One of my favorite magazines is Country Living. It feels like eye candy to me. But there is something that always bothers me about most of the homes they show: They are second homes and the owners typically are well-to-do New Yorkers.
I don't know about you, but it's a big deal to me to have a first home. Don't get me wrong, I don't think it is wrong for people who can afford it to have second homes and I wish them all the best in the world. It is wonderful that they are doing so well. What bothers me that Country Living is missing the point of living in the country and are missing what most people's lives are like.
People who live in the country normally don't have second homes. They normally live relatively simple lives filled with family, faith, and getting along. If they did happen to have a second home, it wouldn't be nicer than their first home and the homes Country Living show are nicer than most people's homes.
Here's an example. This home immediately caught my eye because there is a lot of pink in this room. I think it's lovely. But when I read the article, I noticed that (once again), the home owner is talking about her "thrift" of buying classic club chairs and other such "investment pieces." I don't know a lot of people that have furniture like this - unless it has been passed down.
This home, by the way, is a beautiful two-story home with a grand staircase and is decorated to the nines. The homeowner says that her husband let her use pink because it is "our second home." In other words - the home seems less valuable to him so it doesn't matter what she did in it.
The writer calls this home "opulence-on-a-budget." In my world, it is opulence, this home is not an "on a budget" home.
I don't want you to think I'm picking on this homeowner. I'm happy for her. It is the basic trend in a lot of magazines to show second homes in the country because the writers and editors think they are more accessible - or worth showing - bothers me.
What's wrong with showing regular first-homes owned by people who couldn't possibly have a second home? I'm sure that there are plenty of clever decorators who have truly done it on a budget and I'm interested in seeing what they have done.
This is the same magazine mentality that shows clothing that is a "good deal" when the "good deal" is outside of a regular budget. "These shoes only cost $150 dollars. This coat only costs $400. These pants only cost $175." This has always annoyed me and doesn't speak to the "mall experience" that most of us live.
Are the people on the coasts really that out of touch with middle America? And do they think that our issues and lives aren't worth talking about?
What do you think? Is this just me?
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