maybe you've hit a nerve!
i love the globe that is encircled with an antler. THAT is too much!

I have friends who buy everything from the same high end furnishing store and something about their place looks like a showroom but I can't put my finger on it...

wait. what's wrong with fresh flowers, bar carts and le creuset pots???

...I know what it is, the props aren't personal. Our spaces are an extension of ourselves and typically we surround ourselves with tokens that reflect our experiences. Seeing a house full of store bought tokens tell me that you might need to shop less and spend more time experiencing life. Travel! Eat! Spend time with friends and family!

It's a funny article and some of it rings true, but how can fresh flowers be a prop?! Am I the only one that buys them periodically to brighten up my home? I don't see how flowers are trendy just because they happen to appear in photographs of staged rooms.

I think propping works best when it's limited to one or just a couple themes and the collections come together seamlessly.

I think it's the separation of trends that make it seem like a multitude of random collectables than something cohesive.

Also I personally rarely purchase non functional decor, so anytime I need something I try to get something that will also be decorative or unique. By that I mean I would buy a unique/ trendy/ vintage clock because I need a clock anyway...instead of having a display of cool clocks.

If I need a mirror, it can be stylistic, but I don't need 2 or 3 of them (unless I happen to collect mirrors). The more different collections that I see in one place though, the less unique and whimsical each collection becomes. It's like the focus is off or something.

It's a good way to check yourself because there is only so many things you can use. I usually need to have some type of history or personal connection with my purely decorative items, so I guess that lends to my displayed items to be more "authentic"

I'll agree with Duane ... that's one of the things I hate about seeing spaces that are professionally "designed". Too often, the majority of the accessories and "props" are simply there to fill up a space or to go with the theme (ugh) of the room. It is much more pleasing to see a room that is accessorized by things you've collected yourself and that really do reflect the people that actually live in the space.

I read an interesting book called The Authenticity Hoax that I think hits some of the same themes as this article. We're living in a time when people are striving to be authentic -- picking unique vintage props and "curating" them -- yet also painstakingly documenting it all for other peoples' consumption. How authentic can the efforts be when it's all for the praise and approval of others? Clearly it's more nuanced than that, but the overall impact of blogging on or daily lives probably can't even be calculated right now.

I'm also always curious how history will remember this time. When someone throws a 2010's party decades from now, will they mockingly decorate with globes and serve drinks in mason jars?

This is a good post. When we moved it gave us an opportunity to purge things that didn't hold value to use - be it emotional, sentimental or personal taste. And what we were left with are things that we love. Anything our shelves now, represents either a memory/gift, a family token/heirloom or something that represents us b/c we love it. It was interesting b/c when you whittle it down, you're really left with only what truly counts to you.

And much less to dust.

I have an amazing vintage fan that is cool looking, completely silent, and most of all, built to last. It's being used in my bedroom every night. There is nothing wrong with choosing to have a little style. Some things might be cliches, but if they serve a function (even if the function is just that you love to look at it) then other people can mind their own business. Better that we have some accessories that are overplayed than just relying on buying a bed in a bag, or a complete room from a furniture store! It is possible that lots of people just happen to love similar things. It's how you work it into your personal aesthetic that makes it your own.

When everything is about how it looks, instead of being comfortable, working with the owners' lives, being a true expression of their interests.

So many homes nowadays look like store catalogs.

I think it's a prop if it's something that has no relationship to the person that lives there. If it's something you genuinely like or is a souvenir of something, it's not a prop. Kinda reminds me of those make-over shows where they'll redo a room and it looks great afterwards but absolutely nothing in the room means anything to the person that lives there.

I've been thinking a lot about this lately. This post is very timely. I think we're not only artificially styling our homes, we're doing it to our children (bow-ties mini adult clothes) and parties too (photo booths, jars of candies and sweets all labeled and fake mustaches.)

To be authentic these days do we have to stay off line?

I think this site sums it up very accurately.

http://fuckyournoguchicoffeetable.tumblr.com/

Great topic!

I usually snicker under my breath when I see people who "dress their shelves". Where are your real books to put on that bookshelf!?!?!? Maybe if they stopped shopping every day, they'd have time to catch up on their reading. I'm also a professional curator, so the use and abuse of the term 'curating' drives me up the wall! Curating is more than just selecting, people!! It's research, it's preservation, it's putting into context. It's not the same as shopping.

My space is too small to decorate with props. I have art and photographs from my travels on my walls, a few souvenirs, and then everything else has to pull its weight or it can't take up space. I think the heritage home with room to breathe can support props, but a modern open concept apartment? What's the point?

I go by the quote often repeated on AT: "'An object added for effect instead of affection will always look like an affectation."

I always keep this is mind when I add something to my collection of presented crap. Where did I get this? Why did I choose it? What does it mean to me?

That said, I wish I had a collection of globes to display, because I always loved globes and maps and spent a lot of time as a child looking at them and daydreaming. I still do. But I feel like it would still look like an affectation because they're currently so cliched.

Hmm. I remember a time when all my friends' parents seemed to have macrame owls and spider plants. Now, we're the age of Kelly Wearstler who can't leave a horizontal surface blank to save her life.

William Haefeli's New Yorker cartoon "I'm ready to go when you finish fussing with the tablescape" is a good companion to this story.

Apartment Therapy contributes to the "porn" of course. Most of the house tours, for example, feature more close-up photos of personal gewgaws than whole rooms.

Not everything a person chooses to display is a "prop". I have bones, skulls, antlers, minerals, and other "cabinet of curiosities" items displayed because I like them and always have. If the rest of the style world has caught up to me (and is apparently about to move on to something else in the never ending search for stuff-other-people-don't-have), am I supposed to hide all that away?

Props bother me only when they are meaningless to the homeowner or have been purchased to impress. Books arranged by color is an affectation that makes me want to rip them all down and rearrange by subject.

@ERIKAKN, I like your writing.

I think there needs to be a balance of developing your own style and being slavish to trends. Trends can be fun element to your decorating style if you really enjoy something and use them judiciously.

