Easy as 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9

Home Depot is ridiculously full of information. Product catalogs, how-to guides and educational signage fill every inch of non-product space. This is a store that's already suffering from major clutteritis.

Maybe they figure their shopper is just a true D.I.Y.er that hates to ask for help. But I for one need serious help in Home Depot. And somehow I know that a sign isn't going to be able to answer my questions. So I tend to be in the "less signs, more people" camp.

I can find nothing better to describe the over-signed, over-bannered, over-helpful-hinted environment than their poster series. It's called "Easy As 1-2-3." This one has not 3, but 9 steps. How to install a ceiling fan in, yes, 9 steps. Not 3! That is not easy as 1-2-3! That is fully six more steps than three! How about creating a planting bed in six steps! Should I stand there and write down the steps? Or should I buy the book on planting beds? There is no in-between.

I'm not sure if this poster is meant to encourage me to install my own ceiling fan ("Wow, I can do this myself, even if it takes three days!") or to frighten me into hiring Home Depot to install it for me ("Whoa, this looks impossible!") What I do know is that "Easy as 1-2-3" is almost never the case with a home improvement project, and that their series has a very misleading name.

Home Depot has the right idea when they position home improvement as easy. And the whole "You can do it, we can help" slogan is dead-on. But they shouldn't blatantly overpromise, either. Some projects require a few more steps, and a little more help, than a poster can really convey.