Unsolicited Advice : No Joke

Anytime you post your room on HGTV's RateMySpace, or on any blog, you have to be ready for the unsolicited advice from thousands of people who happen across your photos everyday. Each time I make comments to someones interiors, I am cautious, and sometimes ultra sensitive to their feelings because I know that a home, and the way it is decorated, is the most prideful possession to most.

Today, I read some of that unsolicited advice, and thanks to RateMySpace, was able to get a few photos of the commenter's home to share with you here. Let me know what you think:

THE ADVICE:

This reminds me a lot of my family room, in that it is on the small side and has 2 sets of dark wood french doors in it. I like your color choices and love the chocolate leather chairs and ottoman. I like that you thought outside the box and went for all chairs instead of a sofa. It does seems a bit cramped and a bit awkward, especially the 2 chairs facing the fireplace. I think you could reposition them by pulling the one in the left foreground around into the empty corner and the one in the left background to the foreground. The table/lamp should then go between the one in the corner and the one to the right of the fireplace. This would free up the french doors and uncramp things a bit. The corner is underutilized right now. It would also give you vignettes to look at when entering through either set of french doors. 2 chairs angled toward each other with a table in the center when you enter through the set on the right and 2 chairs flanking the fireplace when you enter at left.

THE PORTFOLIO:

Now, I believe that this was the room the decorator thought my room reminded her of. I can totally see how she'd come up with that, can't you?

Perhaps it was this space?

The Dining Room.

And the "Haven", as it was referred.

Now, to be fair - the advice was not bad. The way the photo was taken, you can't tell that there is yet another set of french doors in the room, rendering the advice for furniture placement non-functional.

I also don't decorate in vignettes. I think big picture.

I agree that the ottoman is oversized, for the space, and in general. I however like the weight and feel of large scale furniture pieces, and to put all at ease, the fireplace is non-functioning. So there isn't a chance of the house catching fire due to the decorative choices I made. This particular ottoman is very special to me, and has a significant meaning. So although it might not be what I would purchase for the room the way that it is set up at this very moment, there is no aching need inside of me to replace it.

The real message here is this: when you open your home up to the wide wild world of the internet, you never know who will walk through the door. Make sure that you can shake off the small stuff, live with the sometimes unsolicited advice, or less than constructive criticisms, and that you look a little deeper than the surface. Sometimes you'll find that portfolio of the person with all of the helpful tips, doesn't match the overall look you're going for anyway. Happy Tuesday, all!