While recently watching a super old episode of Parks & Recreation, we had to laugh when we saw what looked exactly like our card-catalog-turned-spice-&-spoon-rack in the background behind Amy Poehler. Especially because the episode was all about her unabashed hatred for libraries:
Isn’t it a dead ringer for the $5 thrift store version I got two Valentine’s Days ago from Sherry (read more about that here)?
So it got us wondering if you’ve ever seen something you have in your house on TV. Was your fancy stapler on The Office? Did your Ikea curtains make an appearance on Project Runway? Have you spotted the same touristy magnet from Texas on someone’s fake sitcom fridge? Spill the as-seen-on-TV beans.
kirsten says
I saw my exact wedding dress on a Rhapsody commercial. I made my husband rewind and play it in slow motion haha.
Jeri says
Almost. My Target slipper chair is covered in the same robin’s egg blue floral & bird pattern as Jules’ bar stools in Cougar Town.
Niki says
I have this wooden spice holder with ceramic drawers that I have seen in numerous shows. I can only think of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, but I know I have seen it elsewhere.
Niki says
I just remembered it was Reba. I got them from Pier 1.
Alondra says
I saw my Ikea black and white pillows on Project Runway!
Melissa says
I haven’t spotted anything on tv that we own yet. This was a really fun post, I enjoyed reading everyones answers! =)
maria says
on the show scrubs, in j.d. & turk’s apartment–their couch is the same couch my father in law has in his toy/play room for the grand kids ;)
Sarah says
It’s funny you mention The Office…I design food packaging for Wegmans Food Markets, who has stores located in Pennsylvania, where The Office takes place. Frequently the set will have Wegmans brand products in the background, such as cereal on top of the break room refrigerator, soda in the vending machine, or even organic milk that Michael used with his cereal. Every time I see products on the show, it’s pretty exciting!
juliana says
My awesome KOR water bottle was in the new Iron Man. :)
I got so excited when I noticed him drinking “chlorophyll” out of it that I jabbed my fiance with my elbow and said “hey that’s my bottle!”
http://www.korwater.com/
jamie says
On the Bachelorette a few weeks ago, they bought an “authentic” rug from a merchant in Europe. But the rug is the same one my sister has from IKEA!
Meredith says
Well, my roommate had the exact Ken doll that was a character in Toy Story 3, which kind of counts. :) And I’ve stayed at the hotel that was in the movie “The Fugitive” a couple different times, so I feel a connection there!
Cortnie says
I have the same dresser in the daughters room that was seen in the movie Lovely Bones starring Mark Walburg. I rewinded it a couple of times to make sure it was a match. I am in the process of restoring the orginal piece to hopefully use in spare bedroom. I also have the matching side table.
Rosanne says
This isn’t household related but this past year I saw my girlfriend’s new purse on Accidently on Purpose. Jenna Elfen was carrying it. My friend got it at Anthropology and just the day before I was with her and admiring it…actually drooling over it.
Rachel T says
When I was watching The Happening the scary lady (don’t remember her name – maybe Mrs. Jones?) has the same IKEA glasses as my parent!
Karrie says
I get so excited when I see stuff I own on TV! Most recently, we saw a set of glasses on Mad Men that we own (Season 2 in Don’s office–they’re clear with gold and black diamonds–we found a set in our basement when we bought our house). That’s the only home related stuff I’ve seen–usually I spot clothes, like a gray Mossimo sweater I bought at Target was worn by Claire, the cheerleader on Heros and I used to spot I.N.C. merchandise (Macy’s private brand) all the time on soap operas and news anchors.
Tara says
I saw a quick shot of wall art that I had purchased from Kirkland’s (like 5 years ago!) on the wall of the couple’s home on the movie “Fireproof” – haven’t seen it anywhere else!
Alice says
I saw my French Provincial desk (Dixie by Henry Link) in 13 Going on 30 with Jennifer Garner. I have had that desk (and beside table and dresser) since I bought it with my own money when I was 12 years old back in the late 1960’s. Just recently, I sold the whole set of furniture as I just couldn’t stand it any more.
