corrvin | To the editors of Do It Yourself (a BHG magazine) (Reply)

I am in the process of buying a house, and I have purchased several magazines off the rack to determine which ones I might enjoy a subscription to.

I really like DIY and the projects in it are about my skill level; the instructions are clear, and the pictures are inspirational.

However, when I came to the article "Still At It" on page 80 of your Summer 2009 issue, I saw something I found disturbing. The owners of the house have displayed on their mantel a little shadowbox with the keys and locations of previous apartments. (It's in the background of the picture on page 84, and described on the lower part of page 85 with a close-up picture.)

It's one thing to accidentally keep a key to a place you no longer have any right to enter, but it's quite another to display that key along with directions to that place, because it puts the current residents of your old apartment at risk if someone steals those keys from your house (which might happen if you have an unsavory houseguest, or a break-in).

Many landlords, especially in large complexes, do exchange locks between apartments, but they don't all pay to have the locks changed every time a tenant moves out, though, and that's why they request the keys back at the end of the lease.

The owners may think their display of keys to other people's homes is "sweet and sentimental" but I think it's more than a little strange [ETA: or "I think it's putting other people's safety and security at risk"]. I think anyone who's had their home broken into and been asked by the police "does anyone else have a key to your place?" would feel the same way.

I believe you should print a "correction" in the next issue explaining that your magazine doesn't support keeping keys to other people's homes without their consent.

Thank you,
Corry Smith

Suggestions? Additions? Too mean? Not mean enough?