Simons and Paulas of DIY

MARIANNE MADDEN is typical of a new breed of decor enthusiasts: She has never subscribed to a shelter magazine, doesn't buy coffee-table books and considers home and garden tours something from the Eisenhower era. Instead, Madden, 23, gets her fill of design ideas by reviewing decorating projects on blogs such as DesignSponge, Decor8 and Design Milk, where she posts comments on what she sees. She recently judged images of singer Kylie Minogue's house as "too black and white. I would have liked to see more fuchsia, red and cream," and decreed another home's modern bed too "spartan rather than sensual."

But Madden can take as good as she gives. Her own San Diego studio apartment is dutifully documented on her Flickr photo gallery, where it's available for all of the online world to see. And praise. And criticize.

Though getting rated on the Web is nothing new (post your head shot to the website Hot or Not if you dare), uploading images of one's own home is a growing phenomenon for the house proud. These websites and blogs are attracting all manner of design junkies: flea-market fiends as well as aspiring decorators who upload their latest creations for the blogosphere to decide if that breakfast nook is a hit or a miss.

"It was incredibly flattering," says Polly Wilson, who posted 35 photos of her Sherman Oaks home on Apartment Therapy, a site that functions as an online design equivalent of "American Idol."

"We weren't doing it to try to impress people. We just wanted to share how we maximize our space," husband Ben says of the clean-lined, 1,100-square-foot apartment that they share with 5-year-old son Cyrus.

Neither of the Wilsons, both 35, has a Facebook account, so being a Web celebrity for a week was a novelty for Polly, who works in marketing at Goldman Sachs, and Ben, an actor and writer who built much of their modern furniture.

Not that all 67 comments on their Apartment Therapy house tour were high praise.

"White couch. 4.5 year old. Does not compute," posted a user named Juliet.

And amid the "wows" and complimentary questions such as, "What is the name of the gray paint on the bedroom wall?" there also were people such as Patrick, who opined, "I don't love the two velvet tub chairs," and Peggy, who worried that a storage cabinet above Cyrus' bed might not be safe. "I would probably move that," she said in her bit of unsolicited advice.