Of course it CAN be….After reading so many of the advice questions and the answers given on this forum, I think the quality of the free advice received is in direct relation to the quality of the question asked! How can anyone answer your question, no matter how gifted a designer they are, without ALL the information needed? Detailed measurement of room, style choice, color preference, USAGE OF ROOM. Argh. I’m no pro, but it’s so frustrating. Do your homework before you come asking for free advice. Or ask what your homework should be. Be detailed. I’ve seen some amazing transformations from advice given on this forum. Just do your part too!

Yes! free advice can be very helpful...Whole dimensions lie glistening on the dark side of even the most dull and commonplace thought.The person asking can at least consider the "advice" to either reject it or to develop the idea in another direction.
Since childhood I have had the secret compulsion to mentally rearrange many of the dwelling spaces I have ever visited.
It remains my secret,though.
I thoroughly enjoy the opportunity to see a dilemma on this forum,put myself in the space,and maybe offer a comment.
It is also enjoyable and edifying to read the advice of the myriad advisors,who have spurred me to envision my humble home in new ways.

Interesting point, Jan. I have seen many a post where there have been lots of great ideas from pros and non-pros alike, where the OP has disappeared. I like to give them the benefit of the doubt, and assume that they have a life outside of the design of their home, and have been pulled in diverse directions--from work issues to health issues, to family crises, to going on vacation (!) to just not being able to financially do what they want to do. Or to just being overwhelmed and confused by the enormity of their project. And that's ok. When I don't see a response to something I've posted, I do feel a bit disappointed. I want my golden nuggets of advice to be appreciated and taken! But these are not paying customers, and they are free to take the advice or not.

However, I have also seen so many homeowners come here and receive awesome advice, many VERY detailed responses with floor plans, mood boards, and they respond quickly. And there's an amazing back and forth, with the homeowner answering questions, and asking more questions. And there's lots of gratitude, and a wonderful outcome. That's where the sweet spot lies--totally free advice, sometimes taken, sometimes changed, and a happy homeowner. The icing on the cake is when the final product is posted with photos and the homeowner saying it was a great experience and they love their new room. That's all we as designers strive for--a happy outcome!

Houzz is a really fantastic opportunity to benefit from pros like Jan, Diana, BeverlyFLAD, and so many others, as well as talented amateurs. Thank you for the amazing help you give so generously! Even on the projects where I've hired a designer. the knowledge gained from Houzz threads helped me go in with better-formed ideas and expectations, and made my work with a my designer much more efficient.

I've noticed some posts where there's a pile-on. Or where all budget is ignored. When I wanted to paint my house and asked for advice, the first poster took exception to my greenish roof (the really green parts are weathered copper) and suggested a new roof. Aside from the fact that I love my roof and had no intention of replacing copper with something cheaper, it was going to cost a ton to change my roof and it wasn't in the budget. After the first person, everyone else conditioned their advice on a "better" roof color. I don't think I responded.

I often notice that people will suggest things that are pretty obviously not in someone's budget (ie major changes to a modest house), impossible (ignoring site features with landscaping, for example. Yes, 2 broad stairs look better than a flight of 7 narrow stairs, but those 7 steps were certainly there because of the terrain, and your photoshop is therefore impossible) or just ignoring the request of the OP, like all the people who thought I should change the roof of my house and the paint was fine, when actually, the paint was peeling badly in places and the roof was in great shape.

Thank you. 😊

It's a definite reflection of the internet on whole. Call it info and social media stirred and shaken. Screen names, and more recently this "HU" thing . Bleaaah! jmo not an asset..for Houzz, or the user. In any and all varieties, a name elevates the question. Fine a screen name, I get it! I understand anonymity. But even that screen is better, more personal more engaging than HU "something" which makes one rather the same as a nobody in particular.

Yet, midst conversational topics with veers, people who get annoyed, grateful posters and their opposites? One thing seems quite true:

Show me the site that has more engagement, more accessible personalized and highly specific information, more hands on at a distance help for any room in your home, in ONE place.

I'm not generally asking, I'm the help side- so if you think one similar, or better and as free as air ? I'm all ears.

