There's another side? Where is the Before and After forum? Never mind,,just found it...darn, another forum to suck my time lol! I'll never get anything done around here now.

I'm actually not reading the comments any more, lazy. The pictures in the OP are self explanatory.

Bpath, exactly :-) But it doesn't take too long just to look at the two photos in each thread. The Design Dilemma is similar to this Home Decorating forum. I don't like it as much as this one, maybe because I feel like I "know" most of the posters on this side?

hmmm I "searched" for it and found a list of discussions..no pictures..for those of us too new here, where does one find this before/after form. I love to see before after pics!!

Arcy_gw, if you go to the main Houzz page, and then to the right is an "Advice" dropdown menu, the Before/After is there.

I like the Before/After for a quick spin, but I always find myself wanting more photos. I'm used to the GW kitchen reveals that usually include so many wonderful photos for consumption.

I do appreciate the exteriors on Before/After--some of those are really quite fantastic! (editing for glaring typo)

Thanks!! I suppose one wants congrats..but really why are comments needed? It is poor practice to tell people when pregnant what you will name the baby--EVERYONE has an opinion. If you wait until the baby is HERE, 99% of the time people keep their opinions to themselves.

It's basically a way for a Pro to SPAM the forum with their work rather than putting it in one of their Projects. The want congratulating pats on the back and to troll for new customers, not actual critiques. Homeowners are few and far between.

Almost no one on Houzz proper wants any real suggestions about keeping their room from being the ugly baby that everyone comments on how "healthy" he looks. And about a third of people are too netspeaked incoherent or photo incompetent that there IS no response possible because they can't be understood!

Arcy, my thinking as well. When someone posts a de facto picture all one can (should) do is admire or say nothing.

And I will admit to occasionally not wanting input into the planning but wanting someone else to appreciate the result!

This is one of the ways that Houzz seems more anonymous than Gardenweb, I guess.

It's more typical of the sorts of behavior people display on other sites that allow comments. And I am not sure why everything that gets posted for view needs comments. I think some people just get off on being mean with no real social repercussions.

There are several sites that post local real estate, or local design/building news, and there are always people more than willing to say "Hideous" or "I'd blow it up before I lived in it" or venture an opinion that really shows how ignorant they are. I don't think that Houzz is quite that bad, but I have noticed that when people comment on the pictures in the main site (not the advice section) that even there if they are making notes to themselves supposedly, there are comments like "Wall color. Hate everything else about it."

Also I think a lot of the "Polls" or "Before and After" are posted by pros showing their work, and I learned a long time ago on Gardenweb that Pros aren't "Real People" and they get held up to a much higher standard for criticism and are expected to have thicker skin.

I haven't ventured onto those forums- I just read articles and look at photos. My curiosity is piqued. I will have to take a look!

Oh my heavens!! I found the forum and I am more than SHOCKED at some of the comments!! Why would one bother!!? I get if you see a pit fall when something is in process, you might feel strongly about your advise, and YOUR advise may not be popular or well recieved..but to be just rude and mean for the "fun" of it? Sad is all I can say.

I ventured over to the other side and quickly came back. One reason was because of the type of comments and the other was because of the number of comments. One thread had been up for, if memory serves me correctly, 4 days and had 1,000!! (yes 1,000) comments. WOW.

I've looked a bit over there, but haven't been back, since one of the first threads I read was this one:
[Dining Room Reveal![(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/dining-room-reveal-dsvw-vd~2881778)

I agree with Pal, some people just seem to enjoy being mean when they think there are no real repercussions. Apparently they feel comfortable because they feel totally anonymous. We do tend to know each other a bit on GW, and that makes a big difference. I hope they never try to fold the GW forums into the larger houzz forums for this reason.

The OP writes a blog so she may have been prepared for the responses, but I still found it a waste of my time to read most of the comments. It's not so much that the comments are negative; it's that they are devoid of any thought or reason. Drive-by nastiness.

OK. I went. And came right back. Yowza! I know when I don't belong!

There's fodder for an Onion article in there somewhere.

Ha Ha, Onion article would be a blast.

" too netspeaked incoherent "

love that!

I seldom see a pro decorated room that I'd want in my house. that's mostly from the 'tv pros'. Even most of those free do overs - I wouldn't want even for free... I'd never let someone do what they wanted to a room.

WOW. At least there were plenty of people who said nice things.

I stopped reading comments on a few sites completely because they get negative so quickly. Why can't people just close the tab and move on?

Yes, I wander over to the Houzz forums occasionally. Sometimes I will even write a comment or participate in a poll. But I interact more with the posters there that are have a regular folks vibe and Houzz staff (Emily Hurley starts a lot of the polls) than professional designers or companies (I seriously doubt if Shea Homes cares about my opinions.)

But it bothers me a bit the superiority of "we are so much better/nicer on the GW side". (Overall GW sentiment, not meaning comments just in this thread.) It might be expedient, but not really higher ground, to disparage the forum participants there as a whole. Many of the great contributors in GW are also active participants on Houzz, There have been plenty of negative, even nasty-spirited, comments about plans and reveals in these forums, too. And many stood up for the OP of the houzz forum link that mudhouse posted.

The added value of the GW forums IMO is the extensive, detailed, and time consuming feedback that the members are willing to exchange here. Houzz forum comments appear to more often be short, and often lack detail. I expect at some point the two forums will get merged. Them + Us = We. As far as I am concerned, we are already we.

