In years past I’ve posted an annual quotes list, a fun little endeavor for me that is both creative and thought provoking. I didn’t post a list last year due to workload as I wasn’t on here as much to read your musings but here’s a shortened combined list for 2020 and 2021.

I normally write a little preamble regarding the creation of the list itself but I’ll let previous years notes suffice in that regard. Those lists are tagged in an “ideabook” of mine and for those interested, it’s here, Architectrunnerguy (houzz.com) But I will say, if anyone sees their words here and is so inclined, please feel free to jump in and claim a number or two!

So with that, enjoy, Happy New Year to all, and here’s wishing everyone’s projects for 2022 come in ahead of schedule and under budget!

1. I do understand your frustration and I sympathize. However, I will caution against charging head-first into this because of internet opinions from strangers without any skin in the game.

2. You wouldn’t get any input [on a blog] except from family or friends who would never dare to tell you that your ideas wouldn’t work. The value of this forum is that it is not an echo chamber of noncritical approvals that lets you unknowingly fall on your face.

3. Don't hire the person that tells you yes to everything. Design pros are meant to challenge you to an extent. If you allow it, you can get some amazing results.

4. Thread title: Does this kitchen layout have a "name"? Reply: Its commonly called a "dogleg with seating" and often labeled "before".

5. The majority of people prefer the master bath toilet to be separate ... you wouldn't know it here, because there are 3 people who hate them and repeat it constantly!

6. Why do you have a ten foot ceiling? Reply: Plans show 10 foot ceiling height.

7. Thread title: Building a house is not for sissies.

8. I'm always so nervous to post on here. Think it's too many hormones, not enough mint Milanos :)

9. Get a thick skin when you post floor plans, sift through the comments for usable stuff.

10 OP is gone. This thread was brutal. Reply: Brutal but honest.

11. Thanks everyone for your comments. This is overwhelming and not fun.

12. I’m feeling like this has been a very rough start [referring to the conceptual design]. I hate to become the ”Bridezilla” of home building but we are spending a lot of money here.

13. Just 'cause it's commonly done ... oh, well, you already know the rest.

14. Rule #856 of building: Anything that seems like it would make sense and be cost effective - but yet is not commonly done - will be about 3000 times more expensive than you thought.

15. “We are building a custom home by a tract builder.” The very definition of cognitive dissonance.

16. "Home Building With a Realtor" What a wonderful educational experience for Realtor and fee-paying client alike! Please let us know how it works out.

17. Too much Fine Homebuilding can get depressing when we realize you'll never have the kind of cash needed for the kind of home we dream of.

18. In general, people are pretty bad at figuring out their zen. In my experience, people make a lot of bad financial decisions because they are chasing status rather than happiness.

19. Most people come to the correct realization that just because they live in a house doesn’t mean that they can design one.

20. I should be a politician, because I feel like I just rambled on and managed to say nothing...

21. The Architect designed, fully custom home is aspirational and highly encouraged here, while at the same time almost always subjected to the most scrutiny and the most intensity to ultimately be bland enough that it would erase so much of what it made it an Architect designed, fully custom home in the first place.

22. Perfect is difficult to achieve here.

23. "Oh, and DH cleans his own bathroom!!" Reply: <= this!

24. Big bathrooms spell "luxury" to me! Reply: That's not true in my mind -- size and quality are two different measures.

25. That urinal reminds me of a conversation I witnessed between a friend and his mom many years back:

Friend: When I get a house I’m going to have a urinal in my bathroom.

Mom: That’s disgusting!

Friend: What’s disgusting is that I have to use the sink because we don’t have a urinal!

26. This gets said over and over here on Houzz -- creating a floor plan and elevations is what architects are trained to do. They take your ideas, and things you may never consider and combine them. Would you take a recipe to nice restaurant and ask the chef to start with it?

27. Find someone who knows how to make the design and construction process fun.

28. You need the real paid talent of an actual architect and interior designer. Not some talentless freshman earning $18 to operate software to copy and paste trite boring sameness. And hand that utter worthlessness to a real pro? That's both incredibly naive and insulting. It is not even close to how a design process works. Do you go through the drive through at Burger King on your way to a Michelin starred restaurant? Let’s hope not.

29. Trying to 'fix' this plan is like trying to fix a dish that has been over-salted.

30. Masonry on a house is like a kilt on a Scotsman; if it doesn't go all the way around it is not very good.

31. 20+ feet [ceiling height] is done to look grand - and it is a super human scale. It is used in government buildings and churches for a reason. To raise the importance of the institution over the human. Do you want your house to diminish your value as a human? If you are trying to impress, you just might alienate as many people as you impress.

32. Make your ceilings actually proportionate to the scale of a human being. Not the ego of your architect.

33. If an architect intentionally put that level change in that floor then the only logical conclusion is the column was added as an attachment point for said architect to facilitate the beating he so richly deserves.

34. Given what we can see from the picture, I suspect the assumption that there was an architect involved in this project is a dangerous one.

35. For God’s sake you do not have a clothesline in front of a house for sure. IMO get an architect that has more experience or something .

36. Houses aren’t Legos that you take apart and rearrange the blocks.

37. The front elevation of your home is quite similar to buildings in our office complex.

38. It looks like a prison…. why all the tiny windows ?

39. Thread title: Feeling sick about cabinet color Reply: The better a cook you are the less anyone will notice the cabinet color. Also the messier a cook you are the less anyone will notice the cabinet color.

40. The problem with "learning by experience" is that you get the test before you get the lesson.

41. Alright so the new header went in and doors installed. But then a funny thing happened…..

42. The entry does have a little mausoleum look to it.

43. The mixture of a Germanic jerkenhead clipped gable on a formal Second Empire building with some Medieval French farmhouse features is architecturally overwhelming.

44. I’ve learned repeatedly in life that “right” doesn’t always matter and sometimes being right is worse off for you. Cuts both ways over and over in many ways in a build.

45. The OP is already in the middle of building ... pushing your own likes/dislikes at this time is pointless and for some, it seems, just a way to put the OP down.

46. I suspect a typo but if you can't figure out how much space a car needs you’re going to have a very difficult time designing a house.

47. I can't put my feet up when I'm on a video conference :) Reply: Then start wearing pants!

48. You’d be miles ahead in budget and design both to do a tear down and just build a new house. Because that looks like a new house build that forgot to schedule the demo of the old house first.

49. We have a saying in our office: "A change is an opportunity for a mistake."

50. Last year I thought about it [building a shipping container home], but then I realized that I had gone crazy with quarantine. Then I went for a walk with the dog and everything started to fall into place :)1

And finally, the quote of the year:

51. The aggrieved flounce after volunteering one’s time and thought is always irritating and of course some folks need thicker skins when posting. But it goes both ways; I’m a former teacher, and there is an important distinction between saying “You’re an idiot, Tommy, you fail the quiz!” versus “Hmm, Tommy, this is a challenge, isn’t it? Let’s pinpoint what is causing your misunderstanding and work on it.”