Christine says
I had a lunchbox as a kid that showed up in a tv commercial years later, and the linoleum floor in the kitchen of my childhood home has shown up in ads, shows, mags lots of times. Oh, the memories…
Kristina says
I’m almost positive that my parents had a set of dishes, purchased from the Bon Marche (before the Macy’s takeover in WA State) that appeared in the Real World Seattle house. they were white but had a colorful trim full of random objects that a clock and a face… I thought it was sooo cool at the time.
Erin T. says
Nothing from my house, but I’m pretty sure Dr. Wilson’s bathroom on House M.D. is straight out of a Restoration Hardware catalog.
Nichole@40daysof says
My in-laws got us this wall clock that plays songs and has people inside that turn. It’s even plastic. I’ve been hiding it under a bed for years and hoping they don’t notice. I saw it on Clean House a couple of years ago. It was one of those things the designer was trying to get rid of, but the people were insanely clingy about it.
Samantha Cobos says
I use to work at West Publishing (now Thompson) anyway I worked on a product called WESTLAW which is what all lawyers use to research cases. Everyday I had coffee in a WESTLAW mug and when I was watching the movie “A Civil Action” John Travolta was drinking his coffee from the same cup!!! Also our coffee maker is the same one that is used in the kitchen of “Two and Half Men”. I guess I’m tuned in when it is about coffee :)
Samantha Cobos says
I use to work at West Publishing (now Thompson) anyway I worked on a product called WESTLAW which is what all lawyers use to research cases. Everyday I had coffee in a WESTLAW mug and when I was watching the movie “Civil Action” John Travolta was drinking his coffee from the same cup!!! Also our coffee maker is the same one that is used in the kitchen of “Two and Half Men”. I guess I’m tuned in when it is about coffee :)
Lynzee says
There is a set of bedding from Target that I ALMOST bought (in an effort to SUPER girlify my bedroom after a breakup). It’s purple with royal purple plant silhouettes on it. I ultimately went for a different set but have since seen that comforter on How I Met Your Mother (it was Amy a’la Britney Spears’) and also (get ready to giggle) it’s Bella’s sheets from Twilight.
Maddy says
I bought these reversable yellow and grey floral pillows for my bedroom when I bought my house in November and now I see them all over tv in design shows, sitcoms, talk shows they are great and I even found some accessories that match perfectly at Ikea so it was a win win.
http://www.target.com/DwellStudio-Target-Peony-Decorative-Pillow/dp/B000WXX6QA
Muriel says
My wedding dress was worn in a Dixie Chicks video and my in-laws had the same couch as the Huxtables from The Cosby Show!
Crystal says
I thought I saw my Ikea rug on an episode of House this season. I’ll never know, but it definitely looked like the same one.
Ashley says
The plates and dishes (but oddly, not the mugs) they use on Two and a Half Men are Fiesta. My husband and I have Fiesta ware, as do my brother and sister-in-law, and my husband’s sister collects it, so we’ve gotten pretty good at spotting pieces in crowded tag sales and apparently on television.
Stephanie says
I saw my guest bedroom comforter on an episode of Brothers & Sisters. Yep, Kitty McAllister was cuddling up under MY duvet. :)
And I’ve seen two of my shirts on HGTV shows. I guess I’m not the only Loft fan out there.
christina says
Well, I have to admit that I felt pretty special and fashionable when I spotted my same shoes in YOUR closet on the last post! Those cute nude pumps with the sweet ruffle from my bff, Target…love them, but got excited to see that you had them, too!
Other than that, the only thing that comes to mind is in Good Luck Chuck, when he goes to visit the girl who put a hex on him and he’s expecting the goth freak only to find a sweet suburban mom…she was wearing a sundress from Eddie Bauer that I bought to wear on my honeymoon and that excited the heck out of me.
Rachael says
Love #9- I almost always use the “back” of a reversible comforter (in fact with our current one, I would go so far as to say I HATE the front haha).
Lyndsey says
My mom had this awful orange and green paisley teapot/percolator thing on her stove that was identical to one that was on the Brady Bunch stovetop for years. It was hideous!