Note on that? @ Marilyncb tossed out an idea on a bath thread. Twice! Crude Sharpee. I redid it, to scale and see an entry flaw right away. I tweaked.hers and......Loved It. If that poster returns? She will find my tidy to scale drawing with this: " Please Do this! It checks every single box on your wish list, and beautifully."

Synergy, multiple heads, exchange of different ideas.... can lead to even better than you imagined ideas. That op was gifted pure gold, right here on these pages - no differently than a hired Pro standing in her home and neighbor stops in.

Was it fun? Indeed.: ) because of the passion curse, and no matter who has it.

In general, if one gives advice, one can't necessarily expect to be thanked for it, even if it was solicited.

I also don't think new people who post here necessarily understand how this place works, what the culture is. Regulars get annoyed when the OP does not respond in short order, but I would imagine some people are 1) thinking out loud and sorta fishing for general feedback, but still going their own way 2) may post on a Friday when they are thinking about it, and then not check back until the next week, or ever, because this is just not something they are focused on like people who belong to a design group are.

I have friends and family who will randomly ask me a question design wise and I answer and that's it. Or they respond back a month later or they don't. The reason they ask is because they aren't focused enough to sort it out themselves, and then they aren't focused enough that they may forget about it until they think about it again. There are some I basically ignore until they ask more than once, because that indicates that at least it was not a fleeting thought.

Is it frustrating for me? Sure. But sometimes that's the way it is. I will answer the question on the internet because I want to, and if that's the end of it whatever, they are a stranger and will probably always be one. I am not going to write another post scolding them for not responding they way I want them too. Honestly I don't care enough anymore.

Yes Sigrid the pile-ons are annoying--can't people have an original thought? As are the snide comments from ersatz pros (we all know who they are) that just denigrate the homeowner's spaces, and blame them for everything that has gone wrong. But I think everyone who's been on these boards for a fair amount of time discounts them. The newbie posters not as much, especially when they're asking for honest opinions but instead get scolded. Some never return, which is sad. I applaud the ones who post a good retort.

I must say that I don't have the time to post scaled floor plans and get into the details of a dilemma. To those who do, I tip my hat to them. You know who you are, JM, Bev, thinkdesignlive, and many times Mark B. and PPF, who are fabulous architects. My apologies if I have forgotten anyone. And where in the world is Beth H. these days???? If you need any advice on tile, she's the best!

I keep coming back, because of the "passion curse." And I love to read all the responses!

Where is Beth H.???? 🤷‍♀️she like many others were such amazing help.

*are

I was just thinking about this issue today as I was looking through some current design mags & thinking how rooms and furnishings presented to us for help are not visually exciting.

I will admit that if the original posting is lengthy I SKIP THE POSTING COMPLETELY. Short and sweet is better. Additionally, the necessary info like pictures and dimensions is almost always not conveyed in the posting. It's maddening.

We are presented rooms:

• where furnishings purchased are too large in scale for inside the room.
• where furnishings are not arranged in a position conducive to conversation or families
• where OP husbands have installed TVs in positions more suited to sports bars than homes & then refuse advice about repositioning the TV
• where apparently no one uses a tape measure or is capable of adding dimensions when selecting furnishing items.
• where reading simple floor plans is a huge hurdle

Also, OPs are often asking the wrong question because they have focused their attention on the item that is NOT THE ISSUE IN THE ROOM. We spend time refocusing the attention to the item that needs fixing prior to addressing the original question asked.

I find myself providing simple, basic advice because usually the problems and rooms presented are mostly ho hum & half done. Additionally, you have to crawl before you can run, and if you provide advice taking the room to a higher level of design, you often leave the OP behind in the dust.

None the less, I can find myself spending 45 minutes or even a couple hours on sketching or finding photos to illustrate my advice. I do my best to communicate in images instead of words because design is VISUAL!

Maybe 1 in 50 or 100 dilemmas presented have a room/house and an OP that has a sense of style, scale and color. For those few I try to step up my responses and ideas.

I believe Beth H took a break, was working a Cali design project, every room in a big house, some serious drive time and Not her normal gig. She was 100% all into getting it right!

