This Twitter Account Is Shaming Homes That Try Too Hard To Come Off As Chic Farmhouses, Here Are 40 Of Its Funniest Pics
There's a Twitter account called 'Farmhouse Shaming' and it's pretty much what you'd expect it to be. Hilarious. According to its description, the account is directed at the current middle-class suburban interpretation of low-income rural housing aesthetics. More specifically, the seriously bonkers aesthetic dissonance that it creates.
It has all the cliches you can think of; from overused pseudo-motivating signs to outdoor picnic tables indoors and SO. MANY. BARN. DOORS. (Seriously, can someone tell me why people are putting them everywhere they can?)
But, to paraphrase a popular saying, your farmhouse is your colonial mansion. Nobody can stop you from decorating it however the heck you want it to look.
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Whatever did we do before we had signs on every wall... LIVE LAUGH LOVE!!! GATHER!!!! FAMILY!!!!!... how did we live without the instructions?
Painting genuine antiques is a shame. This could be restored, at great expense.
It's not that hard to do yourself. With a sander and a Dremel. Then you just need to refinish.
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Except no one wants American Federal style anymore -like all the other huge clunky antiques that were once valuable for and people think their kids will want - but nobody’s kids want this stuff for their modern minimalist homes - It all ends up going to goodwill. So why not paint it at that point? I mean paint it correctly though 🤣
Yay! A point I can get behind. Everyone used to pass down furniture from generation to generation. That’s not really a thing anymore. I want something that looks good, and doesn’t require 4 other strong buff men to transport when I move. I also don’t want a home that looks like grandmas house
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I watched an episode of Home Town in horror as she went to an estate sale, bought what was obviously an antique and perfectly good dresser. Then proceeded to cut the legs off of it, paint it and put a huge hole in the top to slide a sink in for the bathroom. Not only do I hate floating sinks, but I was outraged to see a perfectly good antique ruined in no time flat.
I spent most of one summer, when I was 13, taking white and gold paint off of solid oak Victorian bedroom furniture (family pieces, handed down) and restoring it to a beautiful golden oak finish. At 58, I still have the dressing table, and every time I look at it, it makes me happy.
I wouldn't paint wood, but people get SO upset over it. Painting woodwork for example, it is their home now, they should be able to do what they want. If you think it's awful, the good news it is isn't your home! I personally love wood, and that is why I choose to keep my home and furniture as is.
Absolutely, in a few years everyone will be stripping all this “ up cycling” trashing
do not paint or refinish a well-made antique over 40 years old... there are horror stories out there where people did that only to have someone point out that they just destroyed the value on a Chippendale chair from the 1760s... you can't "un-refinish" something after you have finished it since your crappy work destroyed the patina
Just know what you got. Painting cheap wooden furniture to make it last another generation is perfectly fine. But I agree that it’s a shame to paint genuine antiques.
Yeah I'm kind of in that boat. Like obviously don't ruin mohogany or a priceless antique, but if it's either paint it so it fits with your home and gets a new life, or trash it, why all the hate? I thought we were all for recycling. I've got an old simple wood nightstand that somone had ready to take to the landfill and I snagged it to repaint and repurpose it. Yes it's old, but otherwise it'd be scrap. And no I'm not planning to distress it or do chalkboard paint.
Load More Replies... I would rather see the beauty of the wood. If you are going to paint it, use press board.
Ooh! My former MIL gave me and my then-husband the "pineapple" bed frame like the one in the picture, only in solid cherry. I would have been in fear for my life if I had painted over it. (He ended up with it BTW.)
I have to disagree. Although natural wood is absolutely amazing it can't all be natural as the majority of the people want it to be. In fact i love good painted wood. It just has to be done properly.
It should be wood that is meant to be painted, like maple, poplar or pine.
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Watched a show that took a beautiful asian cabinet with pearl inlay and painted over it all. You'll never get the original look back ever. That one ripped my heart out.
Yes, and for the love of all things holy, stop painting everything gray!!!!
I saw a lot of beautiful old furniture ruined... That's why I painted it.
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I cringe when crafters are doing this to new projects. I HATE it!
Why would people living in the country waste time and money painting perfectly good furniture that didn't need painting in the first place?
It helps to know the difference between actual federal furniture and repros. Paint the repros if you want.
My mother who had great taste and style decided to paint/rub some of her older furniture with the Antique look when it was popular.Yes perfectly done. My daughter spent weeks getting it off the one off custom designed dining table and chairs. I still have the sideboard with me...still antique green. It is a walnut curved piece. But my antique wall clock is restored.
