Don't you think that after 151 responses everything about this topic has been said and resaid? Why didn't you just let the topic die???

It's an artistic type of talent for sure. Some people are good at art, some are not. My sister, an illustrator by training, has created a beautiful home in 6 years with a gorgeous array of second hand things and her wonderful eye for color, pattern, scale, and composition. While she is artistic, I am "autistic." I can't do scale, pattern combos, or pretty compositions well, never could draw or create pretty things. But I have an intuitive understanding of systems. I figured out a method to move our 40, 000+ volume school library to its new home using a database and a tape measure and volunteer labor. Of course, I wish I were artistic...

Beverly, the best way for things to die is of natural accord. If people still have things to say, they are allowed to do so. Only one hall monitor here and it's Tamara (or her crew).

I thought it an interesting thread that as most long threads, generated tangents.

Oh I don't know Beverly, quite honestly that could probably be said about the entire Gardenweb site, and they might as well shut it down.

But I don't necessarily agree that a good-looking house is the purview of the wealthy. There are several house tours a year in my city, and I have been in a number of very nice houses that belong to people of modest means. I don't think the wealthy participate because they don't want hordes of people traipsing through their house for the price of a ticket. My parents knew one couple that fell into the wealthy category and they entertained by holding parties at their country club, or at a "party barn" that was on their property. It was a rare treat to be invited into the house, which was modest, and to get to look at the collections (which were not modest and museum worthy). Their insurance underwriter probably discouraged them from having lots of people to the house.

Frank Lloyd Wright's commissions were mostly from people of some means but rarely anyone of great wealth. I don't see evidence of great wealth in many of the houses in the Building a Home forum, just healthy budgets--and a lot of houses apparently built in low-cost-of-living areas. (And rarely nearly enough furniture or décor--the posters tend to disappear when the Building is complete, and at that point most people can't afford furniture yet. That's another topic and one if I were to expound upon my deepest feelings, would probably annoy a lot of people.

So while I agree that recently there has been an editorial focus only on houses belonging to those of wealth, I think there has been a Societal focus on it as well, with the most average person of the sort who follows this sort of thing, it's getting like "If it's good enough for Kim Kardashian, it's good enough for me"--they think they should have whatever she has. I had a continuing thought here, but I can't remember it right now.

You're drunk! :-)

There's a subset of people who are the most obsessed with real estate, and simultaneously seem the least interested in doing any decorating. In another thread, people mentioned HGTV's "Love It or List It." Half the benefit that homeowners derive on that show is new decor, apart from the renovations. This is something they could've done for themselves to improve their lives without depending on a TV show to do it for them. Yet none of them can even be bothered to clean up their junk.

Where I live, houses are extraordinarily expensive, and getting more so. People are very cavalier about borrowing more than they can afford just to get a property. But when you look inside, these multimillion dollar houses are furnished with junk.

I wouldn't say these people are completely uninterested in having a magazine worthy interior. I think they just want someone else to deliver it for them.

Awww thanks, Martinca! I actually did debate before I hit send because so much had been said on the topic and then I figured, "Eh, who cares? I wanted to post because I read every single response and found every tangent fascinating.

I don't understand the need to shame other posters into silence on a topic when you have so many other threads to read and it's so easy to ignore what no longer interests you (general you). I thought the whole psychology of the thread was interesting because it spoke to so many on different levels. Some people want to talk about window dressings and countertops and some enjoy trying to understand why and how a topic like decorating, which seems to many people to have such superficial appeal, is actually such a complex expression of who we are and how we choose to live.

beer?

aw . . . . shucks.

Speaking of budgets, it occurred to me when I was perusing Houzz the other day that I wish they had a budget filter. Nothing too specific but like "shoestring, modest, average, large." I guess that would get a little awkward. But I would LOVE to filter out the fabulous homes that in large part look that way because of $$$$ architecture so I can find interiors that more closely relate to my more modest home(s).

A size of home filter would also be so helpful.

Maybe I need to add "humble" or "modest" to my search terms.

Thank you, Marti, for continuing the conversation. It seemed obvious that folks were trying to hijack the other thread because they disagreed with some of the opinions, and at the very end several were posting gibberish, in what looked to be and attempt to run the thread to 150 posts so that it would be frozen. besides being ever so childish, that is also a weirdly controlling thing to do. It's a shame.