Also.... more than a couple folks got under her skin - not understanding she is a very "No apologies, "that's my opinion type"..." ( Yes, of COURSE I recognize it! It's me and we know that lol ). Leave it at that, or a can of worms shall grace the page.

Put it this way? Houzz can become a pen pal mime, off the site itself. People you've never laid eyes on find you, or you them and LOTS of common ground between.

I just Felt Bev's Pain? ^^

But Bev is no newbie. I get it.

I TRY (and fail as often) so here is the analogy:

If you have been driving, no accidents, no speeding tickets for plus forty or more years? A sixteen year old in your car on a learners permit, and first time on the highway with a 70 mph limit? Are you imaginary braking, screaming, did you grab the wheel?! That can be pro to poster. Everyone breathe? hahahahhahahahaah

It takes practice. Driving and breathing.... and design.

Maybe TikTok will be in the future for Houzz fanatics 😂. Live video on dilemmas. Wouldn’t that be fun? 🤔

^^

Things I notice here: "Ho Hum" and more and "problem solving skills" near zero.

Ever ask someone to count back your change?

Ever ask someone to read a real folding map?

Is it REALLY impossible to figure out a rug size for a room?: )

Drawings we receive. Does nobody own a straight edge anything like.....ya' know....a ruler?

The 'I must before we move in, do"---------"

followed by " We're building our forever home"

No, you need not do, and there IS no such thing most of the time, and especially there is not when you are thirty two years old and might live to be 100 or more.

The disappearance of any portable lamplight . It all has to come from the ceiling?! You really don't have any lamp for the bedside?

The refusal to consider seating options beyond the sectional. This needs some curse words.........? I resisted.

" I have 200.00" How can I update this kitchen" NEXT!!! .

Beds and their linens........In my life, I have never seen more beds that look as carelessly put together as those that turn up here.

Toys: Children need them, but this MANY?

Are you really doomed to a dozen years with rooms rivaling the plastic toy aisles at Walmart?

The "excuse the mess" picture queries (unless there is construction), usually taken in the dead of night to boot. Baths with the toilet seat up.....the unmade bed in the bedroom.

The "everyone is a designer with incredible tech skills" queries and sky view pics of your whatever layout of a million brown and yellow boxes.......

S.K.I.P. !!!

As to who gives advice on what? Who gravitates to any particular question? I truly admire the folks who hang in for five years on a thread devoted to accessorizing any room, especially when it is about forty faux flower arrangements..

I gravitate to those with a floor plan and walls in my insomnia moments. You have me at hello with those, and I'm loooong gone when after six months its a hand wring over the faux flowers and a table runner: ) Nobody is better at tile than Beth H and if you have sink and counter issues? Joe C is your guy! Home in the English countryside? Ask Diana b. Need some led lights, really cool? Patricia c. ....

Just need a laugh with that roof line issue? .....@ Mark B. You saw it on Instagram/TikTok and can't find it? Ask @Jilly, because the woman can find what does not even EXIST! Paint problem...Lori!!

Hang around long enough, and you realize there is something and some ONE for anything and everything you might want to know. ...........

Thank you!

I have received great advice on my own posts and have learned so much from so many simply by reading the responses to dilemmas posted by others. If the OP doesn't come back and thank you, know that you are appreciated by many others who learn from your responses.

Honestly....It's not even the thank you issue! I definitely suffer a curious cat syndrome!

"Hey did that work? Whats HAAAPENNNING ? What did the contractor say? " Example... of sickness and the cat problem below"

"Can this be better".....

"I must have":

LIGHT!

A huge mirror

A closed potty with a window

A good glass shower, with a bench

A vanity for two, we've T.O.N.S of grooming junk,

A linen closet...

LIGHT!!

I never use the tub.......

Multiple heads......many iterations.....etc etc

ROAD trip pic below!! ( and where is the rest of the space please??what's AROUND the bath?

Scroll....I come back to a gen pop post...."Just move the door two feet" and the Sharpee entry point.

Mmmmmmmmm

I tweak. Whoa Baby!

