That's the first thing I thought, Cathy....It's so boring, unfriendly, uninspiring. What's that all about?

No color or contrast, it needs to be decorated lol.

Me too Graywings!

Funny, it reminds me of a lot of the more modern decorating styles which lack color and fabric and focus on the white and grays...

It's certainly more stark than GW, but at least it has a decent size font and not a lot of busy distractions and pop ups all over the place.

I would prefer a softer color background as I find, even with my screen dimmed, it's uncomfortable to look at all the bright white.

I think you're all right -- more modern and unfriendly. A bit antiseptic. Like a public restroom that's clean but doesn't make you want to hang around. Or a huge airport you've never been in and the language has changed on you. I'm trying to adjust and give it time, but it's a lot. I have to agree that some warning would have been nice even for those of us that didn't keep clippings and such.

Amen on not missing the pop ups. And they never related to anything you were reading. If I never see the lady with the smashed window face again it will be a good thing. It is clean and neat.

I think it needs to be more vibrant with a bright coloured rug. When there is a bit of bright colours it feels very energetic on the other hand the pastels add to the serene ambience.

Yes, the lighting is too bright. A rug at the bottom would help, and maybe a plant on the left.

and a cushy sofa, fire in the fireplace, and good bottle of wine. yep, we'd be set then. oh well. i'm getting used to the stark whiteness here. and i love that like button!!!!

Waaaaaaahhhhhhh. ; (

@Annie Deighnaugh

hey now, that's my decorating style! :p Though we do throw in some color with a few pictures on the wall or a backsplash.

The one thing that does feel a bit cold/impersonal is that at least on the Houzz side of things there are a lot of people that don't like those who DIY. It's taken almost like garlic to a vampire. As someone who rebuilt a huge portion of their house by hand + a couple of other places it does rub me the wrong way, a bit like being treated like a second class citizen. I guess we'll see how the atmosphere either changes or remains the same as time goes on.

Annie, I've been wondering if the Houzz members have had to adjust to the inclusion of the riff-raff being among them now. Can you direct us to a page like that on Houzz, or would that be bad form? I'm not looking to make trouble, just curious.

Things seem to be getting back to a little more like the old GW around here, which I am very glad to see. Management has been quick and responsive. *Sheesh

Am I missing something here? All I see on my laptop screen in this post are words. No photo. Is anyone else having this problem?

Oh I get it now. This is a riff on the stark new Houzz adaptation of GW. Duh.

By the time I zoom the text big enough to read, I have a scroll bar on the bottom. Why so much white space on the page? Not easy on the eyes. Can we at least get solid black text? Serifs, anyone?

Casey

@sheesh

Comments like this?
"There are good potential clients on Houzz, but there are also DIY types
who aren’t a good for a design professional. They just want free info
and I believe they are ignorant to what they are asking."

" Your presaved response politely says to the DIYer that you offer a
higher end service without coming out and saying “not for you”.

One has to learn to ignore those people, the same as the
occasional troll-ish poster. I've long been a DIY country-cousin, so I
try not to let it affect my mood.

I used to visit houzz fairly often, when I was working on my kitchen and guest room, and before the annoying sign-up pop-ups.
Since the merge, I haven't done any searches for pics, although I checked
out some of the Stories. I do appreciate the admins' efforts to help us
adjust. I've been trying to read all the roll-call and advice threads in
my favorite GW forums, so as those drop off, maybe I'll check out the
big city cousins again.

And I love giving free advice ... just ask my kids.

Kind of interesting, because I never knew that Houzz was designed to "bring homeowners and design professionals together." Certainly I had no idea about that when I first signed up on Houzz -- I just thought it was a cool way to organize inspirational photos.

Perhaps their focused changed over the years as they tried to monetize everything. But yes, I "just want free info" -- to me, the Internet is not just a shopping mall, it's a library. Only a tiny percentage of homeowners can afford to hire a design professional of any stripe. I guess us poor people are not welcome.

My only impression of the Houzz site, is the visual format and color of the pages, which is too white and yes, cold and impersonal, and has nothing to do with any members of Houzz. I had an account on Houzz before they took over GW. I didn't use any of the services offered, I just used the organizational ability of looking at a lot of photo ideas and collecting them here so I could come back and look at them. I'm sure there are many different people who are members of Houzz, at all levels, from DIY to only using professional services and from blue collar to white collar.

Ah, shicksal, I see now. My goodness. I wouldn't be surprised if more than once the "professionals" over there have benefited from "free advice" they've gotten here, then charged a customer for it. The ideas and suggestions on this forum are the very best. ☺

I've been a Houzz member for two years or so and, while I've browsed their forums, I've never noticed an explicit "DIYer not allowed" vibe. Then again, if I'm wanting to read about, let's say, kitchens, I'm likely going to gloss over any post that isn't relevant to that.

I'm sure if someone sees my Ideabooks, they might assume that I'm a wealthy person looking to drop a chunk of change on a remodeling project. But every picture I've saved is because I'm looking to see if my "vision" of a room might actually fit within my space limitations. Or maybe I have an idea in my head, but can't actually picture what it would look like.

Many of the pictures I have saved have my own notes attached to them, noting what I liked about the picture. For example, my bedroom has light grey walls, light grey bedding, a purple duvet, and tan carpeting. I debated for well over a year whether or not to rip up the carpet to expose the hardwoods underneath, whether or not I might prefer a darker grey on the walls, and what colors/type of artwork to put in the room. So I poked around Houzz to see if there were any pics of a room that might be along the lines of what I was thinking about and it was very helpful.

