C l a r i M i c h e l e

In a perfect world, pinterest elves would transform my house into a meticulously clean, curated, pulled together, hipster paradise. But the reality is my life is messy, the budget is limited, and my cats are bound to destroy the items I invest in. And you know what? Sometimes I like generic boring crap. Sometimes picture-perfect design choices are a pain in the butt to deal with, and so I go back to easy breezy boring. But that doesn’t mean I have to stop ogling beautifully impractical rooms, and pinning each and every photo. Even though I know we aren’t meant to be together, these designs will always have a piece of my heart. ❤

low beds

top left // top right // lower left // lower right

Don’t these beds look fun? I’m saving these photos for if I ever have a teenager, and don’t want to spend money on a bed for them. “Just sleep on the floor. It’s cool, see?!”

I’m a pretty short person, so you’d think sleeping on a low bed wouldn’t be a problem for me. But after sleeping on an air mattress for a month when we moved, and then on this bed of disappointment, I can tell you it’s not for me.I got tired of tripping over it, and feeling like I was laying on the floor.

plants

  –  via

I love plants, and I wish I could keep them alive. But the truth is, the second I bring them home their days are numbered. The cats eat them or knock them over, and I can’t seem to revive them. Here’s a look at a few of the recent victims.

~ RIP ~

Actually, the orchid is still holding onto life, but most of the leaves are dead so I’m about ready to give up hope.

cute stuff on coffee table

For those of you achieving greatness in the coffee table department, I salute you! You’ve probably curated a collection that looks something like the below.

via

Sigh… “Somethings Living” = automatic fail for me. As much as I like the idea of displaying cute stuff on the coffee table, it’s just not me. I’m not this glam, and plus we eat a lot of meals in the living room, so the coffee table has to have space to put food on it. I just tell people I’m into minimalism.

long curtains

It used to be my dream to have floor to ceiling curtains, but now I’d opt out if privacy/blocking the summer sun weren’t an issue.

via

Those lovely curtains would just turn into dust bunny city in my house. 😥 And I know I wouldn’t have them cleaned often enough, or at all – let’s be real.

I try to downplay curtains by tucking them behind furniture during the day. Mostly because I broke all the curtain rules when I put them up (not hung high enough, not long enough). Oh well. Since I’d rather not have curtains at all, I didn’t see the point of investing in longer panels. That’ll do pig, that’ll do.

tv-free living room

It’s apparently frowned upon to have a soulless tv screen in your home if you care about design. If you are too weak to live without one, it’s important to detract attention from it by displaying designer-approved items around it.

Sarah Sherman Samuel

I would really like to succeed in this area, and have sort of made an effort.

Eh, it’s a work in progress.

So what about you guys? Any design trends or standards that you don’t feel like living up to?