skip to main content

Home Decorating Design Dilemma Using Houzz

Calling Emily H from Houzz

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

Hi Emily, Many of us old Garden Webbers have suddenly found that we can't navigate to the GW home decorating forums and can only navigate to the Houzz forums. And frankly we are sad because it makes it very hard to find our old friends. Many of us have been posting with each other for over ten years. Now it seems we are trying to find each other in Grand Central Station instead of a coffee shop. Can you explain what is happening?

Featured Answer

Emily H

6 years ago

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out! What you are experiencing is a change that was implemented where visitors to the GardenWeb site that are not logged in are redirected to it through the updated Houzz discussion format. This should mostly affect people that are not already users of the Houzz / GardenWeb sites. If you are logged in to your account, you should be able to access the site through your old bookmarks or links and view it as you have previously. Hope that helps!

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (63)

hoovb zone 9 sunset 23
6 years ago
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/decor

natebear your link doesn't work for me. The above does. The difference is an accent mark over the "e" in "decor". I notice the spell-affecter this forum uses adds the accented "e". I had to backspace and remove it.
deegw
Original Author
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Here's how I am getting to conversations. It's from a very old bookmark. I don't mind change, there just doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to some of the Houzz/GW changes.

Conversations
Related Discussions
pH problem...help!
Q
Comments (3)
What medium are you using? I have yet to meet a nutrient solution that didn't lower the pH. I use GH's 3 part liquid flora series and it always lowers the pH a point or so. If your tap water is 6 and it rises(lowers the acidity) it seems there must be something else affecting the pH. What else can you tell us about your system?
...See More
Kitchen Garden List For Emily
Q
Comments (4)
Hi Emily, Before I tell you how large our place is, I want you to promise me that you will stay calm and NOT hyperventilate. OK? It is going to sound like a 'gardener's dream' but most of the time it is a 'gardener's nightmare'! We are in a very, very rural area on a piece of land that was part of a farm until about the mid-70s. After that, the land was left fallow although it was leased out for cattle grazing. During that time, no one was keeping the land cleared out, so most of it reverted to cedar trees and obnoxious brush like greenbrier and poison ivy and 'trash trees' like hackberry, ash, elms, etc. I love all trees but the trash trees are weak and short-lived and are continually sick, sickly looking, rotting, dying and crashing down. Since purchasing this property we have spent thousands of hours and lots of $$$ on relatively inexpensive hand-held equipment like chain saws and multipurpose weedeaters that have steel cutting blades, trying to clear away the trash trees and brush. The greenbrier and poison ivy are still with us and always will be, although we work hard to keep it away from our cultivated areas and the pathways cut through the wild areas. If I had it to do over again, I would have bought a smaller piece of property. Actually, we were looking for a 3- to 5-acre plot of land, figuring that would give me more than enough room to play in the dirt. What we ended up with was 14.4 acres, which is enough to keep me constantly exhausted, and I don't even venture onto the 10 wooded acres that much. The land is beautiful. Our woods are gorgeous and remind my husband of Pennsylvania, where he grew up. We have ponds, springs, creeks and a swamp. The wildlife is amazingly abundant, which is good and bad. Our land is creek bottom land, so parts of it are lower lying than the land on two sides of us, which causes water to drain UNDERGROUND for weeks after a heavy rain and keeps us pretty wet and soggy for quite some time. Our house is on the highest part of the land, and we are not in an area prone to flooding, but my raised bed veggie garden some distance away from the house and on lower-lying land does have drainage issues. With this year's rain, those drainage issues have been quite apparent. Don't get me wrong. I love this place. I love every inch of the woods and all the beautiful native understory plants. I love the open pastures which, since they aren't used for cattle any more, aren't really pastures anymore. I guess I should call them meadows. I love the wildflowers and the wildlife. It is a maintenance nightmare though. Just mowing and weeedeating the approximate 4.4 acres that aren't wooded takes me a couple of days if the weather is dry and on my side. If it is continually wet, I often have to mow waist high grass with a wheeled weedeater (similar to a DR Field and Brush Mower) and then come back and redo it with the lawn tractor or a push mower. Weedeating takes forever. The bermuda grass we have was probably planted for haying many years before we bought the place. I know that I NEVER would have planted it. I spend untold hours trying to get rid of that bermuda grass because it is invasive and creeps into every cultivated bed we have. It is my dream to one day get rid of all the bermuda. Little by little, I am succeeding, but it will take