However when I see a place that has the color coded books, cardboard deer heads, succulent terrariums and a chalkboard wall my first impression is that the person living there has no imagination. One or two trendy items - okay - any more than that and it starts to look like you want to make an impression rather create a space that truly reflects who you are.

(says the person that has had a "Keep Calm" poster hanging in her laundry room for four years now....but I LOVE that poster)

Clues you are at risk of over-propping:

-- you use the word "curate" to refer to any aspect of keeping items in your home
-- you have a blog about your home decor
-- you have a vintage typewriter in your home

But I'm of the mindset that any "prop" is an overprop, so my opinion is probably an outlier on this one.

@T Violet. You hit the nail on the head. Propping is too much when it looks like someone else just came and decorated it for you....and it could have been decorated for anyone. In propping there is little to no personal artwork or custom design.

I would HATE to have someone decorate my space. In fact I'm pretty sure I've had nightmares about that. When I do a room for someone (I'm not a designer, but I've been asked to re-do/ paint and design rooms from friends and family) I always get permission to use items they have, whether they are stored, or in another room.

When my parents were out of the country for 3 months they gave me and my sister carte blanche over their house. We sold all of my mother's knick knacks from HSN at a garage sale, and replaced them with their personal items and collectables, including things from when they were young, which we found in the garage and outdoor shed, closets, and drawers. It was so fun to see them walk around when they came back just recalling everything that they "forgot" about or lost, or thought were thrown away.

So often people think only conventionally beautiful things can be used as decoration, so they shove their 6th grade artwork, or their father's 1940's metal pencil sharpener into drawers to make room for store-bought fluff.

Propping is done best when it makes meaningful things beautiful. Arranging them in ways that transforms them from hidden junk to a treasured display. Not when it is manufactored out of thin air, in order to fill space. If it was between having empty space, or empty items, I'll choose the space.

This is a good post and it poses a good question-- one I've pondered a fair bit.

The line between propping and displaying is a fine one that I dance around more or less nimbly. I collect a myriad of disparate THINGS and love to see them around my home. I've never bought or otherwise acquired anything 'trendy' or -- heaven forbid -- from a catalog.

And yet. Sometimes I wonder if I've crossed the line when I count up the bowls of old keys, wall-hung antique plates from Middle-Eastern souks, 1930's pottery, demijohns, vintage textiles, architectural elements, ETC...

I think that at least to be aware of the danger of overload is a step in the right direction.

So I have a dilemma that fits right in with this article - how do people recommend dealing with a decorative item that has personal value but also looks incredibly trendy? I just inherited a portrait of some of my older relatives painted by an artistic family friend. I love the painting and it's well done, but displaying it makes me feel so self conscious knowing that vintage amateur portraits seem to be having a trendy moment. Any thoughts, AT readers?

Basically it is the point where you are just choosing superficial "cool" items to display (and impress others with your "impeccable" taste) or whether you choose genuine items that are meaningful to you, have history, and are going to stand the test of time. I'd rather have 2 or 3 meaningful items than a houseful of trendy trinkets.

I'm having a hard time with this right now. I just went from renting a room, to my own 700 sq ft condo. It looks so empty, but I don't want to just "buy stuff" to fill it up. I want to love each item, but it takes so long to collect. Right now it just looks so bad!

I always have fresh flowers and my Le Creuset pot is hidden in the cabinet with the other pots. Does that count as a prop?

I am guilty of the "Creuset Pot" and "Vintage Fan" sins... But it looks like due to the need to be stylish and absolutely trendy, people fall into the same schemes, such as chevrons (which I do not really like). So, regardless of the variety of options to decorate your house, you end up living like your grandparents, who could only have a few options. So, repetition does not skip generations. In the past, it was the scarcity of it all, now it's the need to be fashionable all the time.

I think it's an issue of how we consider ourselves from third-party perspectives—"over-propping" creeps us, I think, because it renders visible the fact of design effort in what we think is supposed to be a private space (similar to the concerns about people's self-branding in social media spaces). What I think we want, ideally, is a beautiful home that looks "naturally" beautiful, that effaces the marks of the inhabitant/designer's effort. Over-propping feels try-hardy, and try-hardiness is never in style.

Like, I love my mom's interior-design style because her aesthetic is different enough from the trends that it feels personally charming to me that she pursues it so unself-consciously (but it's informed enough by design principles that the result is "objectively" attractive). The reason arranging books by color make me so nuts, by contrast, is the way that it seems to prioritize appearance over actual realistic function.

That article was great, and it led me to track down the tumblr in question ([eff] your noguchi coffee table). I'm certainly susceptible to amateur design obsession—why else would I read AT? :) —so I have to find a balance between loving a sleek uncluttered home and admitting that piles of mail and shoes are more realistic than a vintage library card file turned getabako. Ahem. I also despise many trends out of the gate, and love others but can tell they're going to look super dated super soon. Can we all agree that our mercury glass ___ will look incredibly 2012 in a decade or so?

@ELIZ I have my grandfather's typewriter circa 1920, and it has been a prized possession in my various homes for more than 35 years. I love it and display it with some poetry he typed on it. Trendy? Not for me!

Syllogi -- I say go for it. Hang it up where you can see and enjoy it. If you have some family photos (maybe of the same relatives?) that you can display near the painting, that might take the edge off the trendiness somewhat.

Meanwhile I'm going to keep cooking in the Le Creuset pot I was given as a wedding present.

My son has a La-Z-Boy recliner in his room. I bought it when he was a newborn because it was comfortable for nursing.

Now that he's older I've thought about replacing it with an Eames rocker. My son will hate me for it, but whatevs, it will look so much better when I post photos of his room online.

Good post. I really distrust rooms that are propped. Possibly to a fault - there are never any coffee table books on my coffee table. Sometimes I wish I could arrange all my books artfully in stacks or by color, instead of alphabetically and by subject, spine out like little soldiers.

