It's not just you at all. It's been discussed at length here in the Conversations forum. Many who participate here no longer bother to read the Home Decorating forum, and the needless snark from the so-called "pros" is a big part of the reason for that. I don't know if they think they're being funny, but it rarely translates well if they are attempting humor (i.e., the request from a pro for photos a mere two minutes after someone posted about their dilemma, with the comment about "our crystal ball" not working; don't regulars know how glitchy the photo uploader is??).

I'm a little skeptical of a "pro" that has time to snark on a message board too, surely it can't get them clients.

IdaClaire….,that's exactly the comment that prompted me to post this question. Don't know if I would put myself out there just to have a "pro" wave that wand of nasty.

Not to mention snarkiness comes from a cynical mindset. What good comes from being blasé and cynical in your chosen field?

Like IdaClaire said I don’t go over to that side any more for that exact reason. When I first found the garden web I asked a decorating about a bay window a poster’s response was so nasty I couldn’t believe it. Other poster revealed that she was in the drapery business and very knowledgeable but an unhappy pia. Shortly afterwards she left the forum. I am still here mostly lurking but only on the conversation side:-)

Ida is exactly right. Most of us here used to be comfortable over there because we could reliably be comfortable batting around decor ideas about things, giving and receiving advice with no snark, no harm done. I sure don’t want a snarky, non-helpful comment coming my way.

I just had to add my two cents. Pro's should be banned, they've ruined the whole board. One alleged pro said to tear it all out! Just like we were talking about the other day. Nice way to really hurt someone's feelings.

I agree, Oakley, they should be banned. It's not the board I remember. I don't come here much, but I do remember how helpful people were with one's decorating dilemma. I read that comment about tearing it all out....wow!

Pro or not, I don't understand commenters who say "don't do xxx, I hate xxx" or worse "I loathe xxx". So someone else shouldn't do it because one person doesn't like it? Please. Be human. Hmm, maybe I'll go back over there and start calling people out on that. Maybe I'll get banned myself!

I can take them or leave them. A jerk is a jerk, whether or not they have a PRO in front of their name.

I’m wondering if some of the snarkiest pro’s are retired pro’s. This is their chance at saying all the things they wanted to say back in the day but couldn’t. Maybe they don’t care if they get business at this point but would take a client from here because they figure that person will be knowing what they get.

Saying that though, I have gotten some good advice from some of them.

I'm very cautiously and hesitantly dipping my toe back in the water...Last year I asked for some advice with my partial kitchen remodel. I got some good advice, but not always in the kindest 'tone'. I'm not that sensitive, but I backed out of the conversation because it was no longer productive. The pros and others kept insisting the layout was all wrong and that I needed to move the induction cooktop from the island to the back wall, but it was too late for all that. I had just spent a good deal of money on the Caesarstone, including for the island with the cooktop in place. I wasn't about to rip it all out. The layout was basically the original layout. We just made a few changes and gave it a face lift. Well, one of the changes we made created an aesthetic nightmare with the upper cabinets on the back wall, which I take full responsibility for. So I found and paid a nationally certified kitchen designer (out of state) to draw up a new plan for the upper cabinets based on measurements she had me take. I posted the design on Houzz and asked for feedback. Nobody liked the design. I was told to find another kitchen designer. *sigh* I decided to trust the KD, but the cabinet guy who did all the work up to that point never came back to redo the kitchen in the new design. So here we are, almost a year later. Another *sigh*. I recently found a custom cabinet company who measured and gave us a different design because they said the other KD's design wouldn't work with the measurements they took. I would love feedback on this new design, but I really don't want to post in the kitchen or design dilemma forums again. I'm afraid I'll hear all the same things about my layout and the cooktop, but we are just not going to change it. Would any of you kind people be willing to help and if so, should I post it to this forum?