me another decade at the rate I am going. We try to be good stewards of the land, removing overgrown invasive species and encouraging the good native ones. So far we have removed ALL the cedar from the 4.4 acres of open land, and now must start removing it from the wooded areas. We only work in the wooded areas in the winter when the copperheads, water moccasins and rattlesnakes are hibernating. I have learned so much about the soil, the plants and the wildlife since we moved here. I don't regret that we bought this place and I do, in fact, want for us to spend the rest of our lives here. However, I have had to accept that most of it will NEVER look the way I want it to, and instead focus on the land closest to the house and just try to keep it under control. Because it takes so long and is so hard to improve the soil on ever a very small piece of land, I have had to accept that most of what I grow will be plants that have to grow in red clay soil that is low in organic matter, holds tons of water when it does rain, and dries concrete-hard and cracks wide open when it doesn't rain. THAT is the reason I have had to learn so much about what does, does not, will or will not grow in clay soil. So, when looking for land, it is important to think about your life many years down the road. Do you still want to be mowing and maintaining several acres when you are 50, 60, 70 or 80 years old? Do you have to have everything look 'just so' or can you live with the overgrown woodland and wildflower-filled meadows that don't get mowed very often? Are you OK with tons of wildlife, including poisonous snakes and lots of predators like bobcats, foxes, raccoons, skunks, coyotes, panthers and cougars? If not, rural to semi-rural acreage might not be your best choice. I know I have sounded pretty negative, but I just want to give a realistic picture of what it is like to try to tame wild, relatively untamed land WITHOUT hiring someone with a bulldozer to come in and knock everything down, detroying decades-old trees and all the lovely wildlife habitat in the process. And, if hiring a bulldozer guy sounds easy and relatively cheap, think again. We have neighbors who hired a guy to clear and regrade their land and he spent most of TWO YEARS working on that, especially with regard to drainage issues. I know that I have made this whole thing much harder on myself than I had to because I have insisted on doing everything as organically as possible, so we don't use herbicides like Round-up or broadleaved weedkillers containing chemicals like atrazine or 2, 4 D. I simply refuse to poison the land. I work hard to save native plants, and work even harder to remove invasive ones, especially invasive grasses like Johnson Grass. It is worth it all to live here though. We have a beautiful place filled with all kinds of desirable wildlife like birds, butterflies, dragonflies, turtles, toads, frogs, skinks, lizards, salamanders, bunnies, etc., etc., etc. We have gorgeous sunrises and sunsets. We have a nice little 2-story Victorian house with wrap-around porches and a huge barn-style garage complete with a weather vane and cupola. We have the absolute best neighbors in the world on all sides of us and the people in our part of Love County are the nicest, kindest, most loving and giving people you will ever meet. I love it here. I suspect I would love it a lot more if we had only 4 acres, though, instead of 14. The moral of this story....be careful what you wish for! I truly love living here, but it ain't easy!!! Happy Growing!! Dawn
...See More
Call Out to Emily Hurley (Houzz Moderator) -- Miscategorized Explained
Q
Comments (7)
Emily -- I have since found out that the OP deleted that post. (I suspected as much, but wasn't sure. Both actions apparently happened at the same time!)
...See More
Emily !!! What happened?
Q
Comments (87)
I haven't been following the book threads but oddly, I am currently reading Being Mortal. bpath this thread has certainly meandered and this will take it even further out but perhaps you'll appreciate it. I hope its not too soon and perhaps it's even another reason to be grateful, as unexpected and painful as your loss is. This is a link to a blog written by my nephew-in-law, and if you click on Published work, then I saved an old man's life. He didn't want it under Washington Post, there's an essay about these life and death issues, The patient in the story is my father.
...See More
neverbedone
6 years ago
I still get the new Houzz format with the link....ugghhh. Again, conversations works fine for me just not the decorating.
My3dogs ME zone 5A
6 years ago
Same for me, d_gw and neverbedone. Conversations is OK, but not Home Decor.
just_terrilynn
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
This should mostly affect people that are not already users of the Houzz / GardenWeb sites

Me: That's not what's happening! Is this a new kid in the office trying to get famous or a planned sweep?
neverbedone
6 years ago
It's a miracle! I'm back to the old Gardenweb format. I'm not sure what happened as I didn't do anything different and I used the same bookmark I've used for years and now it's working. Did it change back for anyone else?
My3dogs ME zone 5A
6 years ago
Not for me...It's only Home Dec Discussions that is in the Houzz format. Can you post your link for others to try?
eld6161
6 years ago
Emily, this is a problem. It's very convoluted and only those of us who have experienced Gardenweb will be the ones struggling to get back to it.