Posted by beverly27: "Don't you think that after 151 responses everything about this topic has been said and resaid? Why didn't you just let the topic die???"

She explained why, she found the discussion "absolutely spot on." I doubt that there is any general topic in the world that is 'over' in 150 posts. What I find worrisome, though, is a vigilante attitude that questions why someone would wish to discuss a complicated topic further, and a topic with such a variety of opinions. If we are unimpressed with a topic, perhaps we should just ignore it (I do that all the time) or even start a new topic that we are interested in?

In the origianal post, Is it just me or does everyone look to have a magazine home?, christyinco stated "As I scroll through the endless sites and images on the internet to get ideas for my home I am struck by how many homes look to be perfectly decorated - like out of a magazine. Fresh and up to date on all the latest trends."

"I can get discouraged in my own home and ask myself if I've made the right decisions in decorating or why it is that after a year of living somewhere our DVR is still on a plant stand under the tv"
"We just purchase a piece at a time and live in the "almost" finished spaces"
"I suppose that one of the other things that I notice is how spaces have no personality anymore."

Christy had touched on some contentions that every amateur designer has come across, and certainly that every professional has to address.

1. Discouragement at not achieving design goals quickly.
2. Trying to live up to perfectly decorated homes in magazines.
3. Having to build (as I call it) a design one piece at a time.
4. Lack of personality in modern design.
5. Trends.

These are quite different but somehow related subjects, that all bring about a spectrum of views. But mentioning the word "trend" around here can be like pulling a mandrake from the roots, what with all the screaming.

And I wonder if that is the issue that some folks find most painful, as if they had been pulled up by the roots?

It has been suggested that in the Kitchens forums the 'trendy' and 'on trend' are aggressively promoted and any traditional design is squelched. Well, this isn't a kitchen forum, and I haven't visited there to read the posts. But I can imagine why folks would promote the trendy in a kitchen.

The thing about kitchens is that they are expensive to rehab and they are where we make our food. People don't live in the same home as long as they used to and see upgrades as a possible investment -they don't want to spend $25,000 on a kitchen and have it bring the value of the house down. If they imagine moving in 5 years, their 'updated' kitchen should still look relatively fresh if it is on trend right now, people are looking for "newer" kitchens, not "older" kitchens when they buy a house and a traditional style kitchen often looks older the day it is installed. The other thing is that a new kitchen looks more hygienic. It just does. I didn't write that it is more or less hygienic than a traditional kitchen, just that perception is what counts.

As far as design goes, I feel 'trendy' can be a neutral word, but I admit that I am ambiguous when it comes to trends. My design isn't what you would call trendy, and I do tend to move in a direction opposite of trends (or most likely, I feel that I have been there done that). But I think new trends have their place, especially if you are getting tired of your old decor, and want a little change, like a wall color, lamp shade, curtains, pillow or side chair. Updating is most important for a Traditional design which can easily look dated and quickly turn into a dusty exhibit at a local historical society. There is nothing worse, in my mind, than a beige and brown Traditional interior that looks like a very faded, old albumen photograph.

On the issue of trying to live up to the perfectly decorated homes in magazines (2), I like what awm has to say about artistic talent, and her appreciation for it. Years ago my mother taught hobby painting. The students met each week and copied greeting card art, and calendar art, and if they were courageous, they copied a photograph from National Geographic. Time to time I dropped in on the classes to help or visit, and one thing I noticed was the students' general berating of Modern Art and Fine Art in general. (They did like the Impressionists, and when the students wanted to copy those mythical Kinkade Cottages with the rows of bright flower hedges, I tried to steer them toward something more Barbizon). As a whole the women made mediocre work that could be pretty or even have a decorative appeal. There was nothing wrong with the paintings, and a few of the students even showed a talent for this kind of work. But as artists, or art students, I never quite understood their constant need to ridicule Fine Art. Of course, it had to be insecurity, resentment and jealousy.

I think the same emotions often play out in discussions on decorating with people who do it as a hobby or who lack the raw talent. Rather than appreciate those who are gifted or admired, they want to throw darts. I took the painting group on a field trip to a major museum to show and explain Modern art. An ethereal painting by Baziotes, caught their wrath and was deemed childish. I pointed out the subtle color changes and effects created with yellow glaze over pink, a technique that would work well for a sunset, and the fact that the coromandel brown in the Baziotes made the pink color glow even more. The point being that they hated that painting when they first saw it, which meant to me that they should study it in depth to reveal it's secrets. If they had no reaction to it, there might not have been anything to discover.