Once upon a time, an individual's style and preferences meant something. We'd take into consideration what the poster owned and helped work with that instead of wiping the slate clean and dishing out a one-size-fits-all concept that would lead him/her right into a "dated" scenario in 5-10 years. Dated as in, everyone had that look and have moved onto another mass-approved aesthetic.

I might have commented on the thread being referenced. I don't know, you see the same salty phrases used so often. I do think that person was floundering and hiring a local professional would be best because she didn't have a vision of where she wanted to go with her room, or how it would blend with the rest of her home. When someone does have opinions, and likes the elements in place, I think it'd be nice to see the old collaborative effort we used to have on that board.

We don't get to see beautiful, personal, interesting rooms very often, anymore. Thank goodness my relatives are hobby decorators. I think they're talented, too. There's always something new when I go visit, whether pieces have been added/deleted or just re-arranged.

I really don't want to post in the kitchen or design dilemma forums again.

Design dilemma is a mess of a tag. Don't ever use it, LOL!

I can see why you had negative feedback on an island cooktop. You'll hear a lot of the same "start from scratch" comments. You just have to ignore the unhelpful. Go ahead and post here or kitchens. You'll get some good advice at some point in the thread.

Thank you, Alex. Here is the design for the back wall of upper cabinets that are behind the island. I'll post a pic if necessary. The largest cabinet would be centered behind the island. It's 15 inches deep versus 12 inches deep like the rest. It's also 4 inches higher than the rest. They are suggesting a larger crown on that one cabinet, also. It would have glass doors. I was thinking a beaded glass for all the glass doors. We would light all the cabinets with glass. There would be no other cabinets with glass on the other two walls. What do you all think of this design? Any suggestions to improve it?

A couple of the pros over on Building are about the same. There's almost a snark competition, they feed off one another. There are a few who are helpful, although sometimes the only solution, really, is to scrap the plan and start over. Decorating, I feel, should be different. Decor is, by nature, ephemeral. But the framework it sits in, the house, is almost set in stone as it were.

I agree with justerrilynn. Some of the "pros" might be retired. Last week when thoses two pros commented about the floral wallpaper that the OP was trying to find, I decided to Google their names. One was retired, based on her Houzz proifile, and I could find no reviews on the other except for here at Houzz. It makes me curious how they actually get hired with such attitude.

Then there is one "pro" who I just have to LOL at. The one who seems to think that these forums are only made for them. That us small folks should really just keep our mouths shut and take notes. Who is that.... I cant think of the name at the moment. I will have to do some digging.

Drsag, you might start a new thread on Conversations with your concerns. My first instinct is to only have glass in the top sections, but you might be neat enough to keep it organized behind the glass. I'm not sure why the tall cabinet isn't centered since it looks custom.

I'll start a new thread in Conversations.

This thread just reappeared.

instead of banning who knows how many folks(on what basis? there should be very clear rules when comes to ban. Do they exist? What they are? I've a feeling that "too snarky" or "unhelpful" is open too much for interpretation. ) -I'd rather get rid of this stupid cross posting , especially with "Design Dilemma" as an option that majority of new posters click on because it' so vague and seem to fit almost every topic (yes, "a mess of a tag". precisely)

I'm sure brings more clicks to the site but makes discussions more... flat, samey, less personal to a room in question and the poster, and overall I believe less helpful that they could have been.

But because of the clicks-I don't believe they'll go backwards.. to the old format. which imo worked much better. Didn't prevent anyone to participate in format that they'd consider more tailored to them.

Of course it's amusing sometimes when somebody says "oh this kind pro gave advice gratis"..like all other pros and amateurs charge here))

I must say that some OP s can drive just about anyone crazy too..it starts pretty civilized..then it's like you watch a trainwreck and frankly-it's not because the commenters were too sarcastic. Or "too" something else.

Hmmm I saw the reference to this thread earlier this morning, but no thread and now, Poof here it is.

I sure do miss the old days on these forums when you really got such sharing of knowledge and advice and help.