BINGO...THE JOY!! Thanks to the "Just move" a crude Sharpee pen.....mmmm good call maybe? It's the weeny inch thing.

Bingo bongo bingo!! ta da!!

Everything on her wish list.! and only a space nerd curious cat gets her jollies from this at three am. Are there med's available?

Sign me c.u.r.i.o.u.s lol ............Sickl.....

Houzz is a lot of fun for me. I love reading what the pros recommend and I’m in awe of how quickly your “pro eyes” see the problems. For those of us who appreciate stunning rooms, we get to hear how you process the space.

I’ve owned four homes, each one looks better than the last. I get the “design bug” every now and then to make improvements. This website has definitely educated me in myriad ways. I’m a fan of directness, but I can see how some folks might read comments as “harsh”. I hear the frustration behind it. Some posts are (say this nicely, Gail) “uninformed”.

You’re all generous with your time and expertise. I feel like I’m in a “design coffee shop” with all of you. It’s a good part of my day.

Well said RedRyder!

I've had so much free advice from this community! I haven't loved every piece of it or used it all, but with the conversations abound I have figured out what works best for me and moved forward. I love the help sourcing some products too. I have a hard time staying focused when I search for items so the help is greatly appreciated.

I've had my own delimma going for a few years now. I've had help with my LR, DR, FR, and next up is my MBR and bath. I love that folks are still with me after these years. For some of us we have to take it slow bc we only have so much time and money that comes in spurts.

One thing I really love is when people are encouraged to shop their own house for items and then discover they had something that works and they already like.

I'm so appreciative of all the free help I've received over the years!

@RedRyder & @justcallmepool I agree with you both. I am sincerely thankful for the incredibly talented designers here on Houzz. Your thoughtful insights, creative ideas, and generous feedback helped me find the best designs for my space. I’m so grateful for your inspiration and guidance—it truly made a difference and helped turn my vision into a reality.

Thank you for sharing your time and expertise so openly. I couldn’t and cannot do it without you!

In real life, not virtual...............

"shop their own house for items and then discover they had something that works and they already "like""

.Or thought they hated.....................?

True story:

Many , many moons ago, I'm at a new client first meet. She has "absolutely hideous living room!!!!!"

Well. It was hard to disagree. Maybe not so much hideous, as the cheap look of the low end furniture store, and a sea of honey oak, Queen Anne matched up......kaka? and a lot of pink.

She mentions she has tried. Has "relic ugly" in the basement. .....down I go. Are U kidding me?

what is this stuff doing down here?!

It WAS NOT relic ugly!

It was timeless.... clean almost antique. It just wasn't brand new, as the kaka honey shiny oak!

Three hours later we have hauled up, down up and forward and back. Up to second floor, haul 72" dresser down that weighs more than both of us combined. Scrounging picture hooks, rehanging art, take this one away, do this here, more hooks, where's the hammer, you left it upstairs!

I have major league FLU oncoming and can scarcely breath...! But I'm truckin'.

End of those hours? She stands back, she gazes........she yells.."OMG! HOW DID YOU DO THIS? I am done! I loove it! I can't believe it! I need nothing!

It's incredible in three hours!"

Lesson to designer as she leaves with a check for the three hours and no future client in this home: (

Tie your hands to your ass, Jan. You will never ever do this again. !!

Then I got in the car, went home under a blanket, awaken to the answering machine and "how MUCH DH THOUGHT I WAS A GENIUS...."He loooooves you!"

and vowed once more. Do not ever do that again, Jan: )

Im a professional Houzz lurker. I've never submitted a design dilemma because I'm not planning any changes but I might some day! And I'll definitely come here for advice. I'm regularly blown away by the generous help many of the talented regulars offer on this site.

What I can offer is decades of owning many different homes, all of them modest, and a desire to make them beautiful on a small budget. I've never lived in a typical 3500 sq. ft. Houzz house with a huge kitchen island and SubZero refrigerator -- IOW I live like most people who buy one chair at a time and have to make do with everything else for now. But over time I've done a fair amount of remodeling and practical home improvements and a lot of inexpensive DIY cosmetic work. I try to offer practical ideas from the trenches of the working-class. I don't always get it right.