I love when I see something I own on your website! I found your blog a few months ago and noticed that I have the same console table. But mine has the stainless knobs it came with.
And I’ve got a woven container from Ikea that you’ve used as a small planter. I use mine with the lid it came with to store q-tips.
Joanna says
Growing up I had the same sheet set as DJ on Full House :)
katie says
I see stuff from ikea all the time. Especially the little tan throw pillow with the orange embroidered criss crossing stripes. it is EVERYWHERE still.. even after being discountinued for a couple years.
Caitlin @ That House on the Corner says
I was so excited when I was watching United States of Tara and saw the exact pillow I wanted at Home Goods on her sofa! I was like “I SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT THAT!!!”
It’s so much fun when you spot the same things!
fun post!
–Caitlin
Sarah says
My brother has the lamps on the receptionists’ desks in Mad Men.
Cassi says
One of the last seasons of American Idol they had the same large square hanging shelf that I got from Pier 1 on clearance like 3 years ago!
m @ rambling musings says
I used to work for a specialty kitchen store and I see stuff I sold all the time on TV. The latest was all the cute pie pans on pushing daisies – they’re made by Emile. There was some period piece that I was watching a few weeks ago (don’t remember the name, sorry) and I recognized the tea kettle. Made me wonder what else in the scene was simply vintage-inspired.
ChristenL says
Two of my picture frames were on the new season of Big Brother. (In the HOH Bedroom … from World Market.)
Jessica says
After I purchased my Jcrew wedding dress off Ebay, I saw it in the movie “I Love You, Man”. Also, I have the same rug they used on the set of the Bachelorette this season under the seating group during elimination nights. Got it at World Market!
Alisa says
Its not home decor related but the dress I bought (from Nordstroms) for my engagement party in October 2006 was featured in the US Weekly “who wore it better” section at the beginning of 2007. I was very excited!
Tina says
I have seen tons of my stuff on TV & in movies over the years! Coffee mugs, one bedding set I saw constantly for years, furniture. It makes me laugh when that happens especially if I get something from like Big Lots.
Andrea of Care to Eat says
When I was a little girl, I was watching The Jeffersons (in syndication. I’m not THAT old) with my Mom and I commented on how ugly the wallpaper in their apartment was. She had to tell me that it was the same wallpaper in our dining room. Oops.
eva says
In Spiderman, the first one with Tobey Maguire. His Aunt May has these two needlepoint prints from the 1976 bicentennial. My family has had them in our lake cottage for years probably since 1976. I couldn’t believe they were in the movie.
Chandeen says
When I was growing up we had an old salvation army plaid couch that was exactly like the one on Roseanne, we even had the matching crotchet blanket too. We always got a kick out of that because we thought it was the ugliest couch.
Mary Howell says
I saw a vintage Saltine tin on Mad Men that my grandmother gave to me.
Aimee says
This isn’t my house, but my workplace. I used to work at The Container Store, and I’ve seen dozens of their products on TV. Of course, on the organizing & cleaning shows, but also in episodes of TV. It’s pretty fun.
Dani_PA says
I saw our drinking glasses from BB&B in “Funny People” – they drink out of them at Thanksgiving. My husband wasn’t as excited abou tit as I was, though.
Linda says
I still remember being REALLY excited that Cory from Boy Meets World was wearing a blue long sleeved collar shirt with stripes that I owned in middle school! I was confused about if he was wearing a girl shirt or I was wearing a guy shirt, but I still remember how totally psyched my 11 year old self was…
Carole White says
I have the Dwell Studio for Target Perch bedding & it has been used on Clean House at least twice & recently it was used on one of those staging shows on HGTV. Also, I have the Dwell Studio silk pillow in yellow, grey & white – I’ve seen it everywhere!
http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/188-3280401-3391701?asin=B002CKDVUM&AFID=Froogle_df&LNM=|B002CKDVUM&CPNG=home&ref=tgt_adv_XSG10001
http://inlinethumb42.webshots.com/46057/2649141660060880919S425x425Q85.jpg