Well, it’s New Years eve and seeing how I like short quotes about design stuff (actually on most any stuff, but’s design stuff here LOL!), starting a year ago, when I saw something interesting, thought provoking or just plain funny, I threw it onto a Word file, noting the poster and the date with the idea of posting it today.

For this posting I edited the list to 100, and when I sat down today to do it, it was actually much harder than I originally thought! A lot for great stuff. Could be wrong but I don’t think any thread is duplicated although some authors are represented more than once.

It was fun plus I think it’s healthy to poke fun not only at oneself but one’s profession now and again. It keeps life from being taken too seriously. These are not chronological but very loosely arranged by, well, my topical whims!....Which was fun in itself.

I didn’t post the authors (BTW, none of these quotes are mine but wish some were!), but if anybody recognizes their words, feel entirely free to jump in and claim the number!
Happy New Year everyone and enjoy….I hope.

1.”I hate to wade into the viper's den, but here I go…”
2.”Due to the sheer craziness in this thread, I hesitate to even post, but I'm gonna…. “
3. “This plan needs to be scuttled and started anew. Designing a house isn't like playing tetris...”
4. “When you lack design talent, hiring someone else who has dubious design talent isn't likely to improve the situation.”
5. “The plan [The Aspen] is one I've seen with various modifications on the GW many times. It tends to generate large lumpy houses with little interior light. Aspen, CO should get a court order to prevent associating their name with this plan.”
6. “The total composition should then look really powerful, like Bogart in a good fedora.”
7. “Doors should relate to the ground; windows should relate to the sky.”
8. “I'm not expecting my mother to use the urinal, only men.”
9. “Heaven forbid we don't lock that little door and a kid comes thru that door into the master.....during a certain time...wow!”
10. “If you don't have a chef's apron, I hope you'll get one. There is something about putting on a chef's apron that makes you feel... well, like a chef!”
11. “Seems to just be a drive-by poster. I think we are all wasting our time.”
12. “Staying true to the bones and style of your house and avoiding faux finishes are the best ways to keep things from looking "dated".”
13. “At 62, I'm pretty “dated” myself. And I should worry about my kitchen?!?”
14. “"Outta my way!" was how my Mom solved circulation problems!“
15. “Is it inherently wrong to tinker with floorplans for fun? So only those who can paint like Rembrandt should pick up a paintbrush? “
16. “We have seen a RARE few architect designed plans with sensible kitchens.”
17. “And even with ALL the time we spent with a very talented architect, there are still
improvements. Especially in the kitchen, since architects are not KD's.”
18. “The Kitchen Forum is going to eat you alive. Kitchen design is its own subset of skill and architects are rarely proficient at it.” (An observation about the one of Architectrunnerguy’s posted house designs).
19. “I finally faced the fact that my home will never look like the pictures here on Houzz. Now no more stressing. It is what it is.”
20. “I worked with a builder who said, "my draftsman is terrific". Um, NO!”
21. “Thoughts: Start over, hire an Architect. This plan screams "help me".”
22. “O.k., you asked for it. ;) the giant garage is fugly. There, I said it!”
23. “This isn't DIYable just because you have design software. It's not good design.”
24.”I'm usually a "try to work it out" person - BUT NOT IN THIS CASE!”
25. “This is looking like one of those "confirm I did all the right and important things" thread.”
26. Thread title: “I've put on my fireproof undies....thoughts on plans and elevations?”
27. “You seem so darn excited and happy with what you have here. :-) Are you sure you want a true critique? How thick is your skin?”
28. “When this group first gave me advice on my floor plan, I had to log off for a few weeks to compose myself.”
29. “I really appreciate everyone's insight but I'm stressing here!!!”
30. “Thanks to everyone for their comments. It's all very helpful. This is a minefield and
navigating through it is very difficult.”
31. “Am I making a mistake by not pushing for the breezeway? Sorry, I'm on the verge of a panic attack over this.”
32. “Thank YOU for being able to see what we see. Some people get very defensive!”
33. “The building process is extremely emotional, and really deranges your rational thinking. It can be hard to separate things you really want, from things that are a temporary fixation. It's like trying to distinguish true love from overwhelming lust. When you are in the throes of the fixation, reason goes out the window. And there's lots of pressure, obviously.”
34. “Don't make yourself sick over this...these are very fixable problems.”
35. “They say if your marriage can survive building a house, it can survive anything.”
36. “You won't find this kind of arrangement in any building other than a fire station.”
37. “Complete the house design before choosing the size of trim. You are slipping into the most common DIY design trap. Design the big ideas and use the small ones to reinforce them.”
38. “A little frustrated. My doors were put in and we realized a mess up by the architects.”
39. “This is another mistake the architect made.”
40. “Our last house was the only one that was designed by an architect (but not custom), and from what I've learned in my research, was an absolute disaster design-wise.”
41. “No, not tongue in cheek, it actually happened. No one is perfect, including our architect!”
42.”I learned the hard way that *any time* you tell the architect to make changes to your plans, you must re-read the entire plans all over again to make sure nothing *else* has been changed.”
43. “None of the Amish in our area have a phone or a website. Seems unusual to me.”
44. “The thought is that you can strip for your shower, get cleaned up, then get dressed without running across the house, naked….”
45. “Legally, you have no leg to stand on. I am serious, put your legs over your head and take a walk around the block, which you have a much better chance of doing than winning this case.”
46. “These atrocious roofs that keep being vomited upon atrocious houses are beneath anyone's dignity.”
47. “My sister's husband is a good contractor, but SO has put his foot down and does not want him doing any work on our house.”
48. “I would have fired my GC yesterday, but I am married to him.”
