I have a weakness for interior design magazines or 'property porn' as it was called during Ireland's construction boom. Magazines and colour supplements in the quality newspapers delivered mouthwatering spreads on show houses and holiday homes in the trendiest of locations. They told us how to do up our homes, what were the 'must have' accessories from the American style fridge to the Italian coffee maker. Houses resembled luxury hotels with designer interiors to impress the neighbours. Unfortunately many of those who bought their dream home at an exorbitant price are now struggling with mortgages that they can no longer afford or have had to hand their keys over to the bank.
That said, I think my passion for interior design magazines is pretty harmless. It's given me ideas of how to do up our home and while I may sign that our house is never as beautiful or tidy as the ones in magazines, I luckily never wanted to swap it for a 'MacMansion'.
And thanks to the internet I can now get my fix of 'property porn' for free on the many interior design websites and blogs.