Small Aspirations...do you share them??

I tend to purchase my fair share of home decor magazines each month. A few like Country Home, Canadian Home and Country and House and Home are usually in my cart (among others), and Country Living usually has a very good chance of making it in there, but usually garners a quick glance-through first. Although it goes head to head with Country Home on the stands, it falls short sometimes. Personally, I have a lot of favourites over at Country Home (uhmm...can you take a guess...???) and one is the outgoing editor, Carol Sheehan, whose editorials I am so going to miss now that she is retiring. In fact, I feel obliged to dedicate an entire post about her and will do so later in the week.

I was, however, more than enticed to pick up the current issue of Country Living this month with its delightful pink cupcakes gracing the cover ...tantalizing me with their pink confection. Also, this month features the Country Living House of the Year and I never miss that one! Sigh...while it is indeed a beautiful home, I felt rather deflated that it was, again,a home that most of us could only ever dream of. Of course, I am not so naive as to think that they are going to showcase a tiny lacklustre home, but I was discouraged at the outright unattainablity of it. Everything high end, custom...perfect. Lots to love, but I was left with a plaintive voice in my head asking, "Why??"

Why do magazines almost never show us pictures of realistic homes? Sure, they definitely profile smaller-scale homes (and they consider 1800 sq ft quite small), but they are usually cottage-style homes that would fit perfectly in the Cotswolds of England. Again, full of architectural character and charm, perhaps rebuilt with 100% salvaged materials to retain the historical authenticity of the home...and we all know that isn't the cheap way to go about it (no matter what the homeowners say)!! Indeed, I am disheartened with never being shown a basic home that has been built in this decade (and not built to replicate the homes of yesteryear) that is simply decorated well. Not all of us can afford to install soapstone countertops, hand-hewn ceiling beams, reclaimed flooring, "walk-through" fireplaces... Why, some of us actually buy all of our building materials at places like Home Depot as opposed to being chuffed that we actually found suitable kitchen cabinets there...feeling like we found a shiny new nickel amongst a pile of pennies! For many of us, building centers are often our only source for materials.

Yes, I guess I am asking the question, "Are the homes that many of us live in so unappealing that they can never be deemed fit for print?" I understand the need to aspire to bigger and better-similar to preferring to see fashion models wearing haute couture instead of sneakers and Keds, but surely a little dose of reality wouldn't actually hurt anyone? I mean, we can keep it to one a year... that's tolerable, right? I know I can take the dose of normalcy. In`fact, I think it would actually be quite refreshing for the reader...and perhaps a bit trailblazing for the magazine(s) that takes on the challenge. For the record, I know some of you will be able to recall a featured house or two that actually might fit the criteria, but honestly, didn't you have to think about it for a while?? I know I had to!

In fact, I would love to hear your opinion on the topic: would you be content to see a basic home that was dressed up pretty as a package, but not your typical grand (expensive) home?? Let me know...who knows, maybe someone with the power to effect the change will be reading and your door just might get knocked on...!!! So, speak up and be heard!!! I'll be listening...

My daughter's dollhouse: definitely small and cute...