Anyway, I do believe that if you design your own home, you have to find a way to make yourself happy, like making your own oil painting. It isn't going to be a museum piece (Magazine worthy), and comparing your work to a Museum Artist is going to make an amateur feel unworthy. However, looking at museum work might make any artist's own work better. You get ideas, pick up tips in the most unlikely places. And that's what the design magazines are good for, too. It might also help to look to blogs (Apartment Therapy) and magazines (World Of Interiors) who aren't afraid to show homes that are well lived in, shabby or even quirky, and realize that when you look at magazines that are written to show off wealth and sell Bentley cars (Architectural Digest) or push the latest garbage pumped out by the furniture industry (Elle Decor), you don't have to buy into what they are selling, but like visiting a museum or poster shop, like an artist, you should only be looking for inspiration not for personality, because those magazines won't provide it, (personality can distract from sales).

But if one tries to impress others, or be something they are not, they will forever be on the unhappy carousel.

Posted by Mmmbeeer: "Some people want to talk about window dressings and countertops and some enjoy trying to understand why and how a topic like decorating, which seems to many people to have such superficial appeal, is actually such a complex expression of who we are and how we choose to live."

So nicely put, and brilliant.

Here is a link that might be useful: Screaming Mandrakes

I don't agree that it is just the wealthy either. There have been a slew of blogger homes/rooms in magazines in the last few years. I know that several bloggers I follow have had their homes (or specific rooms) featured in magazines.

I don't think it's in Houzz's interests to provide a budget filter like that. The industry wants you to lose your fiscal bearings--to want, to need things you can't afford. Because maybe you'll buy them on credit. Or at least spend more than you would have otherwise. It's about taking an extreme, and normalizing it.

Umm, there is a budget filter on Houzz, at least on the mobile app.

I also thought there was a budget filter on the Houzz site, but didn't want to say anything until I double checked, because I don't visit there often and could have been mistaken. But it is there, as is a size filter, in the column on the left.

My bad! I need to learn to internet obviously.

I'm glad this topic is being continued. I made the dumb comment about "the wealthy" and I missed Mmmbeeer's response.

By "wealthy" (and that term is impossible to quantify) I meant the type of decor that would impress most people - not those with a particular eye for design. I meant mainstream magazines and websites like Houzz. I would like to find a blog that focused on houses such as Mmmbeeer's parents.

I also said that I am glad I did not spend the money to do my house all at once as I would have made poor decisions. I grew up in a battered house where decor was the last thing on anyone's fragile mind. I have a penniless sister (literally) who created a pretty nice home and garden in a rowhouse/concrete pad in "The Wire" neighborhood.

I think my situation is a bit unusual as I have a modest 1930s colonial with some nice original features, but is the the type of house usually ruined by badly done additions and updates (like enclosing the FRONT porch!) I rarely see pictures I can relate to.

I will say that a bit of extra cash couldn't hurt though, right?

That particular post was one of the most interesting I've seen on this forum. It challenged my thinking about decorating and other life issues.Marketing is so subtle that we all succumb. We feel insecure about our choices. I have always been very critical of my sister who never changes anything in her house. She has plenty of money but she reupholsters and buys new drapes every fifteen years or so in the same fabric and design that she's had for fifty years. When she paints her interiors it is always white. Now I'm thinking she may have an inner contentment that I lack. I've lived in the same house for thirty years but I always have a burning desire for change, even if it is just to rearrange the furniture.

maureeninmd, I think I understood what you meant by wealthy. And yes, trying to define wealth in the US, is dang near impossible, when most people in the top 25% consider themselves middle class. If you are going to differentiate between Top Earners, Middle Earners and poor, that would necessitate a 3 way split, statistically, so anyone in the top 33% could be called wealthy. Not that I have anything against wealth.

I don't look at Architectural Digest very often, but when I have I always come away thinking 'any idiot with a 5 million modernist mansion in Texas, and a 500 billion art collection could decorate from an Ikea catalog and get into AD.'

There is a sterile, difficult to achieve without spending money, wealthy style that permeates most all so-called 'shelter' magazines. They are not about design, they are about selling product, so real design is unimportant to them and sites like Houzz.