What we all need to keep in mind is that everyone is here voluntarily, and we all bring different skills and life experiences with us. We never know what's going on in someone's life -- kindness beats snark, low expectations reduces heartburn. I love Houzz!

You all have saved me time, money, and headaches. You supply me with the right questions to ask contractors, educate me on how things should be done.

I really have fun reading and learning from kitchen design posts where Jan and others hunker down and help an OP transform a plan into something completely functional.

I often wonder how newbies find out about Houzz. It seems like the newbies arrive in waves - there will suddenly be a burst of simple and often irritating questions asked by new OPs.

I have learned so much on this forum - the old Gardenweb Kitchens forum saved me from making SO many mistakes back when we moved our kitchen - I love learning about design and seeing how pros on here approach a problem/opportunity -

FWIW I have a lot of friends who are not interested in home design, never read about it or think about and then are frustrated when their room doesn't come together - they think they should be able to do it.... I feel like it is one of those areas/skill sets that appear simple but are definitely not

^^

True! If it were simple? Everyone would do it: )

Lines from a house party after a remodel.....

" I don't know why you needed her! You could have done this!"

Client to guest:

"I could have done this?! Do you remember my house before this?!" I think you need more wine...."

Never have forgotten the laughs we had over that. "Simple" is the hardest part: )

"'Simple' is the hardest part" is true for just about every area of life. Second hardest thing to achieve is "'intricate/piled on' but good."

lalagirl, I only have one other friend who is into design and we don't talk much these days. I have a bestie who always asks me for advice and then doesn't take it bc she likes what she already has. Don't know why she keeps asking but I stopped suggesting anything haha

Kendrah, I tried to think back when I found Houzz and I'm not sure when it was. Initially I only knew it had articles and photos. I didn't even know it had a chat forum. I can't recall how I found it, but it was a little too late for my house build. I managed to get help with some finishing touches that I'm grateful for. But for sure I could have used some kitchen arranging help. c'est la vi

Jan, you're a hoot. I know some people don't like your directness but I do. I've often thought about inviting you to my thread but admit I'm scared lol

I do always love the photo of your living room with the green chairs. And once you posted a bathroom photo that had a leopard rug in it I believe that's a favorite of mine as well.

The "green chair living room"

That guy is one of my fave clients, despite his neuroses, about which I tease him mercilessly.

The man can see an ant at a five mile distance.

He's funny, and Mensa brilliant! A former neighbor of his, and also a client of mine is working in the background on finding him some delightful new "date" - I admit we routinely brainstorm this concept over the "grape".

He lost his wife three years ago: ) we're a little obsessed with "it's JUST DINNER!" LOL.

Just thinking about the converse of this post title - Can expensive advice ever suck?

Oh yes it can. In fact, I have come to assume, more often than not, that whatever service or advice I am paying for is probably not going to be on point. It is maddening how little people care these days to understand the professions and jobs they are paid to do.

Hey Kendrah, your question is the reason I became a designer. Many years ago I hired a designer, and long story short, it was frustrating because her advice as you said "sucked." Didn't listen to or care about my concerns, and I wound up very unhappy and out a fair amount of money when a wallpaper project needed to be redone. I figured I could do better, and went to design school. I've never forgotten what I learned from that experience, and used it with all the clients I've had in the past 23 years.

There are a few simple truth in this business:

You can teach it, but only to the extent there is talent/taste already in place; to be honed , built upon, refined, expanded and pushed to a full bloom. Just as no number of years at Julliard, makes the tone deaf musically wonderful: ) one hundred years of design education won't make a "talent"

If the EYE, the taste are present....if that "extra dimension in the cranium" shall exist? That person can reinvent a hodgepodge jumble to a room, mentally move a wall, rearrange the furniture, guess accurately almost any number of inches without the tape measure, and SEE what can be, before any of it is in place.

Why ? NO freaking clue.: )

Last? and in real life......

Bad designers almost never use the "no" word

and might yes a client right to an ugly, ill functioning poorhouse .