Can you explain how NEW people will find it? Without new people, the Gardenweb community will gradually fade away.

Is that Houzz's point?
melle_sacto is hot and dry in CA Zone 9/
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
I have always thought that was their point -- blend the two and eventually a melting pot of even more shared ideas, interest, and ad profits will result. On their end, they provide two "doorways and buildings" that both get you to the same content.
Saypoint zone 6 CT
6 years ago
I finally was able to get back to GW by putting "home decorating" in the search box at the top of the houzz forum page. It took me to the old forum page. The new bookmark I created works as well.
sas95
6 years ago
I have not had a problem getting into GW. I just keep the decorating forum bookmarked and always come in that way.
My3dogs ME zone 5A
6 years ago
saypoint, Your method, and my old GW bookmark take me here - to Houzz.
Saypoint zone 6 CT
6 years ago
Now it's not working. :o(
deegw
Original Author
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
My3dogs, I know you are computer savvy and this must be driving you crazy. I can get back to the old way with my bookmark but there were a few days where it wasn't working.
My3dogs ME zone 5A
6 years ago
Hi, d_gw! I try EVERY DAY to get back to the Garden Web Home Dec page..anything that someone mentions works, I try. Looks like what worked for saypoint less than an hour ago doesn't work now. :-( It's a mystery for sure.
deegw
Original Author
6 years ago
The thing that I don't understand is why they are leaving all the rest of the GW pages alone and only messing with HD. We don't have that much traffic. It doesn't seem like it is worth the trouble.
natesg
6 years ago
There used to be a place where we could go and see users pictures of beiges or greens, etc. very easy to find paint colors. Anyone remember what I’m talking about?
Saypoint zone 6 CT
6 years ago
natesg, yes it was the gallery section. I've looked for those posts where people put up colors they've worked with. Can't find them anymore.
neverbedone
6 years ago
My3dogs, when I log in I have to click on Stories and Advice, then Gardenweb Discussions, then Home Forums and then Home Decorating. If I just log in, it goes to the new Houzz format even with my old saved bookmark. Once I have gone through the steps above, my old bookmark works. Try that and see if it works for you.

This is so convoluted especially when others aren't having this problem. .
nosoccermom
6 years ago
Hm, for me it's working, i.e. I'm back at the old GW interface (more or less). I have a Houzz icon in the left top corner and a gazillion Houzz messages , plus shopping cart, but the forum looks like the old GW, i.e. none of the list of all kinds of posts with most contributors, etc. or "what are you working on yelling" at me.
My3dogs ME zone 5A
6 years ago
neverbedone - I don't have 'Gardenweb Discussions' as an option under Stories and Advice, but I sure appreciate the people putting out new methods to try.

Under the Houzz method, I also have to close the tab I'm in that opens when I click on a subject, in order the get back to the list of discussions. If you want to post the link that you use to start your process, I'll be happy to try it.

I CAN get into Home Decorating & Design Conversations, (see below) using this link - http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/home-decorating-conversations/sort=featured

but when I click on Home Decorating, it takes me right to the Houzz Home Dec page. Maybe a Christmas miracle will happen some day...
neverbedone
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Here is a screen shot of when my cursor is over Stories and Advice when I'm not logged in. I have to follow the exact sequence I listed above after I log in or it won't work. (If I go directly to Home Forums it won't work. I have to click on Gardenweb discussions first)

I know it doesn't make any sense :(
My3dogs ME zone 5A
6 years ago
It doesn't work for me! And you're right, it doesn't make any sense!
Fun2BHere
6 years ago
Hey! Home Dec is back in GW format for me today entering from my old bookmark. Thanks, Emily H!!!
My3dogs ME zone 5A
6 years ago
Fun - can you post the link for others to try? Thanks!
ghostlyvision
6 years ago
My3Dogs, I'll post the link to this particular thread (I'm viewing through GW), I just wondered if it might get you back to GW if you come in through a thread (this is all so wacky anything might work). Also wondering if you've cleared your cookies/cache/history and see if that changes anything.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/4983366/calling-emily-h-from-houzz?n=38
neverbedone
6 years ago
My3dogs, when I am not logged in, if I click on my old gardenweb bookmark it comes up as < gardenweb.com/forums/décor> but then before the page can download it switches to <houzz.com/discussions/home-decorating>; and that is the page that downloads.

