[lobster_johnson]

Huh. I just realized I didn't really know what Houzz was. Not even sure if I still do.

As an interior design enthusiast, I come across Houzz all the time. It's one of my least favourite sites in that regard, after Pinterest. The problem for me is that it mostly serves to obscure. It's full of pictures of furniture and other design objects that are usually impossible to source -- just like Pinterest, which itself is one step down from design blogs that rampantly steal each other's photos without credit. It's so hard to source design. Most of the time, what you come across isn't even a product, it's some concept work by some designer in Spain who has no plans to manufacture whatever it is, or it's a custom job. Or some super high end Italian product with a price that's firmly in the "if you have to ask, you can't afford it" category.

Sure, valuable for inspiration, but annoying if you're looking to buy, say, a modern coat rack. (Which is surprisingly difficult, by the way. The US has still, for the most part, not caught up with modernism when it comes to interior design.)

Houzz does have a shop section, but it's not great. Mostly there's confusion about what mode Houzz is currently in; when landing on Houzz from Google I'm usually unsure if I'm looking at a product page, a lookbook or an ad for some interior decorator.

[shostack]

What's your opinion of Zillow Digs, Zillow's attempt at a competing product targeting people with more mainstream budgets and aspirations?

[lobster_johnson]

That's new to me. I like that they have a "Recreate this look" sidebar that actually links to products, but it looks like they make little attempt to actually provide the right products. For example, here [1]. The suggested products are nowhere close to the ones shown, which are, from what I can see, vintage pieces.

[1] https://www.zillow.com/digs/modern-master-bedrooms-669100191...

[wavefunction]

It's aspirational renovations. Their target audience is those that aspire to the images they're shown.

I admit I'm partially susceptible to this siren's song but in realizing that this is a staged picture of many of a curated ideal then I feel more comfortable with reality.

They got professional lighting!!!

I have to rely on the sun and whatever nonsense the previous owners put into my place which at this point is a fair amount until I get around to changing it.

[jnicholasp]

I don't know if you've done any home wiring, but in case you haven't and it seems like something you'd have to hire an electrician for, it really isn't. Swapping light fixtures, at least, is super easy, and so are things like installing dimmer switches. You can make a big difference in your home's lighting in a couple hours, and Google and Youtube can answer any questions you might have.

Just a vote of confidence from somebody who cares about not having shitty lighting at home :)

[jasode]

>It's full of pictures of furniture and other design objects that are usually impossible to source -- just like Pinterest, [...] It's so hard to source design.

I get your frustration but keep in mind that you're running up against the intended ethos of the Houzz website.

- Pinterest photos are mostly about "things" and a social network of sharing "collections".

- Houzz design photos are about "professionals" -- even though they usually don't have people in the photos. Notice that the vast majority of design photos are uploaded by professionals such as architects, interior designers, and home builders. Those business people are showcasing their portfolio. This is why the individual "things" in the photos are not easy to source.

Some users do attempt to source the products by submitting a question to the professional contractor that uploaded the photo such as, "where did you get that table and sofa?"

Sometimes the professionals will reveal the source such as "got it from Crate & Barrel" but most of the time, they'll respond something like, "it was purchased from our design studio" -- which is a roundabout way of way of telling the prospects to contact them for professional services. This is the way Houzz is intended to work.

Another website analogy would be Soundcloud. Imagine if users were frustrated that after listening to the music clips, it was not easy to "source the brand of guitars or drums". Well, most soundcloud music is uploaded by musicians and not music gear manufacturers. It's intended to showcase their songwriting and not whether the guitar used in the song was a Gibson or Fender.

Yes, Houzz does have some overlap with Pinterest for "things" (e.g. Shop by Department tab) but the original motivation of it was a portfolio of professionals' work. Or, to restate it in terms of another website analogy, it's a photo album version of Angie's List professional remodelers.

>Most of the time, what you come across isn't even a product, it's some concept work by some designer [...] or an ad for some interior decorator.

Yes, that's exactly what the Houzz design photos are about: Professionals not products. (Again, similar to the glossy monograph books from architects and interior designers you can buy from Amazon. The books' photos showcase the "look" but don't itemize the individual products.)

(However, that doesn't stop Houzz from evolving with their AI deep learning efforts to become more of a "products" buying portal rather than a marketplace for professionals.)

[stevesearer]

I run an office design website and have a bit of experience with this type of thing.

Often architecture and design firms aren't interested in answering questions about products on Houzz because the people asking for the information will almost certainly never be a client of theirs. Plus depending on the size of firm, they aren't staffed to sit around answering questions from random people online.

In addition, it is often the case that the products used in custom homes or projects can't be sourced and purchased easily online which makes it difficult to earn any sort of affiliate revenue. This is likely why many photos on Houzz show similar products but not the exact product.

[jarjoura]

Houzz from the start was a photo tagging platform. People upload photos and then presumably other people around the world help source the products in the photos. It was always meant to be that from day 1 as it's even in their company about page.

The fact that professionals also use it in new and different ways, to showcase their work, doesn't hold to your Soundcloud analogy.

[skrebbel]

> Imagine if users were frustrated that after listening to the music clips, it was not easy to "source the brand of guitars or drums". Well, most soundcloud music is uploaded by musicians and not music gear manufacturers.

This analogy does not hold because nearly any musician will jump to the opportunity of sharing their gear and setup. It was pieced together passionately over a decade, after all; the proud basis of the musician's success.

[jasode]

>This analogy does not hold because nearly any musician will jump to the opportunity of sharing their gear and setup.

They'll share info on music gear forums[1] but not on Soundcloud. One could visit 10 rappers' soundcloud page and leave a comment asking "what microphone did you use for your rap vocals?" and you usually won't get a reply. That's normal. A lot of musicians upload their music but don't engage with the comments left by users. Musicians aren't being secretive on Soundcloud; they simply don't view it as a Q&A platform.

In any case, what I meant by "items not easy to source" for Soundcloud analogy is that there is no "add to cart" or url for the products you hear in the song. E.g., there is no button that says "Buy the Shure SM58 vocal mic you're hearing". In contrast, Pinterest has direct and obvious hotlinks to retailers' websites.

Therefore, getting frustrated that SoundCloud "doesn't make it easy to source the music gear you're listening to" is to misunderstand what SoundCloud is about.

[1] gearpage, harmonycentral, gearslutz, etc: https://www.google.com/search?q=music+gear+forum

[hunter2_]

This is a decent analogy, but maybe the difference is that someone in the market for music gear doesn't expect SoundCloud to help them buy it (they know they need a music shop instead); someone in the market for house stuff does expect Houzz to help them buy it (it's not obvious what the deal is).

Or simply that many SoundCloud listeners aren't themselves looking to buy gear / make music; many Houzz users are indeed looking to DIY.

[jasode]

>; someone in the market for house stuff does expect Houzz to help them buy it (it's not obvious what the deal is). [...] ; many Houzz users are indeed looking to DIY.

Yes, you're right. The user-interface to Houzz website does not make the "professional marketplace" distinction obvious.

Houzz does get revenue from both product companies like IKEA furniture, and Viking and LG appliances, etc. They also get revenue from professional contractors to show up in listings when people search photos for "ideas".

Yes, it's not obvious that 99% of the idea photos that people bookmark into their ideabooks come from professionals to advertise their "services" and not product manufacturers to sell "stuff".