\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
![\"Wayne](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/4349193_web1_17091850_20131114-BEND9.JPG\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
Wayne Glowacki \/ Winnipeg Free Press files<\/p>\n
Jen Zoratti doesn\u2019t live in a show home and doesn\u2019t want to.<\/p>\n
I can usually counteract this with gratitude. It\u2019s an immense privilege to own a home at all, especially one my husband and I have been able to pay for with words and creativity. It is, and has been, very good to us and I am proud of it.<\/p>\n
But all my insecurities were reactivated the other week when I found a door hanger from a development company \u2014 which shall remain nameless because, in fairness to them, they were just advertising their business \u2014 affixed to the rustiest part of our rusty bannister, offering me the chance to build new on my lot.<\/p>\n
I know I shouldn\u2019t take this personally because \u201ceveryone got one\u201d \u2014 allegedly! \u2014 and it was probably on the bannister because the person delivering them realized that if they\u2019d hung it on the door as designed, the door might fall off entirely.<\/p>\n
Still, it flew straight up my nose. \u201cHow dare you! Didn\u2019t you see the new windows?\u201d I posted about it in my neighbourhood Facebook group, and others had the same reaction.<\/p>\n
The whole thing got me thinking about how much our current culture is obsessed with constantly upgrading. We\u2019re constantly bombarded with the messaging that newer is better, bigger is better, more is better.<\/p>\n
A lot of this is driven by the fact things are just not made the way they used to be. Appliances you used to be able to get 20, 25 years out of fail before a decade is up; planned obsolescence \u2014 whereby something is designed to have a limited life span so you have to replace it \u2014 is rampant in tech. Don\u2019t even get me started on clothing.<\/p>\n
But a lot of it is also driven by social media and, more specifically, social media comparison. Lifestyle creep is promoted in every form of content.<\/p>\n
There are the more obvious unboxing, haul and Show Your Collection videos, in which people mostly show off consumer goods, but products \u2014 particularly skin care and supplements and higher-tech hair tools \u2014 are the true focal points of Get Ready With Me or My 5-to-9 Before My 9-to-5 videos.<\/p>\n
So, too, are beautifully appointed, well-curated interiors. Owing, no doubt, to the rise of HGTV and home renovation shows, there is a whole Instagram cottage industry dedicated to design and decor, with tastes and trends now moving as quickly as those more commonly associated with fashion. Fast homeware is competing with fast fashion for top dog in the landfill.<\/p>\n
\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
To wit: a lot of the interior renovations we made to our house in 2016 are probably \u201cout\u201d to these people, and listen: I have millennial grey in my house because I am a millennial. Sue me.<\/p>\n
All of this just leads to dissatisfaction and consumer debt. Do you really need the latest version of the thing you already have? Do you really need to renovate your entire house\/face\/life or is your screen time just in the double digits?<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t get me wrong: I have obviously upgraded some of my things over time, sometimes because I\u2019ve had to and other time because I\u2019ve just wanted to. But I resent being made to feel like I have to upgrade something that still works perfectly fine \u2014 like a whole entire house! \u2014 just because it\u2019s \u201cold.\u201d<\/p>\n
I mean, have some respect! How many of these new builds are going to live to be 102?<\/p>\n
winnipegfreepress.com\/jenzoratti<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Jen Zoratti Jen Zoratti is a columnist and feature writer working in the Arts & Life department, as well as the author of the weekly newsletter NEXT<\/a>. A National Newspaper Award finalist for arts and entertainment writing, Jen is a graduate of the Creative Communications program at RRC Polytech and was a music writer before joining the Free Press in 2013. Read more about Jen<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Jen produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2013 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n
Columnist
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n