red paper boat

I like to check out Apartment Therapy and its spin-off sites. The comments threads are usually interesting, though there are some regulars who seem to have no social skills or manners whatsoever. I find that a little difficult to deal with, but what really boggles my mind is the folks who seem to be devoid of reading comprehension or critical thinking skills.

One of the subjects that, unsurprisingly, comes up fairly often is color. What color should I paint my living room? or What is the brand and name of the paint you used in your kitchen?. Do these people not realize that the color they’re seeing on their monitors is likely not the same as the color the decorator or photographer saw on hers? And even assuming that the camera and everyone’s monitors were calibrated correctly, do they not realize that lighting and environmental factors can and do affect color? So a color that looks a certain way on the viewer’s monitor, even if it’s fairly representative of what that color looks like on the author’s walls, is not going to look the same in your home.

Most of the people reading Apartment Therapy seem to be designers or at least interested in design. They should know all that, but apparently they don’t. It’s enough to make the baby jeebus weep.

Another thing that amuses me is people arguing over what color something is. Today there was a scavenger post with a little desk that was ostensibly painted “teal.” Now, it looks more like seafoam green on my screen, but since my monitor and the post author’s monitor may not be calibrated the same way, I’m not about to argue it. Who knows, and more importantly, who cares? Apparently someone does cares. A lot. Because someone couldn’t help themselves from correcting the author: “That’s not teal!

Poor baby jeebus.