Just want to say I love the art. As you can tell from my username, I love a path and the birches seem to invite me to walk among them. And they are extended in the arrangements on either side.

You are inspiring ME to rearrange my bookcases in the LR. They have become chock-a-block with books, too much so.

I recall a post from a few years ago, the finished shelves told a story about the person--interests, family origins, etc--and I loved it. Yours seems to do that, too. And I've tried to incorporate the idea. I should get brave enough sometime to post a photo...I'd have to dust first... ;)

I got so much help from here with every aspect of my house. There were so many things I would never have even heard of, like tapmaster and air switches and tons of other things I can't remember now.

It's been six years (hard to believe!) since I moved in, so I can't really remember any more everyone who contributed to helping me perfect everything, and especially my kitchen.

But I do distinctly remember palimpsest's input into the final design for my book cases in my gathering room. See that nice fluted line along the sides--- that was all Pal.

I first stumbled upon the old gardenweb probably over 15 years ago - looking for washer/dryer reviews. I got a lot of good info on front loaders - pros and cons. I ended up buying one and couldn't be happier - have had several now. I probably would have chickened out had I not found so much good real life info.

Then when we remodeled our kitchen I spent far too much time in Appliances and Kitchens but again got an amazing amount of real life info that helped me feel confident about my decisions.

And most recently got a lot of info on induction ranges. Bought one for our new old house and couldn't be happier. I don't think I would have even considered this had I not heard all about it in Appliances.

I have gotten lots of help over the years but what I am particularly drawn to right now is a post a few months ago about art that is not centered. Then as I looked around my home I realized that most of my art is not centered but it wasn't intentional it was just what my eye was drawn to when I hung it. That one post has given me so many ideas on how to tweak my space.

Most of the help I've gotten has been on the Cooking forum and some of the gardening forums.

Three kitchens and two bathrooms. Would never have been so good without the awesome help I got here.

Guess I'm the odd 1 out here, since I was mostly on the gardening side, back in the day (1996-ish til present). I spent some time on the crafts forum on THS!, and the sustainability forum, which ended up as Hot Topics

And boy, did I learn a lot about gardening too!

When I was getting ready to have the carpet and floors replaced in 2016 I had no idea what I wanted, the new options that were available in the years since 2002 when I had first bought the place and had sheet vinyl for the ‘wet’ rooms with carpet everywhere else. So, I came to houzz, learned some things and one of those things is that there are pros who are a bit abrasive but know what they’re talking about...after my project was done I stayed around. :)

Fast forward to summer 2017 the mister and I moved cross country to a new home with lots of things to do, from paint and floors to replacing some appliances, staining the deck that used to be an obnoxiously bright shade of red, getting a new sofa for the main living room, granite counters in the kitchen with a new stainless sink. Now I just need to find a way to kill the GE washer dryer set so I can get a new washer and dryer of better quality and with the features that the current ones are lacking (which is lousy...who wants a dryer that doesn’t auto shut off even if set to a timed dry cycle, or a washer that doesn’t have a delicate cycle!?)

Like Lars, the majority of my GardenWeb wisdom was obtained on the gardening and cooking forums.

Later I gathered info through Kitchens when we did a remodel. The two main things I'm grateful for are an abundance of drawers vs lower cabinets (should be standard in all kitchens) and a toe kick on the trash/recycle cabinet.

I have been on GW since 1999(?). I have learned a lot from the forums but probably the most useful thing was that you get what you pay for with free online advice. Take everything with a grain of salt and do your own research. I had to later eradicate several invasive plants that people recommended because I didn't do more research before I planted them. Live and learn.

I arrived here when my kitchen remodel was mostly done, or at least I'd made certain commitments. I started with my backsplash. I had lots of help with my bathroom remodel. Other than that, lots and lots of the little things that matter a lot: new front door, outside lights, inside lights, recipes, shopping, sheets, BOOKS!!!

I too found GW back in 2010 when most of my kitchen was done; actually DH stumbled across it when he was researching soapstone for our counters. I do wish I had jumped in more deeply then, but I didn't know what I didn't know. (The kitchen managed to turn out well regardless.)

But boy, the bathroom forum really helped me a lot when we remodeled our master bathroom - thank you Mongo. Then more recently here, just learning about design and yes, book recommendations. I can't even remember all the great things I've learned from the different forums I frequent.

The Old House forum, the Paint forum, and the Repair forum have patient, knowledgeable people who have guided me time and time again in making repairs and improvements to my house. And I have asked some pretty stupid questions in my time.