Even after I log in, my old bookmark still switches to the houzz page until I go through the steps listed above. Then the old bookmark goes straight to the gardenweb page.

Not sure if this is much help. I'm not that computer savvy. I hope you can get it figured out. It would be nice if Emily would come back and respond.
Saypoint zone 6 CT
6 years ago
I have no problem logging in to the gw page on my kindle. On my computer, forget it.
Saypoint zone 6 CT
6 years ago
Am I missing something or is it not possible to see a second "page" of posts in the Houzz format??
Fun2BHere
6 years ago
Well, I'm back to the Houzz format for Home Dec today, BUT my3dogs, I found that if I use my bookmark to go to Home Dec Convo which so far has shown up as GW format, then choose Home Dec from the breadcrumbs, Home Dec will show up as GW format.
My3dogs ME zone 5A
6 years ago
I wish that worked for me, Fun, but it doesn't. I so enjoy being 'back home' on the Conversations side, though. The format is so much nicer. I wish I could turn on the 'way back machine'! (Note: you have to be of a certain age to remember Mr.Peabody and Sherman.)
millworkman
6 years ago
Clea yoour cookies, relogin and should be all good.
My3dogs ME zone 5A
6 years ago
I've done that many times, millworkman, and it doesn't help. I can get into ANY GW forum except Home Decorating Discussions.
hcbm
6 years ago
Try going to Google and type in Garden Web Home Decorating Conversation. If you use the word Discussions you end up in Houzz.
Laurie Gordon
6 years ago
My3dogs sorry your unable to get into the discussion page of Decorating. I'm in Australia and this address is how I get in. http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums
My3dogs ME zone 5A
6 years ago
Laurie, Thanks so much for trying to help from so far away! I tried your link and get 'Page Not Found'.
Debbie Downer
6 years ago
Hey Im back! Not that anyone noticed I was gone LOL.

Just happy to not have the perky blondes and the bald guy exhorting me to "lets get started."

UMMMM..... I've been "started" on GW since 2003?

Question - is the reign of terror over, have they given up on trying to merge GW home decor with HOUZZZ?

Or does what I did yesterday have something to do with it... turned off cookies. Wish Id done that years ago- makes web browsing much more pleasant.
sunfeather
6 years ago
very frustrating. I check "keep me logged in" every time I log in and it never works.

Also, I didn't realized I wasn't posting on the gardenweb discussions and it showed up on the main Houzz. Wish they wouldn't fiddle with things.
ghostlyvision
6 years ago
Sunfeather, do you delete cookies (or have your browser set to do so when it closes)? Deleting cookies will also sign you out and make you have to sign in again the next visit.
Laurie Gordon
6 years ago
LOL! My3dogs, useless help from me then. I so enjoy your posts and helpful advice, so I'm selfish wanting your continues participation here.
Emily H
6 years ago
Hi there,

For those of you that are able to reach the discussions in the old format, stay logged in. If you are not able to stay logged in, check your browser settings to make sure you allow cookies from GardenWeb and Houzz. That is how you are identified as an existing user, so you are not introduced to the standard format that is on Houzz and instead access the site how it was most recently on GardenWeb. New visitors that find Houzz through google are shown the new format. That is why some of you are being redirected to that layout.

Users that participate either through the older GardenWeb format or through Houzz have access to the same content, so there should be no disruption to bringing in "new blood" to keep the forums alive. The only difference will be that new people will be using the new discussion format to post and read.

When you post on Houzz using the new format, you have the ability to cross post your discussion in up to three topics. This should do a couple things. First, your discussion will get it in front of more relevant people that may be able to help you. Second, there is no longer a need to post the same discussion in multiple forums and have the conversation scattered across them. You don't have to cross post it at all, however. You can post to just one topic.