Not only the Before & After forums get ugly comments, but other places bring out the "best" in people too. There was a photo that was published in a Caracole catalog. I really liked the fabric and was working with a client at the time who wanted a few Caracole pieces. I contacted the designer of the room and simply asked if the fabrics in the photo were custom or was it something Caracole offered (because I couldn't find that hot pink velvet in their selections). They told me it was custom. That was all I needed. So, I saw someone else post a question about where could they order the curtains in the picture (it was posted on Houzz). And no one answered the person, so I took it upon myself to let them know I found out that they were custom, and to check with an interior designer to help them out find something similar. Someone (not the original person with the question) left this comment:

lizzybee17

I
think that's a pretty ugly remark when you post photos on this site so
you can advertise your work but won't answer someone's question . What a
jerk! IM a designer and the only designers I know who won't give up
sources ( especially for fabric ) are the ones who are not doing well.
IM shocked at your arrogance. If you are that creepy about it you should
have just said we DONT know!

I sincerely hoped that they weren't directing that at me. I did a little looking and it was at the time the only post that this "lizzybee17" had ever made, and had not other photos or ideabooks linked to their profile. But it really reminded me of how someone can feel perfectly comfortable sitting anonymously behind a computer and just lashing out. I'm not sure where this person got the idea that anyone who posts a picture actually owes anyone anything. It's a photo. It's an inspiration. Someone paid that designer a lot of money for that design.

What I have noticed is that there is very little discussion of process, or interaction in most of the Houzz forums as compared to here. I think GWers are more interactive at the outset and also more interested in the input of others, during the process. I guess Houzz's Design Dilemma is sort of interactional.

But I am not sure that I fully get the point of Before and After except for self-validation or self-promotion. It's more like "Look what I did without help from anybody". Great, but I see a lot of decent stuff out there, and I don't feel particularly invested in most of it.

A few years ago on Houzz you were not allowed to upload before photos. They only wanted finished rooms.

My comment above (hoping they don't fold these GW forums into the larger houzz forum) was, in hindsight, a silly thing to post, because I think they probably will too. And I should have clarified that I meant I hoped they wouldn't merge forums because of the size issue, not because GW folks are in some way better; I just think the large size of the houzz forums allows people to misbehave more easily...because people feel more anonymous. I think it may also attract more trolls who can zip in, damage a thread, and not come back (as in Karen's example above.) Good grief.

I think I'll spend more time reading in the houzz forums. Maybe if they merge us into a "we", we can figure out ways to deal with the drive-by negative comments. In the link I posted above, I did note that other posters chastised the negative posters. But by that time, as often happens, the energy of the thread was lost, as people were focusing mostly on the comments made, and not the decorating decisions. That kind of stuff rarely happens here in GW, to the degree it happened in that thread.

Maybe we can figure out how to make it work, though. (I have a feeling we'll have to.)

A few years ago on Houzz you were not allowed to upload before photos. They only wanted finished rooms.

I suppose this works if you use Houzz as a site for inspiration. But then, I am not sure there needs to be any way to comment. The only polite thing to do is comment in the affirmative, and like I said, that just seems like so much need for self-validation. Way too many things would be fine to look at but also allow the option for endless commentary, most of which I find unnecessary and not something that's going to enlighten me in any way.

And honestly, I don't really use other people's work as inspiration (other living people's work might be more accurate). When I am in the midst of designing something, I really don't want it to be someone else's idea, I want it to be mine. People probably think that's snotty, and perhaps my work would be better if it channeled other people's, but so be it. I'm not interested in copying someone else. Many interior designers or decorators probably make a good living essentially copying the work of more talented people, realistically there's nothing new under the sun, I suppose.

I have however, tried to use the pictures on Houzz as specific source material for specific elements, but I've found it a bit too cumbersome for that. An extensive Google search is just as likely to turn up a result at some point.

I love before and afters on gw as I find them cheerful and inspirational. I agree the after photo isn't looking for critique nor would I offer. I enjoy it nonetheless, particularly when it's a poster who has asked for and acted on (or disregarded) advice. It's the payoff.

I spent a little time looking around the Houzz Before and After section. I was surprised by the lack of content in the posts, and in the responses, in comparison with this site.

There is no helpful or educational interaction. It's just a few pics with very little information, followed by comments that are either quick compliments, or extremely rude comments. I have a hard time understanding why anyone posts anything there, other than pros showing examples of their work.

I agree that it's likely they will merge the GW and Houzz forums at some point. Based on what I saw in that forum, it's going to be a very sad day.

I've written and posted on that side, but I agree with all of the sentiments above. It also gets so much traffic that it's impossible to keep up with. I also believe, as is practiced on this side, that homeowners should get a free pass on their contributions unless they are asking for help. However, pros in a feature article should be open to constructive, respectful critique and discussion.

I really think people don't realize their comments on random photos during a search are viewable by default. I have some photos that get tagged at times.

I find on the design dilemma forum that some pros tend to be pretty non helpful. Many are simply just posts to advertise their services or promote the industry, and not actually offering advice. But others are answering the questions and can be quite helpful. When I was seeking certain items I posted questions, but got pretty non helpful general answers there. On the former GW side, you get much more detailed, specific responses.

If the forums merge, the high traffic problem will force us to learn to use the tools in the profile section (activity, bookmarks) to keep up with things we want to follow. I admit I am often still scanning threads the old GW way, to keep up here.

I don't think the merge would happen soon, or it might not happen at all. The pros might be resistant to a forum merge, because their side has a cleaner, more professional look. Factors could be how much the members end up crossing over (both ways), or how much GW members spend (I find the concept of buying things off of forums a bit out of my current normal buying habits). They might just introduce us, then phase out the GW side when they think enough members would stick with the Houzz forums. The money will talk, and the Houzz side has the $$$. It really is all speculative; Houzz may not even know where this is going yet. I've decided to just go with the flow and not worry about something that is completely out of my control.

But yeah, I am still learning how to best keep track of things I want to follow, too. And organizing what used to go into clippings hasn't been smooth.