Had an antique store many years ago. Made me cringe when someone would contemplate restoring a birds-eye maple dresser with some blah paint. The "antique" world is not glancing behind itself to notice what horrific "modernizations" they're inflicting on furniture history. Bleh.
I hate paint on anything not pine... and even some pine is too beautiful to paint...
Couldn’t have picked an uglier color. Unless maybe it’s in a jail.
I don't mind painting furniture to get more mileage out of it. If it really is "real wood" it can be stripped later on, but usually a lot of these "Antiques" are post war reproductions of questionable quality. The more of those get painted, the better. People who don't know anything about antiques get all up in arms about people painting crappy furniture because "it was wood" when a lot of times it was poor quality mass produced c**p. Not all wood looks good or was meant to see the light of day. Someone stripped the cheap plywood cabinets in my old apartment to "reveal the beauty" of the cheap antique plywood. It really was an antique, so antique that modern stripper dissolved the glue and filler in the plywood leaving holes and delaminations. My landlord insisted the cabinets were wood" well, technically
Atleast these can be restored. In my part of Sweden there is a very special type of decorative painting called kurbits (a kind of floral motif/pattern) that was often used to decorate furniture. I cry inside everytime I see some diy'er take furniture painted like this and destroy it by painting it white...
I got a beautiful old mirror at a yard sale that took forever to refinish because there was so much paint on it. It's worth taking the c**p off the wood if you have the time and patience.
...and if we move out of the US for a moment and head east: the same goes for European furniture.
This isn't talking about the new cr@p furniture you can buy at the big furniture stores, it's about genuine solid wood furniture.
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At what point did people stop appreciating nature so much they had to slap a coat of paint on it. If you are looking for color, buy some fricking curtains.
Your grandma's sweet little sofa was nearly 246 years old? Wow, that's impressively doubtful.
Load More Replies...Interestingly, though, we're probably going to see a lot more interiors like these. According to a 2020 survey conducted by Homes.com of more than 5,000 adults across the U.S., "modern farmhouse" was the favorite house style in 42 out of 50 states.
Particularly in the Northwest, East, and Southeast, respondents opted for the classic, comfortable home style. According to those surveyed, a modern farmhouse looks "simple, cozy, and not too busy" and like "a nice big home for a family." Since time at home has recently gained new importance, it's no surprise that people are trying to balance what they consider to be beauty with comfort.
Especially beautiful mid-century or antique pieces. Get reproductions if you want to paint them, you heathens.
This is the kind of sign that would send me RUNNING from the house. Cult religion? Instructional sign to be submissive. No thanks.
The runner-up most popular style was the "Mid-century Modern Ranch," which is preferred by residents of Midwestern states such as Wisconsin and Minnesota, as well as Southwest states such as Colorado and Arizona. The Mid-century Modern Ranch is known for its "clean lines and big windows," and for being more "minimal and natural-looking," according to the respondents.
According to the survey, homebuyers pay roughly equal attention to many exterior features of a potential home. The size of the windows is most important to them, but they'll also keep an eye out for the number of windows, the presence of a porch or patio, and the shape of the roof.
Sharp, pointy objects on the ceiling and cactus print on the pillow . . . what message are they sending?
'Live, Laugh, Love' (which has become an online synonym for basicness) dominates 'Farmhouse Shaming.'
Online retailers like Not on the High Street, Etsy, and Wayfair all stock hundreds of items urging us to Live, Laugh and Love in our homes with everything from wall stickers to coasters and pillows.
While it has often been misattributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson, the words were first linked together in a poem called 'Success' by Iowan writer Bessie Anderson Stanley in 1904.
The opening line of the poem reads: "He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much."
Amen! I heard about people stealing other people's empty barns, because they can sell the wood to city folks to make fake farmhouse stuff with.
The poem was originally written as an entry for an essay contest run by Brown Book Magazine, and Bessie actually won a cash prize of $250 for it, which paid off the mortgage on her house, among other things. When she died in 1952, aged 73, the verse was inscribed on her gravestone in Lincoln Cemetery, Kansas.
Fast-forward 70 years and as one tweet by 'Farmhouse Shaming' shows, now you can even be buried in 'Live, Laugh, Love.' There are actual casket companies that offer shabby chic-styled coffins with the words written on the inside.
Some of the engineered flooring is really great these days, but just as much is totally hideous. This would make me want to sand the floor every time I saw it.