As this is relatively new, and people are getting used to it, it is possible that some things may end up in the wrong forums where they are not relevant. When that happens, flag them and we are happy to take a look and make adjustments to that discussion.
mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
6 years ago
Hmm, If you are talking about what I think you are talking about, there are some bugs in it. Twice now, I've run into new people who have cross posted to the new format www.houzz.com/discussions/whatever, but haven't gotten responses since their post doesn't appear in forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/whatever. All the Gardenweb content appears in the Houzz version, but the Houzz content doesn't appear in the Gardenweb version where most of the posters still reside. The first time, the post wasn't in the Perennial forum, and the second time it wasn't in the Roses forum.
Emily H
6 years ago
Thanks, for the example! Do you have links to threads where you have seen this by chance? That would help us track down what might be occurring if it's not working as it should.
nosoccermom
6 years ago
I am logged in, and I have cookies (i.e. browser history) enabled.

I am trying to access GW via http://ths.gardenweb.com/ but then get redirected.

When I'm in, say, http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/antiques and click on Home Decorating on the top of that page, i still get redirected to the Houzz HD page.
mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
6 years ago
I don't remember where I ran across the first thread. The second was in the Organic Rose forum, here.
drdeb1234
6 years ago
Hey Emily. I didn't put your name in my post, but maybe you could get to it anyway?

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/whats-with-the-changes-on-the-app-dsvw-vd~4997254?n=1
Saypoint zone 6 CT
6 years ago
Why are you posting Questions about fall color and the age of our trees in the decorating forum?? The cross posting has cluttered it up until you can’t find anything!
nosoccermom
6 years ago
True!
Saypoint zone 6 CT
6 years ago
Back in the old days Spike would have declared those posts off topic and taken them down. They might be more appropriate for the conversations side of home decorating.
mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
6 years ago
As this
is relatively new, and people are getting used to it, it is possible
that some things may end up in the wrong forums where they are not
relevant. When that happens, flag them and we are happy to take a look
and make adjustments to that discussion.

Flag them as inappropriate. I don't know how many posts I've flagged as inappropriate in the Landscape Design forum since this change was made. I flagged one yesterday about (indoor) sink selections. I saw the post about oldest trees, but since I was seeing it in the Tree forum, I just chuckled about the fact it was cross-posted to Decorating.

Related Stories

LIFE Houzz Call: What Did Your Dad Teach You About Making a Home?

By Erin Carlyle

Fathers share skills and wisdom with their kids. What did you learn from yours?

LIFE Houzz Call: What Has Mom Taught You About Making a Home?

By Vanessa Brunner

Whether your mother taught you to cook and clean or how to order takeout and let messes be, we'd like to hear about it

LIFE Houzz Call: How Are You Handling the Record-Breaking Cold?

By Mary Jo Bowling

Share your tales, strategies and photos for everything polar vortex

BEDROOMS Houzz Call: Show Us Your College Dorm Room

By Stacy Briscoe

It’s a study in small spaces: Show us how you’ve brought the heart of home to your cramped college room

TASTEMAKERS Houzz Call: What’s Your Favorite TV or Movie Home?

By Erin Carlyle

Movies and TV shows capture our hearts with their settings as well as their stories. Which on-screen houses do you love?

HOLIDAYS Houzz Call: Show Us Your Christmas Tree!

By Annie Thornton

We’d love to see how you make your tree your own. Please show us your best photo and tell us about your traditions

HOUZZ CALL Houzz Call: Show Us Your 8-by-5-Foot Bathroom Remodel

By Mitchell Parker

Got a standard-size bathroom you recently fixed up? We want to see it!

LIFE Houzz Call: What’s Your Perfect House Size?

By Erin Carlyle

How big is too big? How small is too small? Please tell us which home size is just right for you

DOWNSIZING Houzz Call: What Are You Doing to Prepare for Retirement at Home?

By Erin Carlyle

One of the great joys of working less — or not at all — is more time to enjoy your home. What projects are you tackling?

Houzz Call: Show Us Your Paint Makeovers

By Becky Harris

Let your newly repainted house or room do the "How d'ya like me now?" strut right here — it might just be featured in an upcoming ideabook

Sponsored

Snider & Metcalf Interior Design, LTD

23 Reviews

Leading Interior Designers in Columbus, Ohio & Ponte Vedra, Florida

More Discussions

Coffee table help.

14

What to fill this awkward corner with?

19

Living room decorating ideas

15

SW sea salt help

5

how to make this wall a focal point?

3