As many people have said, it's not really about the things themselves (fresh flowers?) but about authenticity. And I think that's why I distrust the over-propped rooms, even when they are beautiful. Using things as props to create an image instead of things which have meaning and function in your life and reflect something about who you are.

I've been cooking with my Le Creuset pans since before many of you were born. They cook wonderfully, though they can be heavy when full and hard to clean. But I use them everyday. They aren't props. The same is true of any collection or object that is part of your life. Things, even trendy things, are only props if they are put out there so that people think you are someone who you are not. Not a reflection of yourself, but a deception.

It's not about the Things, it's about authenticity and deception.

True story of meaningless propping: several years ago I was invited to a brand-new, too-large trophy home in an expensive suburb of San Franciso. It was built in that common mish-mash of pseudo-aristo architectural styles you see all over California, entirely designed to show off. In one room the display cabinets had been filled with "collectible" junk purchased from Franklin Mint. In another was (warning to the sensitive) a collection of blown-glass clowns purchased en-masse from a local gallery. Clowns.

The article brings up another point that many people online seem to be obsessed with "entertaining". I see that on AT whenever someone talks about how to hide the TV or someone else seeing a photo of a room with a TV and how it should be hidden or how the living room should be for conversation and to tuck the TV back in a(n uncomfortable) corner.

You know what? I live by myself and I spend a good chunk of my time in the living room watching (streaming) TV. Why I should I stress about hiding it? Yes, I have plenty of seating so when I do have people over we are all comfortable, but why should I design my life around something that happens a few evenings a month versus something I do everyday? I want my apartment to be functional and look good for me. If a guest happens to like it, great. Most comments I get about my apartment are about how they think it fits me perfectly, and IMO that's about as authentic as I can get.

@SYLLOGI --

There are no easy answers. If it is personally meaningful, display it unselfconsciously. It'll be beautiful.

I often think that the root of the problem is that in our society, few have a grounding in art and design, and so when people want to create interesting environments, they use the only crutches they have available to them, which is to copy what they see in magazines and buy out stores.

It's different in Europe -- just look through the pages of Marie Claire Maison, Skona Hem, and Living Etc., and see the eccentricity and whimsy with which people compose their homes. Those are unique and honest expressions; personal visions of beauty, or personal explorations of the surrounding world. They don't use formulas or checklists; being used to good design, they have an inherent understanding of good composition and visual interests without having to follow a trend.

When we celebrate design, when we appreciate it and make it a natural part of our lives, North American homes will ease up, and look less fake, less like window dressing.

I arrange books by color because this is the most easy way for me to remember where they are. Most of my books have academic titles and it's easier for me to remember were "the blue Martin & Simon" book is than the "The Epistemological Meta-Semantics of North Western Amerind" or something. For my most used books they are arranged by both color and theme. This works for me. I get no visitors so I'm not just doing it for the look lol.

I think the perfect example of this would be when I watched a very famous show recently and once of the people on the show noted that they had to put props on a bookcase in their laundry room. It was a bookcase behind the actual washer/dryer set and they felt the need to put props on the top.
In the grand scheme of things, it is their home, whatever makes them happy. But my first thought was that it would never be seen, so what was the point? It was in a space that had a door that was behind something and you physically would have to walk in, open a door, stick your head in and look up to see these props.
It makes sense if you collect mirrors or globes and you want to show them off. It makes sense if you already own antlers and this is a cool way to show them off, but like the little moss balls put into a bowl on a table...I don't see the point. They cost money, take up space and collect dust. They are nothing more than modern nick knacks

I think that there's a difference between collecting things in order to prop and propping in order to display a collection. If the picture at the top of the post, for example, were from the home of a person who collected interesting globes? Completely fine. If it's from the home of someone who has them because groups of themed objects look great on shelves, that's over propped.

If you buy more than a few items in a single room with a trend in mind, that's over-doing it. If you want your home to be trendy, add a few of-the-moment items to tie together a group of heirlooms, gifts, and unusual finds.

It's like clothing - if you're using your personal taste to flavor fashion, and not the other way around, you're doing it wrong.

To say that "propping" is a new phenomenon is somewhat ridiculous. Did none of you have grandmothers who collected and displayed crystal or dolls? Grandfathers who proudly displayed trophies and medals? True, there are those who hire designers who prop their homes with items that meet a certain design standard but don't play into the interests of the homeowners themselves. Many of us though do much propping around our homes that reflects who we are and where our interests lie.

It's true, the vintage cameras on my bookshelves are not being used to shoot a weekend adventure, but I love taking photographs, some of these were my father's and others I've collected over the years. Even if vintage camera collections became "chic", these would still reflect who I am. This article did a poor job distinguishing between propping done with intention and that done because it was popular or seen on a design site.

I love what littlemisssunshine said: "Propping is done best when it makes meaningful things beautiful." I agree with most of the commenters on objets that truly reflect what the owner cherishes. I went to the site mentioned from tumblr, and while some of it was funny, some also just seemed spiteful. Though I guess it underscores the point that one person's prop is another person's treasure, and vice versa.

I must add, though, that bar carts remind me of soap operas. Until it became such a trend, I don't think I ever saw a bar cart in a real person's home. Bar, maybe...

SYLLOGI-

Take the painting to a custom picture framer. Go to an independent shop, not an arts & crafts store like Michael's and pick out a really beautiful frame for the painting.

It will look different from the trendy thrift store portraits because those usually have crappy frames on them.

Treat the painting with respect and you'll be proud to display it.

Yes, I agree with the people saying it depends on the intent. I collect vintage toasters, have for probably 30 years. My collection is considerably paired down and I don't buy as many these days but what I do have I display on shelves on the middle landing of our stairs. Seemed the perfect place for them but to the person who might not know me it might seem "propped". My boyfriend and I also drag home all sorts of iron parts from our walks down the railroad tracks and display those. They're oddly beautiful with their dents and rust pocks. We know where fields of glass slag and industrial marbles are where the manufacturers just dumped them over the years and have a bunch of that around the house as well, but it's personal, mementos of our long walks, trekking around the abandoned spaces where we live. Yes I share pictures of these things with friends, but because "OMG, look what I dug out of a ditch along the tracks" not "Look how cool I am." I grew up without a lot of money so was hitting thrift stores for decorating ideas long before it was trendy and I'll continue to do so should the trend pass.