And someone is so very proud of this. Fake wear on paint always looks cheap to me.
Chris Boots, an owner of one of these companies, told Refinery29 that in the three years after they came up with the idea for the coffin's design, it has become one of their most popular products.
"We've found that our customers really like the option of this casket, it's more of a whitewashed look which is a popular style; but the quote is extremely popular too," Boots said, adding that they sell for around $1,500-$2,500.
This belongs on the witch from Hansel and Gretel's house "eat...eat...I'm always watching..."
This actually makes me mad. Where's the bathroom storage?! How are short people supposed to use that mirror?!
It bears more than a passing resemblance to Florida's "Old Sparky". All it needs is some wrist and ankle restraints.
If you pull it off, however, the modern farmhouse can really be a welcoming design. Experts think that many people have gravitated to it because it can easily work with other styles. In recent years, there have been many spinoffs with coastal, Scandinavian, and industrial versions.
I bet this is an Instagram tub... just around for photos. I'll bet no one ever uses it because it's about as uncomfortable as a tub can be, is hard to get in and out of, and takes forever to fill.
Not a fan of barn doors as used lately, but at least make the trim on them symmetrical. These are pocket door wannabes 😂😂😂
Were they going for "worn paint" as a look? Because they missed and landed on "Sloppy undercoat"
I think I would almost rather be buried in this TV stand than the farmhouse coffin in the previous post.
On one hand, I am very happy they kept stuff out of the landfill... I am all about the reduce-reuse-recycle thing, but it looks like they butchered a usable table to make this... chimera.
Note: this post originally had 71 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.
So a little over last year my dad got a job out west and we had to move across the country. This meant going through the middle of nowhere in the Midwest. And staying in people's basement AirBNBs. Scary enough as it was (esspicalky with Covid) but apparently the midwest is obsessed OBSESSED with this farmhouse aesthetic. I'm talking full done up walls with GaThEr and LiVe LaUgH LoVe at least 50 times. And those family photos with skinny jeans and white shirts with a vintage filter. It was the single most terrifying experience of my life. Imagine all these images in one house. Midwest pandas: yall ok?
I live in an actual Midwestern farmhouse and even I think that this kind of c**p is ugly.
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My great-grandfather was a farmer. His house didn't have any of this c**p. On a side note, i have his scythe, axe, sledgehammer, hay fork and butchering knives.
Same here. My grandparents were farmers. Their house didn't look anything like these pictures.
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OUCH! My furniture comes from curbside or thrift stores and I do BETTER than any of this! Do people really lack that much taste and art sense that these photos are taken seriously? Oh, well, even a bad example serves a purpose . . . don't decorate like this!
When someone buys a house and buys the furniture they get to decorate how they want.
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But.. who really cares about "chick farmhouses"? And who spend their time shaming others for trying to make their house look like a "chick farmhouse"? Well okay, obviously someone. I guess it's just me who is confused and dumbfounded. Again.
I am as well. Not my cup of tea, but it's not hurting anyone and brings the homeowners happiness. Let them be.
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Damn - people are angry over how others decorate their houses? Any trend can be taken too far. I'm not a fan of live, laugh, love myself. I do have a few pieces painted that were bought cheap/found and painted with a wash (and they weren't antiques) and I always get compliments. I happen to love them - I'll have something my mother made me after she goes. As far as whether or not it's functional - MOST WALL DECORATIONS AREN'T. Should I get rid of the paintings I did? The few pieces of art I spent my own money on that I love? They don't serve any purpose except being pleasurable to look at. I agree I think it's silly to spend thousands on it but no need to be nasty to everyone. If someone wants to buy a house and decorate it how they like and pay for all that stuff - how does it negatively affect you?
I work at Hobby Lobby. 80% of the store is this kind of s**t. "Aged" wood and tin that lookes like a bird crapped all over it. Multiple-yes multiple-signs that say "blessed" "gather" "eat" "thankful" "farm life." All in that stupid cursive font. All of them on the same white chipboard with black lettering. So f*****g many pictures of cows and roosters. Thank God I work in the actual crafting department.
I agree with all you said, except your abuse of cursive. Nothing is wrong with cursive. It was designed to enable you to write without lifting your pen after each letter. With practice it's quite beautiful. More importantly , each person's cursive had/has its own individual quality and style. Now everything is the same as we all type and conform to sameness. No wonder people feel so disaffected.
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I just think of the China factory workers laughing as they rip jeans, beat tin and scrape finishes. What must they think of all the stupid Americans buying this junk.