I am sure you saw reference to the thread but no thread because there were no additional posts to it after it had been removed and therefore, after it was deemed fit to stay from the powers that be, it got moved off the front page. It looks like it was gone for 17 hours. Thats is why I posted to the thread. So it would be back on the front page.

This:

"Oh geez, I'm sorry. I think we all know that feeling of installing something new, only to look at it and realize it's not quite right. On my monitor, your back splash and countertops are both very busy and the patterns are competing against each other. I don't know any way to make them play nicely with each other so I would suggest getting rid of one or the other. If you're not sure what to do next, interview a few designers and see if you can find someone you'd like to work with. This stuff is hard!"

says almost the same thing as this:

"That's horrible. Rip it out and start over. And hire a designer because it's clear you don't know what you're doing."

There are a few "pros" who love doing it the second way.

Back in the good old GW days, one rarely encountered the tone of the second post. However here in the new environment, one sees my second post above basically verbatim multiple times a day.

It makes me sad.

Civility and kindness are going the way of the Dodo bird.

So many of the "pros" have such strong opinions that allow for absolutely no deviation from their mandates. I just read one of them telling a poster that buffet lamps aren't supposed to be a certain color ... they're not to draw your eye to them. Oh yeah? Says WHO? And what if the OP absolutely loves the color of the lamps and longs to use them but feels somehow compelled to follow the myopic advice of someone with a designation next to their user name? It's ridiculous, the "rules" some of these people come up with and try to foist upon others.

Well said, patriceny.

Maybe we should be calling out the courteous pros for their professionalism rather than pay any attention to the snarky ones? Because there ARE some pros who are kind when offering advice.

I don't mind opinions even if harsh, but I hate pros providing inaccurate info. A month or two ago someone asked if he/she could put in a 38 inch height counter and have their DW and their range be at counter height. Said pro-idjit (won't give his name) effectively said no, has to be 36 inches or you are sunk. I'm looking at mine (37 inches) and saying, well, obviously you (the alleged pro) don't have good contractors working for you. My appliances are FINE, thank you. And YES, it can be done, my parents had 38 inch counters and all was fine for them, too.

One thing that simply amuses me... Is color advice on computers. I respect people who suggest colors and tell the various OPs to go get swatches at the very least from their suggestions - but at times we find a few who will be more dogmatic on color. Yes, I do see suggesting... but any image of a color you post here will be filtered and not remotely accurate.

I once ordered a wonderful online counter sample. Or so I thought. I knew I wanted earthy tones (and no, in this case I was NOT going from anyone's suggestions, as I hadn't asked... It was purely from a sample seen via a computer monitor.)

Sample arrived.

Looked like someone had eaten sweet potatoes and garden peas... and had promptly regurgitated.

I'm actually not really sure why people ask color advice online, especially after that.

Lars, I have never seen you be rude to anyone. You often tell a story, which I enjoy, and I have seen you directly address a difference in taste without being rude in any way.

Artemis - 100% agree on the color issue.

I was recently told by a pro that a 9x12 rug wouldn't fit in my dining room without even knowing the room's measurements. Well, I knew different and my 9x12 rug fits perfect and looks great!

Fly by posting ..I don’t think color advice online is pointless. Yes monitors vary in quality but I’ve narrowed down colors by looking at multiple photos online (not of online chips and virtual painting online like SW isn’t helpful per color name but can get a general idea of what a shade of blue might look like. ) in different lighting conditions. I also own a bunch of paint decks. Of course always get samples and test on white posterboard leaving a white boarder. The color may not end up working but it helps give a place to start.

I have learned a lot about colors here from Lori Sawaya, or at least how to approach them. I was looking for a different warm gray for my house's exterior and after looking dozens of samples, I was beginning to doubt my ability to interpret what I was seeing. Plotting a color I was considering on her color wheel helped me decide it was the one. And it is. I love it.