This article made me chuckle just a bit. I must admit, I do have a couple of the items listed in the article, but these are items that I love and have owned for many years. I do not consider them "props" in my home, they are cherished items that make me smile.
With that said, I do think that many of the AT house tours focus too much on peoples STUFF rather than showing us readers the entire rooms. Many people come check out the house tours to get ideas on how to arrange their furniture, not to look at someones "hip" collection of globes. Seems like the house tour posts should be called "Hey look at my cool stuff!".

Any collection of objects you genuinely love = great.

Any collection of stuff you think is trendy that's just there to fill space = props.

The difference is all in how it reflects your personal, individual style.

@Syllogi -- Hang the painting where you like it best and proceed to thoroughly enjoy it. Who are these people you are letting into your house who are such strangers to you that they would assume you'd acquire an item because it's "trendy" and not because you love it? I'd say keep the painting and trim down your invitation list.

Oh, and I'll confess that I color-shelve my books -- but only very loosely (warm colors over there, cool colors over there). Honestly I find it as good a method of finding my books as any other, as I tend to remember what the covers look like, but will never be organized enough to shelve by topic, author or any other sensible content-driven reason.

Friends who see my apartment for the first time say two things: "This fits you perfectly," and then, as they sit in the big wing chairs in the dining-nook-turned-library examining the books and items on the shelves while I make lattes, they say, "It's like being in a museum!" I reply, "Yes, if the museum were a combination of the libraries at Trinity College, the Smithsonian, and the Museum of Jurassic Technology." If that's over-propping, I'll let someone else worry about the fate of my style ratings. I'm happy amid all my favorite things!

Sometimes I wonder if the reason we see a lot of vignettes on AT and fewer full rooms is because the rooms aren't actually perfectly styled (which is not a big deal). The notable pictures are of the moments that are perfectly styled. Otherwise there are people leaving comments saying, "I like the left bookshelf but that right bookshelf is looking very sparse."

And I don't think it's so wrong to have an animal trophy or a bar cart. Maybe you don't hunt but you kind of have a rugged side, or maybe part of you likes to lay down on the couch and imagine hosting glamorous cocktail party. If you put it there because you thought it was cool, then it still reflects who you are even if it doesn't perfectly reflect the lifestyle you live. We were allowed to have race car beds and dress up like princesses as kids, and no one called us self-conscious then. Why can't we have a home that lives a little, even when we're aware that we don't?

@AKAY - Thanks for the book link! I liked your comment and I'll definitely check that out.

@ELIZ - I have a vintage typewriter that I found at a thrift store. But I love writing and my dream as a child was to be a writer. So to me it reminds me my younger years when I did use one b/c my parents couldn't afford a computer and I typed all my school assignments on it. It reminds me of how far I've come. That and I'm a second hand store junkie. Which is another post altogether.

@SYCAMOREKATY - thanks for that link!

I think that sometimes people tend to be excessive in their "collections" and it can become unattractive. For example, I've seen on AT photos of tiny apartments with collections of typewriters, toasters, telephones that take up a lot of space and don't really have any purpose other than to look at. I suppose books would be one of the exceptions as they can also be enjoyable to read. I think it's wise to decorate with a bit of restraint rather than going heavy-handed. 'Wish I could do a better job in that regard. ;-)

As people have stated previously, it isn't about the objects themselves as much as it is their meaning in our lives. No one should feel defensive because they own and love and use something that happens to be popular at the moment.

Refusing to decorate with a favorite color or pattern, or to display or use something you love because it is currently trendy might be worse than choosing those items merely because they are on trend. Do I cringe a little at the overabundance of matryoshkas lately? Sure, a little. But I won't stop loving and displaying the dolls I grew up with as representational of my Russian heritage. And it would be silly to hide my great-grandmother's beautiful art just because thrifted oil paintings are on all the design blogs this month. If a random person doesn't think I'm a special enough snowflake because they don't know these things are part of my authentic experience and life, so what? With all the actual problems available to me, I hope I never let the remote possibility that someone will think something I do or like is passe influence my choices.

And I think they could have chosen some more egregious props for that article than excellent cookware and fans that still work. And the fresh flowers get mocked, but not the crazy mirror above them?

Great post and topic for debate. What an interesting paradox brought up by AKAY above- while we strive for authenticity, we are also documenting our search for it through "liking" things on Pinterest, keeping blogs about our own homes, etc... essentially just perpetuating a cycle of more consumerism and fetishism.

Decorating is one of my favorite hobbies, and my desire to create beautiful spaces in my home definitely stems from a sincere place, as I'm sure is true of many other people. But I do agree that all the 'props' should ideally be meaningful to you, whether they're produced en masse or not.

One trend that really bugs me lately: gratuitous taxidermy. If I see another one of those faux white deer heads or antlers or owls or whatever (which I used to like, when they were new a few years ago) I think I'll puke.

My mom still has the globe I used as a kid and my granddaughter loves spinning it while I point out countries that have changed names or disappeared since then. Also handy for "where would you travel" games. When I had a used book store I was thrilled to finally get rid of a huge pile of Reader's Digest hardcover books, sold to a local watering hole to fill shelves in imitation of an old fashioned library. They liked the look of the vaguely classical maroon and gold spines. It always cracked me up to think of those things posing as literature.

Okay, from the article: “People act like they’re always being watched. Even their house is a performance.” THIS p**sed me off! I love decorating and playing with my space, and I don't do it for anyone except ME.

I read this article once and immediately dismissed it as just another annoying hipster article designed to shame people for not living their lives the "correct" way.