I don't have the money or desire to hire a professional to create my space, as I'm creative, enjoy a challenge, and for me, half the fun is doing it yourself (I apparently enjoy the frustration that comes with DIY).

That said, I'm not entirely opposed to hiring a professional when needed. I actually have a significant remodeling project that's been in the works for a decade and would be open to hiring an architect to take a look at my plans, mainly to ensure that what I'd like to do will be feasible, space and code-wise.

My concern with this 'merger' or 'buy-out' is that houzz really doesn't want a message board such as gardenweb was. They are all about money and wanted/needed a larger audience for products. Otherwise why would the format be so stark? They are not trying to make the former Gardenwebbers comfortable here - if they were things would look a lot different.

I'm not sure it's worth investing a lot of time or effort here if this is merely a step toward downgrading the forums and increasing their sale of products.

Hope I'm wrong but this does not feel 'right' to me.

I doubt the forums would be downgraded or ended anytime soon. It's quite the opposite - my guess is that they were interested in the traffic that GW pulled in addition to the mountain of information the forums held. Just think about how often a GW thread was near the top result of a google search. I doubt very seriously that Houzz would be interested in killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.

Houzz is a business, of course the addition of garden web will benefit them but I see nothing wrong with that, it's better than garden web going under financially and the forums disappearing. I'm getting used to the format more and more day by day.

I haven't been following this thread while it went from too much white, etc. to odd mix comments, but I think it will be interesting to see how the marriage takes. I have been on both forums for a while, but I never found Houzz to be much of a resource other looking for photos for ideas and even that is limited. You search and get a gazillion hits, but then you see the smae photos over and over and if you want more info about how something is done, good luck.

On GW, DIYers, homeowners who hire out and the pros themselves all share information. Some things are custom, others handed down over generations or no longer available, but people share ideas about to get a look or a feel or other options regardless of who is going to do the work. The few times I've looked for details on Houzz, the pros never respond to queries or say it's all custom with no additional info. I'm not about to try doing my master bath DIY, but I'm also not going to be hiring anyone who is located 100, 1000 miles or more away either. I haven't seen a pro in my area whose work is representative of what I want to accomplish, so I really hadn't been looking on Houzz lately -- and if they can't help me find the info I need, whether the brand of a tile or a fixture or a pro I'd want to hire, that isn't going to change. Ironically, if I were going to hire a contractor from far away, I could name several long time GWers I would consider based on their advise and helpful sharing of info.

I think it needs intricately carved patterns too.

I think a hint of black would help to ground the space and create a focal point.

That's the problem! I haven't been focusing on the words! ;)

Did no one else notice our UK rug spammer?

I did, but they didn't include a link this time, so I didn't report.

I figured you would, Oly! I've reported him many times too but this time I got a chuckle out of it. I wonder if he even realized it wasn't a home design post.

I see no pictures in the original post :(

I think the OP was referring to the background page. In a previous post I commented on the annoying houzz sign-up pop-up, and in the last few days, I've noticed that one has been added to the GW forums. I have this forum bookmarked, and when I first click on it after turning on the computer, I get the pop-up, until I've logged in. Not a big deal, considering the courtesy that's been displayed by the mods and admins, but I'd like to have the choice whether or not to log in.

I want the babka back:/

It was familiar and funny and homey:(

OH... yeah I liked the vines and pictures that changed each season. And the old school 1990s clip art at the top.

Popups are crazy annoying - it's why I don't bother with anything on pintrest. I don't want to make an account. A popup that takes up half the screen is not going to make me make one, I'm going to get ideas from another site that doesn't bother me.

Yes, pinterest, too! When I do a google search I don't even click on the pics from that site anymore.

And speaking of annoying pop-ups, that toolbar at the top of the page deserves an honorable mention. Almost every time I want to click on the first thread on a page, I 'over-roll' and that darn thing drops down. Then I have to page up to click on the thread title. Harrumph.

Another pinterest avoider here! When I'm researching something I skip over
those photos too.

Mama goose, interesting that you're required to log in each time. The site
keeps me logged in, for some reason; I can't remember the last time I had to
log in here. I have the GW home forums page saved as a quick link in my browser
bar. Brings it right up, with no pop up for log in. I just restarted my
computer, to double check; still no log in required.

I wonder what the difference is...? I’m on an aging PC with Windows Vista;
Foxfire browser; my shoe size is 8 and I have green eyes, if that helps. ;-)

There are so many different ways to do things on computers, and so many
different possible components affecting any one result. Sometimes I think it
would be easier to figure out how they built the ancient pyramids. (At least
those types of questions are not a moving target, changing every other day.)

Except for the fact that I'm using a laptop, you are me!

I have my options set to clear the cookies every time I close Firefox, and I never use the 'remember me on this site' option.

lol, I should have typed before, "I'd like to have the option not to log in."

Oh, I see what you're saying...! You didn't type it incorrectly, I just read it too quickly. :-)

I will admit, I'm much more able to just focus normally on the posts here now, without being distracted because I'm feeling lost in a strange land. It's still very sterile looking, but I guess I've adjusted, better than I thought I would, back in February.

My eyes would still welcome something other than stark white on the sides, though...