I had to give up after 12 of these. I was becoming more murderous each time.
My aunt and uncle have a large converted carriage house that has the original wood paneled walls, ceiling, and hardwood floors. They collected actual early American antiques and furniture. It is tasteful and beautiful, calming and restful. The living room ceiling is so high that my uncle has old wooden farming rakes and implements attached to it. Christmas is especially magical because he would cut a tree from their land, and it would reach up to the ceiling; you need a ladder to decorate the top. With the warmth and light from the fireplace, and the comfortable old furniture, it is wonderful. The farmhouse style rooms in this post seem so tacky in comparison!
Some of the weathered farmhouse aesthetics remind me of the A-Ha video, "Take On Me"
Of all the random stuff nailed to the walls and made of things i found in a junk yard. I prefer industrial. At least then the point is also functional.
I really, really hate these instagram homes where aren't any photos of the kids, the parents, grandparents, family, no any sign of that a real family live there. These homes just look like a scene from... I don't know, furniture brochure?
I've been in actual old farmhouses. My mother grew up in the north of MI and we would visit her relatives. The houses were large, designed for big families. Things were very plain, neutral colors. Family photos, just a few and everything immaculately clean. Wall decor? Maybe a simple cross This Farmhouse Style trend never existed. It's just "style" c**p to buy by someone who made it up.
I come from an old farming family, and they wouldn't be caught dead with this garbage. Also, way too much of this stuff started off nice and after getting "fixed," looks like cr@p found on the the side of a road.
I have a few signs. But mostly the one that is important to me is "when the day is done so is the past, move forward""it reminds me to not beat myself up for things I can't change or something stupid i might of said that day. Also, stop painting over wood!!!! It's a crime damn it. *stares at my hope chest I'm restoring*
If my cousins actual farmhouse looked anything like this, she'd go on a rampage 😂
Exactly! No real farmhouse ever looks like this, and never has. No self-respecting farm wife would allow any of this in her home - it all belongs on the scrap pile out behind the barn, or dumped in that ditch out in the back 40 to stop the erosion!
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Unless you actually lived/live in a farmhouse, don't....Alot of this is so over the top and, yes, trying too hard and just c**p. We know we are a "family", we always "gather" at my house in the "kitchen" where we "eat" and look out real windows and my shutters are on the outside hahahaha! That was fun! I don't like shelves with the heart cut out, the goose obsession or apples on everything lol.
I know it’s the worst place to post this but… Can we stop shaming people what people like? Their taste? Do I think some people take it too far for my taste? Who cares? Let people love what they love. Lots of them seem diy which mean they put theirs creativity and sweat and time into it. Let them express themselves, let’s not shame people to be passionate about harmless stuff. Can we just appreciate people who enjoy themselves?
The previous owners of my home put ugly carpet over the hardwood, plus carpet in the kitchen. Had the floors refinished. The home was a foreclosure, so I guess they didn't have the best track record in making big decisions.
So a little over last year my dad got a job out west and we had to move across the country. This meant going through the middle of nowhere in the Midwest. And staying in people's basement AirBNBs. Scary enough as it was (esspicalky with Covid) but apparently the midwest is obsessed OBSESSED with this farmhouse aesthetic. I'm talking full done up walls with GaThEr and LiVe LaUgH LoVe at least 50 times. And those family photos with skinny jeans and white shirts with a vintage filter. It was the single most terrifying experience of my life. Imagine all these images in one house. Midwest pandas: yall ok?
I live in an actual Midwestern farmhouse and even I think that this kind of c**p is ugly.
Load More Replies... My great-grandfather was a farmer. His house didn't have any of this c**p. On a side note, i have his scythe, axe, sledgehammer, hay fork and butchering knives.
Same here. My grandparents were farmers. Their house didn't look anything like these pictures.
Load More Replies... OUCH! My furniture comes from curbside or thrift stores and I do BETTER than any of this! Do people really lack that much taste and art sense that these photos are taken seriously? Oh, well, even a bad example serves a purpose . . . don't decorate like this!
When someone buys a house and buys the furniture they get to decorate how they want.
Load More Replies... But.. who really cares about "chick farmhouses"? And who spend their time shaming others for trying to make their house look like a "chick farmhouse"? Well okay, obviously someone. I guess it's just me who is confused and dumbfounded. Again.
I am as well. Not my cup of tea, but it's not hurting anyone and brings the homeowners happiness. Let them be.