What about me? I hate stuff. Hate it. Avoid it like the plague and am purposely minimalist because otherwise I'd have to clean all the crap. So I can read articles like this and feel all superior, but what about in ten years when everyone says, "Can you believe that people used to have owls all over their house? I hate stuff, avoid it like the plague..."

And then I'll be trendy! Gah!

This article is spot on. I'm not sure at what point it became trendy to accessorize a coffee table, full of books, vases, etc. My entire life our coffee tables were used for setting things on when we were sitting at the sofa. If one was reading a book it was perfectly acceptable to have it there. Maybe a few recent magazines. Books for display and of no use? Nope. If it's full of junk where you do put the coffee cup? It's literally in the name of the furniture!
Personally I like the white owls at West Elm, but I would never buy one just to have something "go" in my space. I'd buy it because I like it.
I do take issue with a Barcelona chair being a cliche, though. I've always loved those, long before I knew they had any sort of cache.

Some trendy items are merely trendy; some are trendy because they're classics enjoying a moment, but will remain classics thereafter. (Barcelona chair = classic. White cardboard deer heads = trendy.) The current hipstery obsession with certain items looks a bit twee, but for people who have chosen items out of love, they'll find new ways to decorate with them as styles change. Whereas a lot of white cardboard deer heads have a future at the landfill.

I don't think we should judge others on their style. I consider myself a minimalist and I have been given a hard time for not having a enough stuff in my apartment. I buy and decorate with what I like. It's no ones business how I decorate my place and it's not my business or anyone else's business on how anyone else chooses to decorate their place.

It's not a prop if you love it and/or use it!

I used to love to prop. Now I view all that stuff as merely more to dust. Even my books have been whittled down to a treasured few. I download them now instead, or use my local library. The things in my place now that seem proppish to me are the things that my husband enjoys. He's worth dusting for. Of course, fresh cut flowers are a wonderful treat, not a prop. Was the author of this piece male, by any chance?

The thing is-irate distaste for these overdone items is also a symptom of shelter-porn sickness.

When everything begins to look the same to you, just know its time to take a break from AT, Design Sponge, etc. and watch some Neil deGrasse Tyson interviews or whatever your equivalent is.

I think as long as people choose what they truly love and build their material life slowly, the sense of 'over-propping' is easily avoided.

If it makes you happy, then go for it. Life is too short to care what other people think about your home decor.

@hethyr, my TV is in a cupboard not because I care if anyone thinks a TV looks good or not, but because it makes turning on the TV a concious decision - I don't want to spend my life watching TV just because it's there, so I'd rather only have it switched on when I specifically want to watch something. My living room's about living, not about watching TV.

I find it funny how many people have come in trying to defend their nick nacks...the "I have a vintage X but I do like to X". It's fine if you have those things but that NEED to try and defend what you put in your home to anons on a decorating blog is proving this blog's point. Everyone else's opinion of someone's stuff matters WAY too much these days...not to mention the constant need of the internet masses for approval and validation drives this kind of behavior. Why are people in this thread even worrying that their beloved items may be labled trendy?

Being "quirky" and "unique" has become super formulatic like the ever expanding "indie-esque movie" genre. Just find some random items that your standard person would consider junk and some feminine/masculine/overly cute additions in juxtipostion equals appothcary jars with bones and a pink bow on etsy. In the case of movies: ackward couple + problems that aren't really problems in a city no one cares about is indie gold. If you like your cardboard deer head fine...honestly I think they're cute but if you only bought it so your chevron wall will be complete in time for your blog update? ....probably propping but hey...at least all these proppers can compare how well their originality ranks to identical rooms on rival blogs.

one more thing...please stop the pigeon toed, hipster pics of heart hands...it's not as cute and ironic as you think

*end rant*

I'm guilty of having many vintage items in my little flat. I have a wardrobe and bed that were my Grandparents when they first got married, a number of little statues and such that my Grandparents (again) collected in their travels, a beautiful silky oak dining suite that they bought for their forever-home (my Grandma has passed away and Grandad lives in a flat smaller than mine, so now I have it for my own forever-home), a vintage typewriter that was in Grandad's home office right up until he got a newer electronic one (which he still uses). I have vintage table linens purchased in France - back when they were new - that have never been used (because my Grandma bought multiple, smart woman), and a Royal Albert dinner set. These will all be displayed when I have a home with a kitchen and all the boxes of my crap aren't stored on top of the table. The rest of my furniture is from chain stores. Cheap ones, because as a student, that's all I can afford. The falling-apart vintage Keats and Shakespeare are the same ones my great-grandmother, grandmother, mother and aunts and uncles used for school - as did I. The thing I worry about most these days is that when people see these things, they think I have them because they are trendy - not because they remind me of family Christmas dinners, or of sitting on Grandad's lap as he typed.

@millislim. So true....the guilty people defending their crap on here are too funny

Wasn't there an episode of 'Friends' about an obsession with Pottery Barn. If it's stuff that's likely been in a catalog or 'As Seen on AT', is that copy propping?

Guilty of one on the list; a small light bulb pencil sharpener. Not a flower buyer, but I'll defend them; better than some dusty fake blooms from Michael's. The big prop problems I see are the urge to go out and look for more, the feeling they ALL have to be out at once (vs rotate them now & then) and the sometimes h*ll bent need to make something 'work' when it comes home and sadly, it won't.

All the Saarinen reminds me of the dinette set on the old Dick Van Dyke show, but remember, the room divider next to it was full of kitschy props.

If you love it, you love it. Don't worry about it! Will I look back on 2012 and remember it as the time I was super trendy and overly concerned with what people thought of my home? Maybe. Mostly I'll remember how pretty everything was and that's totally okay with me.

