By Vickie Williamson
Custom Framer and Interior Designer
Do you suffer from “Model Home Syndrome”? I have and can proudly say that I’m now fully recovered. This syndrome is the idea that 
your home must be perfect and look like a model home at all times. If this sounds familiar, you, too, could be suffering from the pressure to have a perfect home.
Common Symptoms:
■ The whole house is perfectly spotless—not a rogue shoe in sight.
■ No unopened mail sits on the dining room table.
■ My personal favorite: The bathroom looks as if it has never been used.
If you recognize any of these symptoms, give yourself a break and snap out of it! Remember that a model home looks the way it does because no one lives there. Decorating for selling a house is different from decorating for living in your home. Unless your home is for sale, relax and really live there.
Tips for an Orderly—but “Real”—Home:
■ Clean closets of unnecessary or worn-out items to open up space for things you really want to keep and to make living spaces less cluttered.
■ Organize a dedicated space for shoes and backpacks.
■ Purchase attractive organizers for daily mail and place them in a location where you’ll use them.
■ Keep disinfecting wipes handy in bathrooms for a quick wipe-down of surfaces.
■ Display new hand towels neatly in a basket or wall- mounted rack.
Most of us are just too busy to maintain anything close to perfection in our homes. Quick, efficient cleanups are more likely to get completed than an all-out, all-day attempt for perfection. In my opinion, Swiffer® dusters and Mr. Clean® Magic Eraser® are two of the best things ever invented. Give them a try and hopefully soon you, too, can be free from “Model Home Syndrome.”
Prince William resident Vickie Williamson owns Fine Design Custom Framing & Interiors in Woodbridge. She has worked in the fine art, framing and decorating industry for more than 25 years and has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.
