Double Income Home Decor Can F*ck Immediately Off

I could afford that couch too, if I was splitting it.

Photo of the author’s own living room, minus the $250 piece of art she’s saving up for because she has to.

While scrolling TikTok, which one should never do, I came across a content creator I follow because she appreciates a good macabre decor moment much like myself. In her video, she shared the home office makeover she created because she “decided [she] deserved a proper office.” It went from generic suburban bedroom to chic black accent wall with gold chandelier and flatscreen TV in a matter of sped-up seconds. It was gorgeous. It was also achieved on a double income so I should stop feeling so fucking bad about myself.

This creator got married in September of 2021, I have no idea how long she’d been with her partner before then or if they’d cohabitated prior. But by my calculations if I got married in September of 2021 I would have $16,000 more to my name than I do now at a bare minimum. I’d be splitting rent, and my home office would, theoretically, look just like hers.

Let’s gloss over for a moment that two incomes instead of one can do things like afford homes with spare rooms for home offices in the first place. What I’d rather talk about are the impeccably styled, freshly renovated homes and apartments that belong to influencers who, to my knowledge, never stipulate that the reason they can accomplish all of these of these sweeping changes that end up as countless “tutorials” is that they have the disposable money to make them happen. This isn’t “having a good job.” This having some fucking backup.

For so long, I was always deeply frustrated by how half-assed my home decor, and holiday decor mind you, always looked in comparison to what I saw on social media, despite my taste and product selections often being identical to those recommended. Now I have wised up to the fact that creators who are married and splitting rent and bills with someone else, you know…as opposed to NOT DOING THAT AND PAYING FOR EVERYTHING ALONE have extra money available to add a layer on top of all their decor that I simply don’t. It’s the finishing layer.

The textures, the lighting, the abundance, the accent pieces. They don’t have one candle on the coffee table. They have seven. They don’t have a charming catch-all bowl in the entryway, they have three of them, nested. They don’t have a couple of…