Logic quiz: Poor self-image is to fashion magazines as WHAT is to home decor catalogs?
I don't know either, but sometimes I feel like I have it, whatever IT is. Occasionally I get sort of taken over by staging my house...rolling up the throw blankets and storing them just-so in a gorgeous basket (you're cold? grab one of these!), propping the white ceramic fish platter in a plate holder on my kitchen counter (look, it's art!), stacking up a pretty set of books by my bedside (who has time to read?). Maybe it's some form of OCD, or maybe it comes from buying and selling multiple houses in the past five years (never know when you're gonna have to put it on the market!), but I suspect that some of the obsession comes from looking through too many home design catalogs and shelter pubs.
Luckily, my little brother pointed me to a hilarious site that reminds me how idiotic some of those scenes from Pottery Barn (and others) are. Catalog Living follows the fictional life of Gary and Elaine, the passive-aggressive, accessory-obsessed couple who live in your catalogs. Created by actor and Tufts graduate Molly Erdman, Catalog Living now serves as my daily reminder that I shouldn't worry if my throws aren't just-so.
{But really, a little staging never hurt anyone.}
Image credit: Catalog Living, January 20, 2011