My home has been pretty much decorated the way I love it for quite a while now. I’m not one to redecorate every couple years, and I’m pretty confident when it comes to decorating. But, on this side, I’ve had so much help and great advice over the years. . Wonderful suggestions of places to see and restaurants to visit on our trips. And, of course, you all were a godsend when DD was being stalked by some guy in her apartment complex. I was so frightened! You helped so much with ideas and suggestions of things to do, safety features to buy for her, etc. You have no idea how much you helped me!

I have been helped many times during three different remodels. There were points in time where I became tired and overwhelmed and started doubting myself with my picks. GardenWeb stopped me from going off the deep end.

I started out when I found the Garden design and Bluebird forums back in the late 90’s or early 2000’s or around that time. The bluebird folks were very helpful when I started putting out nest boxes. And the Garden Design forum used to have some very helpful designers who offered very useful plant & design info.

Then I got a little help from the pond forum and later found this side and the bath and kitchen forums. I’ve lurked a lot and like someone said, didn’t know what I didn’t know, except what I liked and didnt like.

I think I got here when we were refreshing our kitchen and bathrooms around 2007 or so. I would absolutely not have found out about induction ranges had it not been for GW! Not sure if I saw Big Chill here or on RetroRenovation. Maybe I heard of RR here? Lots of input on roof shingles, area rugs, paint colors for sure.

I go to the Garden forums on occasion, but I sometimes get smug responses there, unfortunately. Look, if I knew this all, I would not be posting. And I work in human-based science, not botany, so, no, I don't have a background in that though I work with the local food systems.

I came here via learning about gas ranges. I have no idea of how I stumbled onto the conversation side.

I am so happy for the camaraderie and great advice on everything from books to podcasts and handbags and travel. On the decorating side, I have been persuaded to consider a very modern chandelier for my dining room, which I never would have done without the prodding from a fellow GWer.

I appreciate seeing such a wide range of people discussing such varied subjects.

I found you a bit later than I'd like to; I did open some threads and silly questions and you helped me figure out stuff. But just from reading itself, I've learned so much. So many things that I discovered, whether related to construction, decor, architecture, art, history, geography, language of course..so many new great books and sources ..you name it, I learn it here. It's extremely interesting. It's like discovering a whole new continent. I enjoy listening (well reading) to so many intelligent interesting people. How did you help? you're kidding me. you exist:)

Thanks to the lovely folks at Laundry (and a lovelier group of people there couldn't be) I have a front load that I love, a solution to a problem, a steamer, and Persil, but not for everything, and I know that is okay to have more than one detergent.

I have tears of laughter from the Broom thread (seriously, I just swept the kitchen floor and started thinking about that thread) and a smile whenever I see a towel pig, and a sigh of contentment when I see CarrieB's kitchen door. I have movies to watch, books to read, clothes to wear. Truly, I look at things with new eyes after a thread about, well, just about anything. When I like or dislike a building, a house, a room, now I know why.

Fortunately, I found GW before we were too deeply into our custom build. I was able to incorporate drawers into my kitchen lowers, learned about walnut for kitchen counters, and ended up with an amazing walnut island top, and countless other things. I love design...I enjoy seeing pics of design challenges and triumphs.

Oh my if we're counting all the ways I've been helped by GW over the years the list is endless. I started coming here in 1998.

First of all it was in the garden. Then there were many issues that came up with interpersonal relationships where GW people became my sounding board. There was cyber hand holding when my daughter left home and embarked on her life as a young adult. As I age there are plenty of times where reading what other people are going through helps. Then there are the undergarment consultations that bathing suit consultations etc.

To say I appreciate GW is putting it mildly! Thanks everybody for answering here. I'm too tired at this moment to say individual comments but I will come back and say them tomorrow.

My first exposure -opinions about All-Clad from the Cookware? forum in the late 90's/early 2000/1, which helped me jump into Obsessive Collecting for a while. Because of Kitchens I went with all drawers in a prior house's renovation, and thankfully with induction and important design changes more recently. From other's choices, learned about and selected many fixtures, was educated about paint, flooring reinforcement and epoxy grout and a gazillion more things. The laundry forum led me to my Speed Queen stack; never would have known otherwise...but more importantly I am reminded by yeonassky's post above that the Community and feeling of familiarity with others, reading other's opinions and life stories, etc. has kept me returning. Maybe over a subconscious desire for actual connection....