49. “Every day as our construction goes along relatively smoothly I thank my wife for slapping some sense into me when I was thinking about GC'ing it ourselves.”
50. “A good final design usually consists of more than roofing over a space and packing it with furniture.”
51. “I hope Grandma never has to pee when she visits.”
52. “I had a builder tell a client that they would be moved in by the end of July. Sure enough, they moved in on July 57th.”
53. “Someone really named a house plan "Buttermilk Bottom"?”
54. “Don't put time constraints on the selection of an architect. It's akin to selecting a spouse, you will know when you find the right one. It's even easier, you don't have to sit through boring dinners or watch movies together.”
55. “ARG is being much too kind about your stair design. It looks like something you might find in an apartment building with the fire rated doors removed.”
56. “Yeah, I call my house the $5000 house. Every time something breaks, it's $5000.”
57. “I refuse to do the math on my build.”
58.” “Life Happens”. I’m not sure I spelled “Life” correctly but I know it has four letters.”
59. “Roof diarrhea.”
60. Comment: “I see the potential for a Robie House by Frank Lloyd Wright.” Reply: “Not with the designers he's working with”.
61. “I have a guest room with a cathedral ceiling that is as cozy as an airplane hangar.”
62. “I have learned many techniques for the successful resolution of owner-contractor disputes and name calling has not been one of them.”
63. “The most elegant room has the grand piano and a bathroom opens right there. I could not live with that kind of “tinkling” so close to the ivories.”
64. “You have multiple roof gables jammed together to create an awkward "roof wedgie"”
65. “It's seizure inducing to have that much pattern.”
66. “Here's a visual. Put on plaid pants, then a striped shirt and a polka dot jacket, then put on too much jewelry ... there, you just dressed up as your front elevation!”
67. “Omgosh, pass the Tums.”
68. “I'd need a lifetime supply of Xanax if I had to live within those walls.”
69. “Simpler is ALWAYS better. In architecture, in art and in life. Make it simple and it will stay comfortably with you for life!:-)”
70. “Why start with a poor amateurish design from pretend architects and then pay an architect to fix it?”
71. “No one said having money automatically gives you good taste.”
72. “The fact that something sells is hardly the test of creative design...or even good taste!”
73. “We all have different tastes and ideas. For my taste, that front elevation is a jumbled mess.”
74. “You have to wonder why the OP even bothered to post here, since he obviously has the answer he wants.”
75. Thread title: “Exciting question about toilet location” (Emphasis mine).
76. “A home's exterior isn't a dress that you slip onto a house. It's the body under the dress. Some dresses look really awful on some body types. You want to dress for your body type. Then no one notices the dress. They notice how great the body looks.”
77. “Design isn't opinion. Or subjective. It is a rigorous approach to pare down to the absolute basics before building it up with the decorative flourishes. Plan creation is not the same thing as home design.”
78. “Strong, enduring architecture has a "spirit" and an emotional stimulus/reward every bit as important as a 3-car garage and a "drop-off zone" space. What good is a house with granite countertops if it doesn't refresh the spirit and encourage life daily?”
79. Thread title: “What item did you give up in building your home?” Reply: “So far, I am giving up my sanity.”
80. “The scale of the entire house is so off I am wondering if they used monkeys to draft it.”
81. Reply in a thread about how the size of a house looks during construction:
“When there is an empty site it looks perfect.
When the hole is dug it looks big.
When the foundation goes in it looks small.
When the first floor sheathing is put on it looks big.
When the stud walls go up it looks small.
When the gypsum board is installed it looks big.
When the furniture goes in it looks small.
When you write the final check it looks huge.”
82. “And that POS was designed by an architect? Are they just too spineless to stand up to the client?”
83. “We used an architect that apparently shouldn't be allowed to practice based on what he designed for us.”
84. “Holy God, that first plan from the architect is a hot mess.”
85. “Spaces seem wide where they should be tight and tight where they should be wide. It’s unusual for an architect to not have a better sense of scale.”
86. “The architect doesn't really have a clue on what things cost, so we've been relying on the builder. This is actually the second architect.”
87. “Best way to estimate cost is to get plans and bid it out. Worst way: Ask the internet.”
88. “It's always a good thing to be budget conscious. However, if everything in a house was a simple dollar and cents decision, then there would be no Grade III granite or buffalo soaker tubs anywhere, would there?”
89. “I am beginning to be spiteful towards this entire project- what is supposed to be our dream home. I manage stress very well based on my work/professional life - but right now - I am about to blow.”
90. “I yelled because when I asked how long the repaired doors and drawers would take to receive, he said "I dunno" and then I lost it.”
91. “Somewhere during the process, "pulling the trigger" may take on an entirely different meaning.”
92. “My big quibble with all these "review my floorplan" exercises is they treat the house as floating in the void.”
93. “Context is everything, but we seldom see it or consider it here where people simply post floor plans and ask for comments.”
94.”I feel like I am standing beside one set of railroad tracks and seeing a train coming from the left and a train coming from the right. Please let us know how this turns out.”
95. “They don't have a clue how to do stained concrete. A kindergarten finger painting class would do better.”
96. “I thought I was working with a designer until I found out the person didn't have a lick of design ability.”
97. “All hands to the lifeboats! It's suddenly getting deep and out of control in here... “
98. “Alright. Everyone, let's take a breather. Inhale, exhale….”
99. “In the end, we're all doing the same thing, trying to help. <3 I don't think it's *anyone's* intention to offend anyone, but to truly get them to explore design options while they still can.”
100. “And most importantly I learned to slow down and enjoy the design process . . . not get so caught up in the little things . . . be flexible . . and be grateful.”

Happy New Year everyone and wishing all a prosperous, healthy and only happy home building experiences in 2017!