Other than checking users' profiles for activity or mine for messages, I pretty much stick to the GW side.

Early on, I looked at the Houzz side and was very disappointed in what I saw - mostly pros trolling for work by posting pictures of their projects (most of which I cringed when I saw) and not being able to answer questions asked about those pictures! (They either ignored the questions or answered that they didn't know the answers.)

I find the GW side much more user-friendly and helpful.

Thank you Buehl. :) You confirmed my suspicions. I was hoping I'd missed something though. I do hear of people saving Houzz pics to a page though and thought/hoped there was more to the place. Back to reading and sometimes posting on GW. I do love it here but sometimes want different/more. Maybe i have too much time on my hands these days....:)

I do look through the pictures and save them to my idea books. Otherwise, like buehl, I stick to the GW side. Since I'm building a house, the building a home forum is the one I frequent the most, although I like to look through most on this side.

I read the stories fairly often. And I use the ideabooks for saving photos. I have also bought a couple of things here--small white simple human trash cans. I have read the design dilemma posts a handful of times. I like GW forums better.

Thank you cpartist and crl. I visit everywhere on GW and enjoy the way the site is set up. But wanted a change as I said.

I bought and am using daily a treadmill for part of a new exercise regime. Also I've been listening to TED talks recently and trying new genres of books, music etc but haven't found something new on the web in quite a while. I came to GW in 2001 and find most of my interests being represented here but don't want to become stagnant. :)))

What stories are you referring to crl?

I look through the Houzz forum to see if I have any possibly helpful thoughts on a design dilemma. I know some DIY tips and also try to help people go for a look that works for them and their home rather than what is "on trend." I try to assist those working with older oak cabinets or sometimes paint color. Often, people are trying to "up date" in ways they don't work with their home. I also try to give people confidence to find their style rather than copy a magazine pic.

The thing I don't like about Houzz is that I can't save images to my Pinterest board. I know I could use the ideabook, but I like having all my pics in one place. Or maybe there is a way and I just haven't figured it out?

I use the website, not the app, for Houzz browze. I started on Houzz quite awhile ago when we were building our home. The Stories are randomly scattered among the frontpage photos on my view or can be found by clicking on the Stories and Advice tab. They include tours of houses in various styles, tours of rooms (e.g. Kitchen of the Week, Small Bathrooms ), decorating and paint/color articles etc., and allow comments, which often result in helpful ideas from posters. I've customized my frontpage views for the styles I'm drawn too, and the photos can be fun to look at.

I also will stroll through the archived photos under the Photos tab at the top. You can filter the photos by room, exterior etc, and them filter them again for size, style etc. You can then search your filtered photos with a keyword search i.e. White counters gray cabinets. If you click on an individual photo, there is a 'Save' or Email' option which allows you to save the photo to a collection of saved photos (called an Ideabook generically, but you can specifically name it for your project i.e. Garage). The "clicked on photos" are also where you can ask the poster questions about the room (wall color, cabinet mfg etc) or search to see if your question has already been asked and answered. As Buehl noted, sometimes there are responses and sometimes not. A lot of times, searchers don't search the Question tab and re-ask the same question that was already answered, and get no response. So always search that tab to see if the Answer has been given. If there is a green flag on a photo item, clicking on it will give you more information.

If you're contemplating a decorating or reno project, or just daydreaming, the photos can be fun and useful. I've searched for random things like 'Yellow pillows, blue rug' or Red Houses or 'Hillside garden' and gotten inspiration and wasted hours. It's basically like browsing shelter magazines.

The GW threads themselves are MUCH more useful and nicer, mo. I'll scroll Design Dilemmas, generally kitchen (or building snafus, much like gawking at a traffic accident) and post occasionally, especially if someone is being sneered at. One poster wanted to put her microwave behind pivot doors and was mercilessly harangued by a Pro. We have those doors for our tv, so I posted a photo of ours.

There is a Section under Design Dilemmas called Other and I stay away.

Hope this helps

I was a Houzz member before the merger, under a different name and e-mail account.

So the two users stay separate.

Yes, I find the stories in the stories and advice tab. You can use the subject index or just click on the green "STORIES FROM HOUZZ" to get the newest, which is what I usually do. They are short articles and fairly heavy on photos, typically on home decorating or kitchen remodeling or the like. I can't help but comment on the kitchen ones sometimes because they are so, well, shallow (like a recent one that advocates dish drawers as some ultimate dishwashing solution without mentioning that you can't fit big stuff in and that they don't clean as well as a Bosch or Miele). But I like the eye candy and sometimes they make good points.

@daisychain - I save pics from Houzz all the time by using the snipping tool on my laptop. Snip the entire picture or just a portion, save it, then put it on Pinterest and delete from your computer. Yes, there's an extra step in there because Houzz does not want to make this easy, but it's very do-able.

Thanks, DLM. I'll give it a try.

Daisychain, I have gotten rid of all my albums, notebooks, collections, etc., including 27 years of Bookmarks and Favorites (Yes, I'm old and an even older geek.) in favor of Pinterest. I've gone through everything, pinned it and there's a note as to why I saved it. Imagine the crap I weeded out and marveled over. What was I thinking at that point in time? Anyway...

When you right-click on an image you get the linking/embing options. Click in the large and it highlights the whole thing.
I paste that into a stickynote, word doc, notepad, whatever.
Look for this:

<img src='https://st.hzcdn.com/simgs/c801c830080522c1_8-2458/traditional-porch.jpg' alt='Custom at Mauldin Circle' border=0 width='500' height='334' nopin='nopin' /></a>

The <img src= tag is what that whole bunch of code is going to display.
I choose the hyperlink (begins with http(s)) like this: https://st.hzcdn.com/simgs/c801c830080522c1_8-2458/traditional-porch.jpg
and type that into a new browser window. It displays only the picture.

