And turn on all the lights in a room before taking pictures. Even during the day. Your camera captures much less light than you think, and to see colors as best as possible, lots of light is needed.

More important to me would be rough dimensions of the space and adjacent spaces

BUMP

All of the above.

And if you're posting a closeup pic of a small issue, posting a pic further back for context often helps. Thanks

If your dilemma is interior paint color, please tell from what direction the natural light comes.

You don't want suggestions for sunny yellow walls in a kitchen that faces west.

Don't usually agree with Patricia, but yes, all of the above.

Also, be specific in your heading about what you want advice about. "Desperate, please help" does not interest me, or many others I would guess.

And I'm sure this is just me, but posts with multiple mispellings and grammatical errors do not encourage me to respond.

And please when creating an account, give yourself a name. User-q14728whdo doesn’t count.

BUMP

Lots of questions popping up without any images. We need to remind posters again.

My fave is "What do I do with this wall?" And a photo of a blank wall with no clue as to rest of the room.

My personal favorite this morning: )

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6395552/bathroom-design-dilemma-help#n=1

Was I harsh in my comment???

I realize that pros like pics because they further define the problem. Houzz appears to put an icon next to the thread title when pics are available. If you don’t want to respond to posts without pics, you can avoid opening threads that don’t have that icon. You can also avoid opening threads that don’t have titles you like. And I think you can turn off notifications about a particular thread if you previously responded but want out.

I personally am fine with reading posts without pics. Sometimes people just need a few leads to get started. If I need pics to be helpful, I’ll either suggest the OP add pics or I’ll avoid responding. No one is paying me to participate, or requiring that I read every thread. I’m here to learn, and when someone here helps me, I try to pay it forward for a while. (Then I disappear for a while when I get busy with projects.)

I avoid forums that place restrictions on how to define a problem.

Most posters have NO CLUE what the problem is. The problem they may state, in fact, is often not the problem at all.

That's why we ask for the pictures. Prod and poke for fuller information. If a poster called a local designer? "Described" her issue, with the usual lack of any context, and quite understandably not the necessary or even correct design vocabulary ? ........ The first thing that designer says is " I need to see your home"

It's the same thing, right here. There are no clairvoyants among any of us.

Sorry, my mind kept going on this. Is there a virtual service where you can hire an interior designer on facetime or zoom to tour your house and offer a consultation? I’ve heard of a similar service for appliance repair, but I don’t know of one for carpentry or interior design help. I have always been interested in virtual assistance for carpentry and possibly tile.

If Houzz were to offer a fee-based service for something like this, it might be good use of a pro’s time and efforts. The text posts could be good advertising.

I think the appliance service was called frontdoor.com.

I’m not asking for myself - just wanted to plant the seed for the pros. No need to respond to this post.

I doubt anyone will be seeing your request before posting and it really doesn't cover the array of queries that involve different criteria. I think a good process would be that whomever is the first experienced person to read (and wanting to help) should ask for pertinent information, which can be quite different depending on needs.

Actually I avoid lengthy, convoluted descriptions and find that asking for 3 or 4 clarifications/info gets to the heart of the matter; then relevant follow up discussions ensue.

To state that it’s the least they can do, as it’s free is a bit harsh as everyone has the option of not choosing to reply to the query. Maybe ”the more info/details you provide will facilitate more feasible suggestions and please advise (etc)“

Houzz could solve this, but their current focus is being able to rival Amazon.

How?

Here's the top of my Mac page:

Right below , it says "Start a discussion"

Before that?

ALLLLL that is needed? An Icon to upload a TIP SHEET " tips to get the most help "

Note: I don't use the app. AT ALL. Even on the phone, I use Safari.: )

That would be a great tool.

It's true that simple questions may not need a photo. Sometimes I like to take a stab. The OP usually catches on pretty quick that they could post a photo. Especially if they start getting very general advice from others with phrases like "I can't tell but..." or "Hard to say..."

Some of the design forums that were gobbled up by Houzz used to have posting hint advice stickies at the top of the first page of the forum. Something like, "WELCOME! READ THIS BEFORE YOU POST!"

Perhaps someone could contact Houzz to see if one could be added here.

I'm personally not bothered by a lack of pictures or info. It's easy to scroll on by or politely respond to a vague request with a few questions.

I'm honestly more annoyed by the multi-thousand response chit-chat threads that push new threads off the first page. Annoyed is probably too strong a word, surprised is better.

Since you brought it up, please make the bed and hide the skivies before taking the picture 😂😂

Since you brought it up, please make the bed and hide the skivies before taking the picture

And close the lid on the toilet.

I'm always surprised when people post photos of a messy room and say "ignore the mess". How can we ignore it! On my own post (that some prob consider chit chatty haha) any time I think about posting a photo with a messy sofa or stuff all over, as soon as I start taking the picture I change my mind. And these are mostly people who have been helping me a few years so they probably wouldn't mind, but I do! Some people really zoom into a photo and see the title of the book on the coffee table. You know they will zoom in and see you whatevers lol

Jan, I usually get a kick out of you but can understand why others are taken aback and think you're rude.

I don't think you were harsh in that bathroom post but certainly there's no need to call anyone a brat. That's where you push it. You can make the comment without being insulting. Just try to hold back a tiny bit! lol

I have been adding DO NOT start another post . All duplicate posts make the whole issue a PITA. I know people think I am rude but my clients love that I am upfront and to have to read the same dilemma in 3 different places makes me crazy.

Note to above? I consider myself a brat to the max, when a wild wish list confronts a budget, or extreme limitations : )

A foot on the ground, a reality check? Puts the focus back on what is possible, and often equally as good as the unattainable , or totally impractical, or just........impossible.

Or as I said once to a client:

"Honey, you are a FANTASTIC mommy, but you just absolutely SUCK at laundry!" ( let's talk mountains of chaos here )

At which point we both split a gut laughing at the t.r.u.t.h.

Jan, I get it. I’m a similar personality. But in text and with strangers it’s hard to convey that. I actually find I am nicer and use less curse words in text just bc as I wrote them I think ehhh maybe I’ll substitute a different word. But in real time my mouth just says what it says haha
Or keep doing what you do and don’t mind the haters. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I'm quite used to the "haters" : )