Thank you for this article. Finally something on AT that is thought provoking and more than eye candy (though I love eye candy and that's why I visit this site daily). I'm fascinated by the effect the internet, and what I'll call interior overdecorating-oversharing (that includes oversharing what's in your home and the interior of your head/stomach, etc. - via tumblr/twitter/facebook), has had on everyday folks. I was just talking to my boyfriend about this very thing the other day. We're both mid-30s and were marveling at how advertising and just about every motif in pop culture (aside from those promoting things like Taco Bell) seem to be reflective of this over-articulated cutesy/Wes Anderson/Etsy/Amateur chic that we lived through in its early form in the late 90s-early 2000s (and have since outgrown and find somewhat repulsive). Were our parents, who were in their early 30s in the early 80s, aware of the same trend? Were commercials for Sears bedroom sets in 1984 shot in front of a backdrop of yachts and with a soundtrack by Loggins & Messina? Is it just that advertising execs are now my "peers" and therefore it is natural to assume their love for Zooey Dechanel-esque baby-voiced girls strumming ukuleles (blech) would surface in TV commercials for everything from Target to Home Depot? Yes, probably, and I should just calm down. Judging by the ads in my vintage magazine collection (that is in a box in the closet and not propped, thank you!), 60s counterculture/art had an impact on mainstream advertising - think Peter Max-inspired Maybelline ads and taglines like "tune in, turn on, drop out" used for everything from stockings to sport coats. OK so this is not new, but why does it bug me so much?? (excellent book on the topic: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0226259919)

Perhaps I'm digressing here, but even with the knowledge that this has been happening since the dawn of advertising, I still worry about the effect this has on the idea of "authenticity". If that even exists anymore. Well, people certainly want it to exist, and strive for it. However, the distance between something that is a "new trend" and something that is a "tired fad" has shrunk considerably thanks to people's ability to immediately post their every thought, whim and fantasy (pinterest!) on the internet - and in return for others to consume these ideas and frantically try to make them their own before the next big thing comes along. The ping-ponging, back and forth of it all seems to compress the time frame for just about everything in pop culture - decades become years, years become months, and seriously - there are "memes" across the internet that have a shelf life of something insane like a single week! What happens when we finally collapse into ourselves? Will we find that the only thing left is a black room with a sheet over a window and a bag of garbage in the corner with a solo harmonica warbling in the distance? Should I forget about the midcentury credenza and instead invest in a blindfold and a set of noise canceling headphones? Maybe it truly is time to leave the house/computer for a few hours and actually experience the world around us. But if we find a few branches and a rusty railroad spike on our nature walk, it's OK to put them on a bookshelf next an owl figurine and take a photo for our blogs, right??

A lot of these comments read as defensive, not to mention sanctimonious. Nobody's typewriter collection is more authentic than anyone else's. You are not a better person because every object in your domicile is functional or imbued with deep, personal meaning. If these things makes you feel happy, great. If they make you feel superior, get over yourself.

This article is wrong about Apartment Therapy, IMHO. AT shows more homes that are personal, comfortable, lived in, and stylish without being styled.

Article sounds snobby, too ~ a bar cart can be practical, especially in a small space. Who's to say that it's only appropriate for the Park Avenue set? And who are you to have fresh flowers!?

As for typewriters, I remember when people who weren't ever going to spin had antique spinning wheels as decor. Displaying a typewriter today is similar ~ a bit of old tech that is pleasing and inspiring.

Also, back in the day when people were supposedly less pretentious, there were those who pored over design magazines. Do we know that design blog readers are a larger percentage of the general population? Perhaps to a point, but this article makes the past sound design-ingenuous and free of pretention. Hardly!

I am not a fan of vignettes, but this article was not persuasive to me, even when I agreed in principle,

The NYT article reads as slightly tongue in cheek to me, and I think we benefit by infusing our outlook on the world of design, art, marketing, etc with a touch (or a lot) of humor. Not to say I don't take design seriously, but the ability to laugh at your design self really mitigates the social pressure of keeping up with the hipsters. The "I was there" attitude is as exhausting in home decor as it is in fashion and music. If you have some items in your home that are currently popular, so what? And so what if you bought them because they're popular? Or they're recently declared "over". Own it! The idea of authenticity in design is so subjective. Does the exercise of contemplating authenticity when styling a room detract from that authenticity, ironically? Maybe, but let's not over think it. Surround yourself with what you need and/or love, and can reasonably afford, and you'll be okay.

I recently bought three vases from crate and barrel for the dining room table, the items have no meaning to me, other than they add a previously lacking balance and look pretty. If/when I change the dining decor, I may exchange the vases (maybe for a vintage typewriter with the evening's freshly typed menu popping up? a terrarium of herbs used for the complementary cocktails I make on the adjacent bar cart?). But for now the vases work, and I reserve the right to change my mind at any point, whether due to trends, travels, a change in income, a gift that works better there, personal enlightenment, a new idea seen on a design blog, or any other reason we change our personal, home and life styles. And if I were to post pictures of my dining room throughout the years, who's to know which iteration is more "authentic"? It's a table with stuff on it...an awesome table with awesome stuff put together in an aesthetically pleasing way because I have great style and I care about these things...but all it really says about me is that I have those things, not what those things mean to me.

I've really enjoyed reading everyone's thoughtful comments & reflections on this issue. I am also fascinated/repelled/fascinated by Internet culture. Thanks AT readers!

Very proud of my I one vintage globe, which was my husband's from grade school, back in the late 1950s.

Used to keep it in my office, because it was a great conversation piece. Colleagues would love to look at the countries -- like French Indochina, and a slew of African countries that have been renamed, many times over.

I love this discussion. There are too many of you to agree with (ERIKAKN, ELIZ, AKAY. . . The Authenticity Hoax sounds like a good read - thank you). I think putting props in your home, or even on yourself and your children (e.g. kids dressed like adults) is a sad symptom of the state of our culture: people are lacking in identity. People don't know who they are anymore, so they look to everything around them for an answer. Social media, their clothes, their cars, their homes. . . They don't know what they think, like, or believe, so they need all theses things to give them a sense of identity. "Propping" in your home is just one way in which people do this.

That said, I love looking at beautiful things. There's nothing inherently wrong with material things, or with things that are aesthetically pleasing. Is it nice to drive a nice car, or wear nice clothes, or have a nice home? Yes, of course! But when these things become a costume you have a problem.