Good designers use "no", pretty darn fearlessly when it's warranted, and try to put it with a really appealing YES!! option....to soften the "no" blow: )

"God....she was such a pain in my assss, but gotta say I DO absolutely loooooove my house !

Here's a perfect example of good advice and really bad advice, totally "free" ..........

and in truth? one of the aspects here in dilemmas, that does make me crazy. Call it the "guessing gals opinion", leading to not great.

Scroll it.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6493135/would-you-use-the-dresser-and-nightstand-or-just-dresser-mcm#29468978

I too have been on here for many years to learn from the PROs. I appreciate everything they have to offer in their advice and experience. So Thank you!😊

OMG!!! WHAT GENIUS!Lets get hats!!!! I looooove^^^: ) : )"Greeeeen" for Houzz

And T-shirts!

^^

Probably need a little dance.....as a go with: )

What a great thread!! I do not have the skill set of many of you so I love to just read the advice you give about laying out furniture, rugs, colors. My skills have been honed by the market I am in - good looking kitchens and baths at affordable prices so I don't always get to work with the latest and greatest. Sometimes it is like pulling teeth to get someone to move a doorway or change a window even when I am showing them a much better functioning design.

It's ok. A thank you every now and then is nice - gives a little warm fuzzy. I did have someone on Houzz once take the layout I showed them and used it for their kitchen. She messaged me and sent an email with some pictures and was so very thankful and told me how much she and her family loved their new kitchen. I was absolutely blown away by that.

I like to give advice ( when I know I can ) and eagerly wait to see what others come up with as well because it helps me learn!

I am thankful to all of you who have answered my posts. You have amazing minds and a great eye. I appreciate all of you .

Just another thought - I wonder if the OPs, named and unnamed, really know how great this site can be for them and how much it is saving them in the long run?

Truly? In this Amazon, ask Siri world we live in? Here, where the perfect answer may save you a huge mistake, AND A LOT OF MONEY, but came so quickly at the tap of a few fingers, A sketch...? We'd hope so! But it's a fact that "free" means easy in many minds.....no different really, than the email that took you an hour to compose, with visuals, information... etc is read in ONE minute or less!

What irritates me most?

The innumerable ways Houzz could take the q/a dilemma pages , make them far more user friendly!

Simple changes; a drop down menu...or a blatant "Before you post!" "Read me first!" in the header! Essentially a q/a before the Q!

How great would it be to not enter endlessly "please add a picture......" . "You really need a drawing before we can HELP you": )

"Have you an earlier thread on this TOPIC?!"

I have been lurking here on Houzz for years, and I'm always touched by how helpfully people respond to the OP's. At a time when our country seems so divided, it's comforting to me to know people will reach out to lend a hand. Sometimes the question will seem almost impossible to respond to - very messy room, inadequate photos, unreadable floor plans and so on, yet people, pros and others, usually try to help. So hats off to all of you, especially the pros who probably have better (more lucrative) things to do with their time!

Can free advice be great advice?

Hell yes. I've been dishing it here for over a decade.

Yes, you definitely have, Joe!! You read the beginning, ?

"Nobody is better at tile than Beth H and if you have sink and counter issues? Joe C is your guy! Home in the English countryside? Ask Diana b. Need some led lights, really cool? Patricia c. ....

Just need a laugh with that roof line issue? .....@ Mark B. You saw it on Instagram/TikTok and can't find it? Ask @Jilly, because the woman can find what does not even EXIST! Paint problem...Lori!!"

And who in a RIGHT mind does this at 4:00 am?

Uhhhh,yeah.

To fix the earlier not great rug advice that came ala here.......in a rug size/placement etc? Uhhhh yeah: ). It happens. ...it is the internet.

When a thread prompts you to consider your Book cover. This as after weeks, a thread, and a bunch of folks have been digging out the details dripping like sludge, and you THINK you have it all together, people are cheering! OP's been great - has thanked profusely, has a sense of humor!! Until the bombshells that suggest the whole thread may not be what you've been believing. .......and since we all do this for a love of design in some way?

My book cover......

I for one cannot WAIT to read your book, Jan!!!