Load More Replies... Damn - people are angry over how others decorate their houses? Any trend can be taken too far. I'm not a fan of live, laugh, love myself. I do have a few pieces painted that were bought cheap/found and painted with a wash (and they weren't antiques) and I always get compliments. I happen to love them - I'll have something my mother made me after she goes. As far as whether or not it's functional - MOST WALL DECORATIONS AREN'T. Should I get rid of the paintings I did? The few pieces of art I spent my own money on that I love? They don't serve any purpose except being pleasurable to look at. I agree I think it's silly to spend thousands on it but no need to be nasty to everyone. If someone wants to buy a house and decorate it how they like and pay for all that stuff - how does it negatively affect you?
I work at Hobby Lobby. 80% of the store is this kind of s**t. "Aged" wood and tin that lookes like a bird crapped all over it. Multiple-yes multiple-signs that say "blessed" "gather" "eat" "thankful" "farm life." All in that stupid cursive font. All of them on the same white chipboard with black lettering. So f*****g many pictures of cows and roosters. Thank God I work in the actual crafting department.
I agree with all you said, except your abuse of cursive. Nothing is wrong with cursive. It was designed to enable you to write without lifting your pen after each letter. With practice it's quite beautiful. More importantly , each person's cursive had/has its own individual quality and style. Now everything is the same as we all type and conform to sameness. No wonder people feel so disaffected.
Load More Replies... I just think of the China factory workers laughing as they rip jeans, beat tin and scrape finishes. What must they think of all the stupid Americans buying this junk.
I had to give up after 12 of these. I was becoming more murderous each time.
My aunt and uncle have a large converted carriage house that has the original wood paneled walls, ceiling, and hardwood floors. They collected actual early American antiques and furniture. It is tasteful and beautiful, calming and restful. The living room ceiling is so high that my uncle has old wooden farming rakes and implements attached to it. Christmas is especially magical because he would cut a tree from their land, and it would reach up to the ceiling; you need a ladder to decorate the top. With the warmth and light from the fireplace, and the comfortable old furniture, it is wonderful. The farmhouse style rooms in this post seem so tacky in comparison!
Some of the weathered farmhouse aesthetics remind me of the A-Ha video, "Take On Me"
Of all the random stuff nailed to the walls and made of things i found in a junk yard. I prefer industrial. At least then the point is also functional.
I really, really hate these instagram homes where aren't any photos of the kids, the parents, grandparents, family, no any sign of that a real family live there. These homes just look like a scene from... I don't know, furniture brochure?
I've been in actual old farmhouses. My mother grew up in the north of MI and we would visit her relatives. The houses were large, designed for big families. Things were very plain, neutral colors. Family photos, just a few and everything immaculately clean. Wall decor? Maybe a simple cross This Farmhouse Style trend never existed. It's just "style" c**p to buy by someone who made it up.
I come from an old farming family, and they wouldn't be caught dead with this garbage. Also, way too much of this stuff started off nice and after getting "fixed," looks like cr@p found on the the side of a road.
I have a few signs. But mostly the one that is important to me is "when the day is done so is the past, move forward""it reminds me to not beat myself up for things I can't change or something stupid i might of said that day. Also, stop painting over wood!!!! It's a crime damn it. *stares at my hope chest I'm restoring*
If my cousins actual farmhouse looked anything like this, she'd go on a rampage 😂
Exactly! No real farmhouse ever looks like this, and never has. No self-respecting farm wife would allow any of this in her home - it all belongs on the scrap pile out behind the barn, or dumped in that ditch out in the back 40 to stop the erosion!
Load More Replies... Unless you actually lived/live in a farmhouse, don't....Alot of this is so over the top and, yes, trying too hard and just c**p. We know we are a "family", we always "gather" at my house in the "kitchen" where we "eat" and look out real windows and my shutters are on the outside hahahaha! That was fun! I don't like shelves with the heart cut out, the goose obsession or apples on everything lol.
I know it’s the worst place to post this but… Can we stop shaming people what people like? Their taste? Do I think some people take it too far for my taste? Who cares? Let people love what they love. Lots of them seem diy which mean they put theirs creativity and sweat and time into it. Let them express themselves, let’s not shame people to be passionate about harmless stuff. Can we just appreciate people who enjoy themselves?
The previous owners of my home put ugly carpet over the hardwood, plus carpet in the kitchen. Had the floors refinished. The home was a foreclosure, so I guess they didn't have the best track record in making big decisions.
