apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

You're right. The pictures are ridiculous, though the second room is beautiful.

Ridiculous? That's what my rooms look like! I call it lived in

I love it, how is this more silly than some of the catalogs with a strategic pitcher of lemonade?

"Pristine, high-gloss interiors with just a few pieces of furniture and a bucket of spilled legos aren't realistic."

Maybe not, but I grew up in a house with pristine, antiques-and-art-filled rooms with spilled Legos. Mom's interior design skills were no match for my little brother.

That said, it does look awfully silly when catalogs are styled to look deliberately messy. You will find the occasional cat toy on my floor, but that's it. Shouldn't catalogs be more about aspiration than realism? It is part of their appeal, after all.

Okay, it's a little silly in a minimalist upscale apartment. But it's fresh.

well, catalugue pics are per se not realistic, but i like these a lot better than those creepy überpristine ones. i usually find them less than inspiring.

Sometimes it works and sometimes, not so much. The last photo is just surreal but the others are gorgeous. And it makes me feel a little better about my own occasionally less-than-pristine home.

I think rooms that look lived in tend to be more attractive - catalog-perfect rooms look dead.

I especially like the blue bedroom. That one... is almost realistic. But they are all beautiful rooms and I do like the humor of them. Something about a strategic mess makes me laugh a bit, which draws me more to the ads.

Of course, the "mess" on the floor is carefully color coordinated.

Frankly I like that they show and approximation of a lived in space.

Are those marbles? Yes! Those are great on a slick floor.

I think they went to the same school of design that my children went to. I didn't know my living room that looks like a toy box was so trendy! LOL!

I think many of the pictures, with nothing out, tend to look ridiculous. Because no one f'ing lives like that. Or maybe these people don't have "stuff." But I do. I have stuff. And lots of it. And my "stuff" does not include the little tray with a cup & saucer, an apple, a book and a bud vase perched on the corner of my bed. Because I sleep in my bed and crap on my bed is not conducive to me sleeping in it.

I kinda like the unmade bed.

Sometimes it's nice to see lived in, even if it is styled and a bit unrealistic. But I get the writers point, it's slightly ridiculous...

Ridiculous or not, I see what message they're aiming for, marketingwise. "Our furniture is so beautiful, it can make MESS look good. It has such a compelling inherent orderliness that its good design can make MESS look aesthetically pleasing." Clearly, they haven't seen MY messes. : )

i think its distracting and takes away from the products. plus, it makes me want jump in there and tidy up.

I LOVE that blue bedroom. I bet the hypothetical man who lives there is totally hot but totally a playboy. The last one is a little surreal but for me, that's part of the appeal. It's like my cats got in there and dragged the Christmas garlands with them.

and I WANT the bedspread in the very first photo.

I'm with the ones who say this is a campaign for "lived space":)

Of course our stuff on the floor don't look that coordinated, but that's part of the beauty of this being fake lived:P

I like the pictures, are different and more natural. My bed is from this brand (Habitat) and looks so similar than this four-poster bed, but in black wood.

The first photo shows the Foxglove duvet cover - I really like it too! Does anyone know of a source for people in the US (California)? The Habitat website only lists UK stores, and no web stores.

*hands start itching* Must... tidy... rooms...

Some of the stuff seems plausible on the floor, but the turntable is rather puzzling. But to echo the previous posters, since when have any ads been realistic? You want your clean freaks to be really bonkers, come to my place.

I really like them it makes the design seem more obtainable to design n00b like me. My house is constantly in a state of unrest, I can never keep the floor clean, or the bed made, and I am one of those 'crafty' people so my bedroom and living room so I usually have the pieces of sewing project or an art project strewn across the ground when I'm not expecting company.

I love the art direction. Great photography too.

Oh come on! What those messy floors say are "Made you look"! Which is, of course, the point!

I think it's smart. when many people look at a pristine room pictured in a catalog they think "wow, that duvet is great, but there'd be no point for me to buy it because my space will never look that good." the slight messiness allows people to identify with the space, picture themselves in it, and therefore, become more compelled to actually purchase the items depicted. it's slightly more attainable (even if it's in a very false and fabricated manner).

obviously, it will be a turn-off to some people, but it still got your attention, didn't it?

I agree, the messiness here looks a bit staged. I'd say, decorate the rooms in a real home, let the person live in it for a few days and then come back to photograph it in it's natural untidyness. :-)

The turntable throws me for starters, it's missing it's mat and it's also dating back about 30 years too. No one makes that style of stereo anymore but you can find them at thrift stores however.