat Home just seems to post quirky real estate listings now. Sites like Design*Sponge and Apartment Therapy are all well and good, but every person whose home they feature seems to be some kind of designer, and the tours are styled to within an inch of their lives.
I suppose the obvious answer to my question is “Instagram”, but all I’m finding on there are the same trends over and over: dark walls, living rooms that look like bars or yoga studios, typography prints, etc etc. There are so many wannabe interior designers on Instagram, it seems! Where are the photos of cute, cheerful homes that still have litter trays and letters stuck to the fridge? Where are the homes of people with nerdy passions and homes decorated with “oops” paint to be found these days?
Back in the olden days, I used to love poring through Saucy Dwellings or the home tours on Offbeat Home. What I loved about them: lots of different styles, often brightly coloured, done on a minimal budget, looked like places that people actually lived in, mostly reflected their owners’ tastes rather than mimicking whatever was cool at the time (OK, there were quite a few “Keep Calm and Carry On” posters).
But Livejournal has died a death and Offbeat Home just seems to post quirky real estate listings now. Sites like Design*Sponge and Apartment Therapy are all well and good, but every person whose home they feature seems to be some kind of designer, and the tours are styled to within an inch of their lives.
I suppose the obvious answer to my question is “Instagram”, but all I’m finding on there are the same trends over and over: dark walls, living rooms that look like bars or yoga studios, typography prints, etc etc. There are so many wannabe interior designers on Instagram, it seems! Where are the photos of cute, cheerful homes that still have litter trays and letters stuck to the fridge? Where are the homes of people with nerdy passions and homes decorated with “oops” paint to be found these days?
Best answer: I check out airbnb to fulfill this desire! I especially like Hollywood, Austin, New Orleans, and then most any big city in Europe is to die for (was just looking at Copenhagen, Zurich, Prague, Berlin, and Helsinki). And then airbnb do great lists too.
posted by Uncle Glendinning at 11:22 AM on April 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Uncle Glendinning at 11:22 AM on April 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Have you looked at the Small Cool contests on ApartmentTherapy? There's definitely some fancy design in there, but it's all user submitted, so there's a variety in level of style-ed-ness and design-ness.
posted by snorkmaiden at 2:30 PM on April 21, 2018
posted by snorkmaiden at 2:30 PM on April 21, 2018
Best answer: I know exactly what you mean!
It's not full home tours, but several of the Autostraddle Queer IRL galleries definitely scratch this itch for me. Here are people showing off their kitchens, bedrooms, and bookshelves, and they are all absolutely wonderful.
posted by anderjen at 7:15 PM on April 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
It's not full home tours, but several of the Autostraddle Queer IRL galleries definitely scratch this itch for me. Here are people showing off their kitchens, bedrooms, and bookshelves, and they are all absolutely wonderful.
posted by anderjen at 7:15 PM on April 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
Also, I am a member of several home-based FB groups (KonMari, hygge, etc.) and you see LOTS of very real pictures of people's living spaces there.
posted by anderjen at 11:35 AM on April 24, 2018
posted by anderjen at 11:35 AM on April 24, 2018
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posted by geegollygosh at 10:50 AM on April 21, 2018 [8 favorites]