Envy

In the business of fashion and home décor marketing, it is commonplace to photograph our wares in beautiful locales and environments, places we all wish we could visit or inhabit, places which are meant to inspire interest and fantasy, places which make our products look the best they possibly can in the hands of talented photographers and stylists

This past week I have been shooting at yet another fantastic home in Chicago, a home which someone with incredible vision built from its roots as a mechanic’s garage, a home which someone else with an over-the-top design sense filled in an Alice-in-Wonderland style.  I was floored, wowed, and filled with envy.

It always amazes me when someone goes all the way with design, taking no prisoners, worrying not at all what others might think or how his vision might translate when it’s time to re-sell the home.  I’ve always been afraid that something I might do to a home will kill its appeal for a future owner and so I am more timid in my choices.  But this homeowner, who is also a designer with vast resources, is not cut from that cloth and so has built a home with exaggerated proportions and filled it with furnishings bordering on the madcap and high and low art.

I’m not proud of my envy on these photoshoots.   I wanted to move into this home immediately, but more than that I found myself really really wanting it, feeling like I should be able to have it, alternately loving and hating the homeowner without ever meeting him, an embarrassing avalanche of feelings all rooted in envy.

And then it was time to put envy in the freezer.   I was able to sit back and just enjoy the days I got to spend in an environment I would never know as my own.  The riches and choices of this homeowner/designer were mine for 48 hours and somehow I knew I was a little richer just for being exposed to this magical place.  Lucky me.