No, the folks who are true marketing geniuses are the designers and editors of home decorating magazines.
Who else could pass off second hand furniture and dinged up statuary as "distressed" and "antique"? Who else could blatantly insult your tastes while you pay them for it?
I personally have long been acquainted with "finding" that perfect touch to make our house a home, albeit one on a strict budget. From handcrafted, one-of-a-kind furniture (thanks to a talented Hubby) to re-purposed period and junktique pieces, our house has seen it all... in combination with a wide assortment of hand-me-down and salvaged chairs, tables, accent and functional furnishings. We still use the dining room set I discovered (while still single) at a resale shop for the astounding sum of $275, which included a buffet and collection of stoneware for good measure. In the last twenty years we have purchased exactly one brand new piece of furniture - other than mattresses - and for the most part, you would never know that it isn't all by design.
Unless you were one of those marketing geniuses...
They would know.
They would know because our house and it's decor smacks of rugged individualism, not picture perfect design.
Most of the folks I know can't afford a single napkin ring, let alone a room full of furniture featured in those mags. Of course, most of the folks I know have uncommon good sense, and don't bother trying to pass off someone else's decorating style as their own.
I surmise that the people who do buy decorating magazines do so for one of three reasons:
A) They want to redecorate and have no clue how to go about it.
B) They want people to think that they are thinking of redecorating, ergo are more affluent than they really are.
C) They are sadomasochists who enjoy taunting themselves with the unattainable.
What I'd really love to see is a companion issue at least once a year along the lines of Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Edition - you know, a "real life" Country Living entitled Real Rural Homes - with articles like "Decor by Roadside", Decorating on a Prayer & Shoestring" and "Dumpster Diving for the Uninitiated".
How better to make being poor as church mice chic?
Given today's economy and unstable job market, I envision this supplemental issue becoming a sell-out the moment it hits the stands. Who wouldn't justify spending three bucks (is that what a magazine costs these days?) to prove that not only do you not need that expensive new sofa, but that the neighbor's hollow-seated, horse hair chaise out on the curb would give the family room exactly the eclectically elegant touch it has been lacking?
Indeed, if the powers that be ever do decide to publish such an issue, I would be a shoe-in for a consultant position.
This spring alone we acquired an oversize chair and ottoman (free along the road), goose-necked lamp (transfer station find), blueberry enameled kitchen sink (rummage sale left-over), and futon & frame for the game room (resale store going out of business).
Come to think of it....
...Hubby made all of those finds...
Hunh.....
I might not be a marketing genius, but I might just be married to one....
(B.T.W. - I know I've already used some of these pictures, but you are getting entirely too spoiled!
Do you realize how long it takes to make those things?!)
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