The truth behind designer mum's Insta-worthy home

A mum has gone viral after revealing a series of Instagram versus reality images showing the truth behind snaps of her picture perfect family home.

Interiors blogger Katie Woods has amassed 70,000 online fans for sharing swoon-worthy photos of her stunningly-decorated five-bedroom Edwardian house in Leeds.

But the 40-year-old has now turned the tables by lifting the lid on what her dreamy abode really looks like most of the time as she juggles her part-time job as a dentist with the day-to-day whirlwind of life with four children and a dog.

“My carefully curated Instagram grid is mighty different to the everyday view,” Katie, who has twins Maxwell and Felix, eight, Toby, four and two-year-old Dottie with husband Chris, said.

“The clear surfaces and toy-free carpets are all an enigma.

“The made beds, the perfectly positioned cushions – all for the camera.

And her posts, confessing to her followers the real facts behind her carefully-curated Instagram grid, have since racked up hundreds of likes and shares.

“If there is one thing for certain, it’s that just out of shot there will be a pile of plastic toys, a mountain of dirty laundry and one very sweaty middle-aged woman holding the camera,” she said.

“You see, this is our home.

“We live here, we have fun here and we make one heck of a lot of mess here.

“The strive for perfection is futile and totally unattainable, especially in a busy family home.

“If we lived our lives trying to ‘keep up’ with other peoples’ squares, it’ll have us crying into our scatter cushions every day.”

Katie, who blogs at Instagram handle @ComeDownToTheWoods, is now encouraging her followers to share photos of their real non-curated homes on social media as part of the #MyHappyMess campaign.

Her move comes as a new survey by intelligent home robot vacuum company Neato Robotics revealed 76 per cent of millennials feel pressured to have a perfect home, with 68 per cent laying the blame for this with social media.

“One of the most frequent questions I get asked is how do I keep my house so clean and tidy,” Katie added.
“To this my answer is ‘I don’t’ – and the last thing I wanted was to show people on social media that this curated grid is how I live.

“I wanted to encourage people not to overthink these little squares; in an imperfect world, it’s important not to strive for perfection.”

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