From there, I pin. Granted that's several steps, but it's all in one place again. I am careful to add credits and the original link later, which is Pinterest editing. When I find something I like, I'm careful to collect its authors, artists, builders, designers, etc., so I can probably contact them late for info. You wouldn't believe the crap I've tracked down, even after being told someone was out of business, or better yet, dead. (The rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated.....) That said, I also have absolutely no life, so this time is really me being OCD, anal, and saving time in the future when I actually want to read or find something.

As for the articles on Houzz? I sure as heck hope most of these bozos aren't paid. Some of them are as simplistic, uninformative, and perky as ehow stupidity. (Instructions: Cut your pieces, nail it together and your done! ah-ha, ... what!?) I didn't even know Houzz actually had boards, to tell you the truth.

I came indirectly to Houzz from years on CompuServe, which is the closest to Gardenweb I've seen. From there, through a paid moderator position on Women.com, which was purchased by iVillage (2 paid moderator positions) then when they also bought Gardenweb, I was sad and quit. But I hold on to these communities. MidAtlantic Gardening, Paint, Plumbing, Woodworking, Kitchens and Maples are my favorites.

I have no use for blogs. One person's self-purported "expert" opinions. Lots of "The ONLY way..." or "The BEST way..." or just lists after lists of plagiarized pictures. No contributions, no expertise, just a occasional actual experts amid a sea of "I'm gonna make money" housewives with no experience, always married to their best friend and way too many children for this over populated earth. I prefer boards where I can search and read up on my question. hmm. Next time I'll tell you how I really feel.

I just want to know about this flood the banner on this Kitchen's page displays -- and has displayed for almost 6 years now. What flood!?

Thanks for the tips everyone! Will give those a go. :). I like eye candy and stories. So maybe I'm both shallow and deep. ;) I agree GW is great and has spoiled me greatly. I've done everything with advice given here, from gardens that are now jungles to organizing and de-cluttering and of course the looongest renos in her or his story. Again thanks for the further enabling. :). Daisychain I use my snip it so often, and love creating my own page on excel with it.

i prefer Pinterest for pics, I also like everything being in one place

I never knew Houzz had forums, including GW, until recently. I knew about the existence of Houzz of course, but found it to be an extremely overwhelming site. I didn't use it or read it at all until by some chance I stumbled upon GW.

I did read several discussions in Design Dilemma-my opinion GW is a much friendlier community. I've been to a lot of forums etc, I'd say it's my 15 th year of talking to people on the internet..and I had my share of very big forums and very heated discussions.

Of course I found some discussions and polls with comments to be fairly interesting. Nevertheless, it's still huge overwhelming site, and I'm happy I was able to find the GW forums.

I do save pics sometimes, and do peruse shopping sometimes, and check the pros-but again, very overwhelming to me, and not organized in the most user-friendly way.

Maybe I'm just not used to it enough.

Before the GW/Houzz merge I used to look at--and occasionally post--pics from Houzz, but then when we were forced to play together, I will admit that I wouldn't even look at Houzz for a long time. Lol, I wouldn't even give them my home address for the free gifts that were randomly sent to GW members. I kept posting to GW, and eventually got over my snit fit, so when there are no new layout questions in Kitchens, I search kitchen related posts in Design Dilemma, and occasionally read the Before & After section, and Stories, if it's a really slow day. I wasn't aware there was an 'Other' in Design Dilemma, but it seems to be like the GW Kitchen Table, where you can discuss any subject, and the conversation sides that several of our forums used to have before the merge. I think Home Dec is the only one that survived.

Design Dilemma moves too fast for me, so if I comment on a thread, I bookmark it so I can find it again, without searching a dozen pages.

When on my tablet or phone if I want to save a picture from houzz to pinterest or anywhere else I grab a quick screenshot then I can edit it to size if I want or just use it as is. Most Android devices will take a screenshot by pushing the power button and down volume at the same time . Or some have a screenshot button and of there's an app for that lol.

mama goose, if you're in Your Houzz, your comments should be there under the Activity tab. You can click on the original Dilemma post and get back, without having to bookmark the thread or comment. I think your GW comments show up there too. I apologize if you know this. :))

ETA: I have seen some absolutely stunning houses in Houzz Tours Stories, often from New Zealand or Australia, it seems. I'm also a sucker for English tours.

I look at ideas (visual) on Houzz, but for real info and convo, I'm over here on GW.

I browse the stories but not as much as I used to at the beginning of my design process for our new home. I really found the articles that give pros and cons to various material, countertops, for example, to be very helpful in narrowing down my choices for my new home build. My builder likes me to use it to show him what I'm looking for in his like how I want the fireplace to look, etc, by posting images in my ideabooks.

Thanks! I am now going to design dilemma and am happy to see familiar names there. It is fun to add new places to read. It also helps keep me on my treadmill longer. :)

I'm with artemis-ma, I look at the pics on Houzz, but do my research and interacting on GW. It's funny, I was just thinking about the differences between Houzz and GW the other day. It's good to find other people interested in similar topics. The main issue I have with Houzz is the preponderance of designers' posts and quite a lack of presence of the DIYers and passionate amateurs (meaning, those who don't do design for a living vs. those who are amateurish!).

Thank you, barncatz. :) I do check my activity once in a while, but I usually just use the bookmark feature on my laptop's toolbar--it's the same number of clicks, and less reading to find a specific thread. When the thread is no longer active, I delete the bookmark.