1) I now dread reading the comments for House Tours or any of the contests. It is not that the negativity or snarkiness has gotten worse, it is just that as time goes by I can handle less and less of it. In the beginning, I would read every one of the comments only stopping when I reached the end. Now I read a few and if I hit a snarky or downright nasty comment that's it for me, off I go.
2) I check the site maybe once a week now, so even with the addition of AT: Boston and AT: DC, this probably will not change. I now use the main page to go through the four city sites.
3) Even though I signed up for this round, I haven't followed the Cure posts at all. I am still a fan of the idea and I will keep taking care of the Apartment Therapy Cure (Unofficial) Flickr group I started, however, I just can't keep up on a daily basis.
4) I have only seen five of this year Smallest Coolest contestants so I am not voting this time. In the past I used to keep refreshing the page all day long to keep up. Now, I'm only looking at the ones that catch my eye with their first picture. In the earlier years, regular readers mentioned the discrepancy in incomes and expertise among the contestants. This year, I noticed two more problems that need mentioning:
- They increased the size limit to 850 square feet. It's not naive to say that someone with a 850 square foot apartment does not have the same storage and clutter challenges as people in living spaces under 500 sq feet, let alone ones under 350 sq feet. There are family homes with yards that have the same square footage all over the country. That is not small. Here is one from the March issue of Cottage Living.
- People are not submitting pictures of their whole spaces but shots of fireplace mantels and candlesticks or lamps on end tables. The contest is about where they live, not just what looks cute through the camera lens. We want to see their storage solutions, which I think was the main reason for this contest on small spaces in the first place, right? If we're lucky, we might see a picture of the main couch or bed wall in the living room or bedroom. There are barely any kitchen pictures seen, unless the kitchen has just been remodeled and almost no bathroom photos. I first started not voting for an entry if it was mostly art photos, which then turned into me not voting for any.
Take care.
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13 comments:
Thank you for saying all of this. I couldn't agree more.
As an entrant this year and a fan of past years I also couldn't agree more with you.
With the photos of my home I submitted I tried to include everything, the only thing I left out was the bathroom.
I suppose the only "arty" picture I included was that of my poster collection, but it is a huge part of who I am and it's an entire wall of my 583 square foot home so it's most definitely a design element...but a close up of a lamp it's not.
It takes a lot to submit your self to people commenting on your home, most people have been kind and complimentary which is awesome, but some criticize my layout and insist it would be better another way...I LIVE here I like to think I would know.
Anyway, I agree that the size limit this year is much to big and using 2 of your 5 photos for your view or your lamp is a waste of the photos.
Thanks,
Ana
*Ana and Bob's Bay Area Nest* AT:SF
I agree I had to stop going on HGTV rate my space for the same reason. I love positive and reject negative!!!
Ana!
Wow, your apt is the one I liked the best! In this post, I almost used your entry as an example of "how to enter correctly and get my vote." While I don't think you're going to win with that crowd (sorry, it's just the way it goes) I hope you place or get one of the honorable mention prizes because your place is gorgeous! Good luck!
Thanks, I doubt I stand a chance as well.
No eames, bertoia or knoll here.
No brick, concrete or stainless steel all about either.
Just my little rental on my little budget.
Oh well, some people liked it, I got that going for me
I'm posting anonymously...cause I'm a wimp. I agree too. It seems like there are less and less posts and the content is very watered down. HGTV once viewed them as a competitor, I don't think that's the case anymore.
Heck, even Patrick posts a lot less and I live for his phallic comments. Wende is also another favorite of mine but she too seems to be on there less.
So true and so sad.
I haven't read AT in ages. Used to love it. Well, everything but the mean. Sorry to hear it's still having issues.
Agree wholeheartedly. I still read AT, but no longer daily, and I tend to skip the comments.
BTW, my old kitchen was on ATLA last week - I *did* read those comments, of course, and there was definitely snark. Ugh.
Yeah, I'm down from checking AT every day to checking about once a week. I mostly lurk on the Kitchn now. I think it was the last colors contest and that guy who kept commenting "An Eames lounger? Insta-finalist!" that did it for me. I loved seeing the small space solutions and it's just becoming less of a useful resource to me now. Priorities change, I guess.
Anne (in Reno).
I like the posts, but the clickiness and snarky comments are a bit much. But I do like just cruising through the pictures for some inspiration.
I agree as well. Thank you for verbalizing some of the reasons I'm drifting away from AT these days. There's so many posts, but so few of them seem to be reflective of anything that can help me in my own decorating life. Perhaps the DC-focused section will bring me back, since that's where I live.
Ana, I really like your place, and that lovely mirror above your bed.
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