I think "distressing" furniture irks me the most (organizing your books by color is a close second). Painting something and then taking a piece of sand paper to the edges is so utterly pretentious and ridiculous (I don't know that I've ever seen it on AT, but it's all over design blogs). Unless you're quite literally the prop master at a theatre, you have no business "distressing" furniture.

The thing about looking at homes online is that you often can't see how it connects to the homeowner. What you do see is how many people have the same taste, to the point that it can become sickly. eg the "keep calm and carry on" poster that I loved the first time I saw it, but never bought because I kept seeing it everywhere to the point that all the soul was leeched out of it.

Do I have a point to this ramble? Nope!

I love this article. So timely. I've been struggling with this for a bit. I quit blogging awhile back and stopped browsing blogs other than AT because I'm tired of it all.

Its just all so forced! People throw parties with fake mustaches, photo booths and all that to be trendy and hip. There is nothing authentic about any of it and most people seem to be trying too hard to fit this new mold.

Reminds me of that scene in "I love you, Man", where Paul Rudd's character is talking with that asshole guy, and the asshole guys explains that he only has a piano in the house because the decorator put it there.
Authenticity for the win, every time

This was an interesting article ... Sometimes I get so mad how vintage items & propping has gotten so trendy ... I have been enjoying old typewriters & fiestaware since using them at my grandmothers house when I was young ive been collecting yard sale finds & antiques since I was old enough to shop ... A lot of those items adorn my house now I get inspiration from design blogs from time to time to think of new ways to display them but the truth is a lot of pieces in my home are from my grandmother & other family members &hold more meaning then just "looking cool" & I'll still hold on to tha same aesthetic long after its trendiness wears off.

What I find funny is most people post comments against propping and state a lack of authenticity, culture defining an aesthetic instead of people finding their own, etc....to which I agree, however this website, AT, is the worst offender of them all. It's like the predictable knitting, craft brew drinking, pickling hipster who has skinny jeans, converse sneakers, bedhead, fixed gear bikes, etc. who doesn't like being called a hipster. So boring.

This article and the comments gave me pause. I see a lot of young people that "style" and "prop" their entire lives--everything being staged and photographed for maximum cute and cool points. This is a weird trend that I have a hard time relating to, but seems an inevitable consequence of sites like Pinterest and Tumblr.

It also seems that everyone has become hyper aware of design and how their interior spaces represent them to the larger world. I dont think this is necessarily a bad thing. For those of us that love design it just means more opportunities to peer into the private spaces of others. This freedom to gawk will inevitably inspire some copycatting.

I too have a blog about my home and my interests, however, it is anything but picture perfect or trendy...it's more of a journal to keep myself engaged in the home improvement process.

I used to think books-by-color was a twee affectation, but then I did it, and not only did it look amazing, it was by FAR easier to find my books. When I look for a book, the first thing I think is "What does it look like?" -- having them arranged by color helped me hone in so much faster.

What's the alternative, home Dewey Decimal?

Plus it made me smile with pleasure every. single. time. I saw it.

Sure, it's sad to "design" a home which doesn't feel personally meaningful. But unless you're the person whose home it is, how can you tell by looking if the things are meaningful or not?

OK, now I actually read the article. I agree with the premise in the title, but really. People with typewriters on tables too small to use them? What if they simply love the way old typewriters look? Would a person come into my office and judge me for my antique camera collection, without knowing (or caring) that I spent my whole childhood messing with film cameras and darkrooms, and collected the cameras across 2 continents? How about the 1950s space age canister vac tucked under a sideboard, something my totally interior-design-ignorant husband rescued from his grandmother's estate a decade before he ever heard of AT? Or my stuffed (toy) zebra head that I bought on a whim during Christmas in Vienna, which lived in our home office for years? Should I stop doing what makes me happy because somebody else decided it is a tired trend?

All that matters about a home is how it makes the people who live there feel.

If people are insecure in their tastes and so they copy what they see, so what? That's how everybody starts. If they're proud of their first little forays, so what? Why shouldn't they be? If they moved up from buying whatever was cheapest at Wal-Mart and bought something "trendy" and vintage instead, just because it's nice to look at, how is that bad? Or if somebody is so rich that they pay a stranger to do it for them… what if they simply don't care?

Nothing wrong with looking at their photos and saying "Too cold for me" or "Do they really live there?" -- but a NYT piece? Mountain out of a molehill.

Plus this is just ignorant:

“Even my grandparents went out and bought the same lamps as their neighbors,” she said. “The difference was, they weren’t trying to be awesome. They were just trying to get lights in their house.”

Yes, our generation invented decorative items and the desire to be proud of their home. Totally. Awesome. No generation before cared about what other people thought of their stuff. Certainly not the Victorians who invented and perfected mass production and knick-knack rooms and "vignettes" which were, in fact, whole rooms. Not the people who made totally trendy and over-propped neogothic, neo-tudor, neo-georgian, blah de blah blah houses in ahistorical contexts. Certainly not the guy who invented the first home furniture catalog (hello, Chippendale, name sound familiar?).

No wonder the newspaper business is dying.

self-concious: uncomfortably conscious of oneself as an object of the observation of others : ill at ease

prop: something used in creating or enhancing a desired effect <buy books … as cultural props because they want to appear literate — John Powers>

like: to feel attraction toward or take pleasure in : enjoy

authentic: not false or imitation : real

If you display something because it is useful and/or gives you enjoyment, it is authentic in the sense that it is not pretentious. Contrary to what the materialistic world would have us believe, a cheap souvenir often has priceless value.

Ask yourself this question....would you rather display an original painting by a master valued at millions? or a dollar store trinket that brings back memories of a glorious day spent with loved ones? Now go back & read the definition of 'self-concious'

And if you're concerned about displaying a piece you like because others might think you 'trendy', go back & read the defintion of 'authentic'. And get real. Disiplay that piece and enjoy it. Don't worry about what others think.

And finally, if the article struck a nerve, you might want to re-examine WHY you do what you do. Life's too short...

