Truth Behind the Photo Returns

It’s been a scary long time since we last shared a truth behind the photo post, almost a year!  We used to love this feature, in which we show a little bit of what is going on behind the scenes of our pretty photos.  Like everything on the internet, we try to display our projects and renovations in the best light possible and with at least some attempts at styling to make them look extra good. However, this can give you an unrealistic impression of what our house and lives are actually like.

And the whole point of having disaster in our name is so we can pull back that veil.

First up, one from Naomi:

I was so proud of my closet makeover and had a lot of fun photographing it for you all.  I think it came out awesome!

However, in that post I did say that I chose to photograph it with the “most attractive 50% of my stuff,” which wasn’t just a funny line but was 100% true.  That isn’t how our closet looks every day.  I wish it was, but we are not that cool and “curated.”  Here is how it actually looks on a daily basis:

I didn’t clean up, so this is what it really looks like, although I did do some photo editing so it isn’t just tricks of the photography.  It’s not nearly so fancy, just relatively organized and functional…. but certainly not “pinnable.”

Next up, one from the tiny bloggers:

You might remember this gorgeous (and really trendy) photo they shared of them relaxing outside on beautiful greens with some donuts.

Well, we thought you might also enjoy the selection of unedited outtakes from that same photoshoot:

They spent like 30 minutes trying to capture the perfect “spontaneous, casual” moment of relaxing in the grass eating donuts. And by “they,” we mean “us, two grown adults playing with our block of wood we call a “doll”.” So…that’s meta level ridiculous.

Also don’t forget that no matter what they show you in their carefully cropped photos, the Tiny Bloggers’ house is still a disaster.

The attic is filled with piles of furniture and a golden bear statue (?), and in the bathroom we can make out a free-standing tub that is most certainly WAY too small for even the tiniest blogger, plus some other assorted debris. But at least they have a fancy upholstered bed.

And lest you think we’re throwing a little too much shade their way, here’s what Sage’s living room looks like right now…and this is as clean as it gets except during photo shoots and on cleaning day.

Let’s see if you can spot everything: three unattractive throw blankets, an old extension cord, a “laptop” that is larger than most desktop computers, a store bought tub of cookies, Tylenol, nail polish and nail polish remover, a cat laser toy, a tennis ball, a yoga strap, a random t-shirt, and 5 throw pillows mushed together into one giant pillow. Keep in mind that this is just one corner of the room and no children live in this house.

In that same vein, here’s Sage’s sunroom yesterday morning:

I spy: a pile of shoes that extends far beyond the shoe mat, a cat crouched in the sunlight on an off-kilter welcome mat, a giant empty Amazon box waiting to be broken down and recycled, a half styled library cart, and a dying aloe plant. Thank goodness this isn’t a wide angle shot, who knows what else you’d see….

We’re not pretending any of this is egregious by any means. Our goal isn’t to convince you that we’re the messiest humans/blocks-of-wood-with-faces-drawn-on that ever walked this earth. This is probably what most homes look like on a decent day…but that’s kind of the point: we almost never see homes on the internet on a “decent” day. We see them at their cleanest, most styled, and most white-balanced/over-exposed (seriously, whose house gets THAT much light?!?) — and then we all feel like underachieving slobs in comparison. So basically we just hope that on this lovely Wednesday, you’re reminded that even your favorites internet celebrities (that’s the two of us) are normal people with normal messes, and we hope you cut yourself a little slack and focus on more important things than how much recycling you have piled up in your dining room right now.