Great idea for a post! I started out with Spike in 2001 (?). While updating my kitchen in 2005, research on the kitchen forum steered me to lightly veined marble subways and honed jet mist granite for the counters (which is a good soapstone substitute). We moved away years ago but I would still make the same choices. I would probably repaint the barn red walls :)

When I built my house 15 years ago the Gardenweb forums were very helpful. I didn't even always have to ask or make a post. There were so many conversations and a wealth of information already discussed and available. I really miss the old Gardenweb site. I've not used Houzz for anything at all. I really dislike the site, and have long had suspicions about its ethics. The only reason I even venture near it is to read Gardenweb.

My containerized plants don't die now.

I came to GW via Kitchens. It was 2009 and we just did our kitchen. I chose a BS that looked horrible and I was very upset about it. (We ripped it out the next day)

Although ultimately it was a small tile shop that helped me pick my tile, the kitchen people put things in perspective.

I only wished I found the forum before I chose the granite!

In 2011 Pal described color vs content based rooms. It was a light-bulb moment for me to realize why I liked certain rooms in my house and disliked others. That post still helps me articulate my style to this day.

Just one of many things I could mention....

I'd like to read that post! About color vs content

April, Here you go. Too bad all the fun pictures are gone by now.

[Color vs Contents thread[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/palimpsest-color-vs-contents-based-rooms-dsvw-vd~2589337)

wow wow thank you so much Jennifer!

run to read

In addition to decorating help, of which I have received much here, almost two years ago during a bath addition, the gw community helped keep me calm, sane and hopeful when my DH was diagnosed with rectal cancer. I am a calmer and better person because of this communities' prays, thoughts of well wishes, stories of similar battles and advice on how breathe and meditate. I am so thankful for the group here on the conversation side for the time they take to help a stranger in a time of darkness.

When we bought a new oven and went through some rigmarole to get it installed (updating electrical, modifying cabinet) and turned it on, we were appalled at how noisy it was. Never having thought to ask about the noise level of an oven, I went right to Appliances and searched, and sure enough! It's a topic! Using the advice there we decided on a Bosch, and have been very happy with it. One piece of advice was to ask the store if we could listen to the oven. We did! Our salesperson said to come around closing time and wait till the people are gone and when they turn off all the TVs, most of the fans, and the fountain, and we could listen to the ovens in their demonstration kitchens. It was a great idea.

The kitchen in my last home was created through all I learned on GW. It was the best kitchen, I moved from there strangely enough 3 years ago this weekend and I still miss that kitchen everyday. In addition to the kitchen, I received help in “staging” my house for sale, the first appointment made a good offer - unfortunately that fell through, but after that almost every other appointment resulted in an offer. Sold to I think the 7th appointment. This house was neighborhood that had seen better days with low rated schools, so thanks to my fellow GW/Houzz members the response was well beyond my expectations. In the next few months I am going to be asking for help again, need to make the current house work better for us.

So many things over 4 houses over almost 20 years! wow. maybe I move too much. the latest big one was my first bathroom remodel/refresh and we still love it every day!

Master Bathroom · More Info

Master Bathroom · More Info

Also framing these small oils on panel I got at an auction. love them every day too! :)

Entry · More Info

Entry · More Info

From GW, Mostly kitchen ideas for my new build: changed its dimensions somewhat (The house elevations and general insides were already set before i discovered this place.) Under cab drawers, induction range, a prep sink. Extra width on the peninsula to accommodate splashing from the main sink. That sort of thing.

Also recently got encouragement to put up the artist's portrait of myself as a child in the hallway. (I added old black and white photos of my parents next to it.)

I like the sense of community in much of GW. And I love the Cooking Forum.

From Houzz I did set up some inspiration pics. And I bought one bathroom rug. But otherwise I don't pay much attention to it.

I found this Decorating part of GW via its Kitchens. Forum. As we were starting to plan our total kitchen gut and remodel, the folks on the Kitchens were a huge fountain of information and advice. Everything from how and what to do to set up a good, working temporary kitchen, to opinions on granite vs Silestone and other counter choices, appliances, andvwhere to find the best hardware for my new cabs online. I learned about Silgranit kitchen sinks, ordered one at the recommended online place. . . and will be forever grateful for that! Gosh, I love that sink!!! I saved so much money and stress by accessing Kitchens! And then one final bit of advice on how to keep your sanity through it all: a glass or three of wine every evening (LOL)! From there, I found our wonderful GW decorating forum.