MILLISLIM, EDMUNDD, CWARREN, and others: I agree. I have to admit I see a lot of self-conscious comments on sites like AT. Like "I got this vintage scarf at [enter exotic travel locale here.] I keep my history books near my collection of [insert obscure author, but not obscure enough to be unknown.] I've been collecting [item] since I was [early age.] My friends see my place and say [self-congratulatory remark.] I have an [awesome/amazing/incredible] [vintage object] and I like it no matter if it's trendy." I myself am guilty of that last one.

On a slightly different note, I can't be the only one tired of quirky, cutesy, ironic, etc. design. So many house tours are so similar I can't help but think certain design aspects have become cliched, no matter how "authentic."

This post is food for thought and the comments were a great read as well. What I dont get is the hate for colour coded books. As a visual person, its SO much easier for me to find the book Im looking for when theyre arranged by colour, and I see that a few of the commenters agree with me on that.

My husband is a history teacher and collects historical artifacts, newspaper articles etc. He builds shadow boxes and picture frames to display them in our home and uses them in the classroom. They are not props if the items are a genuine interest and get touched more than just to dust them.

Nothing should be in your home that you do not love and have a use for. Beyond that it's just hoarding and narcissistic consumerism.

Why are we so afraid of a bare wall or surface? The eye requires some rest between items. Arranging your loved posessions creatively is fine, purchasing items to make your home express an interest you do not have is... wasteful.

As for books, color coding or alpha order, if you buy a book not to read, but so that your guests think you've read it, that's also ... sad.

I don't get anything sat out that isn't there for a use or because a person really loves it. Like the globes in the photo - what's the purpose? One globe gets the job done. Homes were meant to be lived in, not be a museum.

@Hethyr -- You hit the nail on the head. People are too obsessed about what any random guest might think. I honestly don't give a damn if someone has a problem with my TV sitting in the open or the fact we recently located both mine and the husband's computers (along with desks) into the living room which also houses the biggest TV we own. It's comfortable for how we live and people we know realize and mention that. I could go through the entire place and set it up perfectly with the desks in the spare room, hide the TV in an armoire, add seating, etc.....but why should I? If I count the desk chairs (though one is from the dining set), we can seat at least seven in our living room. That's not counting the other three chairs in the kitchen, the chair and tiny ottoman in the other room, or the small chair (old dining chair) that I keep in the bedroom......any of which could be brought into the living room if for whatever reason we had so many extra guests.

To me the funny thing about this article is pretending that people didn't always want to show off their houses. My mom sure did, she had pictures, and cases of crystal and wedding china and all that stuff. Her mom had a bar pantry that was full of bottles and glasses and stuff from the old country. I guess they were "amateur stylists" but I would imagine it's been that way since the industrial revolution.

Since when is being called trendy the worst thing anyone could conceive of? Not every thing in everyone's home has to be The Most Original Thing I Just Thought Up Myself. So, I have a chevron shower curtain and a terrarium. In a few years, I probably won't. And the world will have continued turning, unaffected.

I think the critical issue is this: are you decorating to please yourself or some fussy phantom sophisticated guests?

If you knew absolutely nobody else would ever come into your home except for you and those with whom you now live -- would you keep everything you have, ditch some thing, replace something???

If what you have, you have because YOU love it, no matter what is going on with trends, that's cool. (It's cool even if you were inspired to have that thing because of design porn.)

However if you obtain stuff because "snobby Aunt Beth will be SO jealous that *I* have this" then you are over the edge and need to back off, gently! ;^) If you buy classic authors in pretty bindings because some imaginary someone will assume you are an intellectual when you really love cozy murder mysteries, you are over the edge. (Anyhow, wouldn't you rather have a great argument with someone about a book you really are passionate about than pretend to be a fan of Tolstoy when you aren't??)

Decorate to please yourself. People who like you will like your decor too. Who cares about people who *don't* like your decor??

Ooof.

When I first got my place I was embarrassed to decorate with personal things instead of art I bought. I guess I felt like real grown-ups naturally WANTED and ended up with an apartment that was full of these "propped" things, and if I didn't, I wasn't grown up enough.

i am definitely guilty of pinning everything from the fuckyournoguchicoffeetable tumblr because i love it and not because i'm in on the joke. but in my home, i try to remove all of the non-functional items. if it does something, i want it to look cool and stylish. but if it doesn't do anything other than sit there (like prop magazines, decorative letters, antlers), then it's gotta go.

but even then, aspiring to minimalism and worshipping at the altar of function is as trendy and inauthentic as propping.

Pah. Sneering looks like it is better than being naff, but actually sneering is too easy and being unashamedly naff is much more satisfying and brave.

I have Cole & Son Woods wallpaper behind my telly because it looks like Narnia back there, and so what if it 'jumped the shark'. It's Narnia. Behind the telly. What's not to love.

Life used to be nasty, brutal and short, and for most people round the world it still is. Stop cringing and enjoy your terrarium. It is an accidental privilege of your birth.

to prove the over-propped point
http://unhappyhipsters.com/

When I was growing up in the 1950's (before most of you readers were born) a lot of the houses of my friends' parents looked pretty similar. They seemed to all have lots of teak, low--slung furniture, rya rugs (sort of long-tufted rugs with Scandinavian designs) lots of Marrimekko printed fabric, and the like. These people were not big entertainers, as most of them worked full-time (even the women, even then!), but there was a uniformity to decorating. So I think we're being a bit harsh regarding the current styles. I agree with ILOVESUSHI who says to "stop cringing and enjoy your terrarium" because, indeed, home life is something to be treasured.

Go "ILOVESUSHI"! I love pretty things and if I think it's pretty only because I've seen it a few hundred times on Pinterest, whatever! Lots of things are interesting, pretty, different. Getting to try them out and see how you like living with them is where all the fun is. It's no different now than in the 70's when I grew up with macrame and owls and shag except that now we can enjoy it and deride it simultaneously! Ahh, good times!