Reality.

I'm piggybacking on a post by the lovely mom of the Duncan Boys, who recently blogged about what she doesn't usually photograph when taking pictures of her home. I noted in the comments section of her post that I'd planned to blog about this photograph:

This is Gwyneth Paltrow, photographed by Vogue, in a picture I found on Hooked On Houses. This photo struck me, because how often do you see a photo of a celebrity mother that shows evidence that she is, actually, a mother?

I'm not talking about the photographs of the perfectly designed high end children's bedroom (which I have nothing against - would that a designer be interested in installing a high end children's bedroom - which one of my kid's bedrooms may I empty for you??). I'm not a person who wants to thumb through a shelter magazine and look at someone else's mess and junk. I have my own, thankyouverymuch. While I hear a lot of complaints about design photographs that don't show people's "stuff", I'm generally not one to join the braying. A design photograph should show me the design - I can then install it and bring my own messy living to the furnishings quite nicely. Nevertheless, there is something about Gwyneth's photo that called to me.

The photograph doesn't even seem messy to me - it's just realistic. This is what a home that houses children looks like in the hours between waking and bedtime. Imperfect, yet vibrant. I like that Vogue and Ms. Paltrow decided it was okay to show the toys and boots and gave us, the readers, credit: we can still see the beauty of the home, we can still lust over that spectacular range hood, we can still note the brilliance of the white palette. A beautiful mess.

Like life.