Using Pinterest for Your Home Remodel

pinterest

When searching for inspiration for an upcoming home remodel, many people turn to their favorite magazines or television shows. However, one social network seems to be taking over these old standbys. Pinterest is a social media website where users can create virtual “pinboards” of images that inspire them. A user sees an image that entices them, “repins” it to their board, and can then click on the image to see further information (such as a tutorial on how to do the project or where to buy the product). Here are a few tips for using Pinterest for your home remodel.

Follow the right people. Go to your favorite home remodeling websites and check to see if they have a Pinterest button on their homepage. If so, you can browse their pins as well as the people they follow to get ideas of other accounts to follow. Some popular magazine accounts you should follow include Better Homes and Gardens and This Old House. You can also follow your favorite interior decorators, contractors, television networks (HGTV), and bloggers (Remodelaholic).

Use the search bar. If you’re looking for photos of a specific item, look or a DIY project, searching for it will produce the most popular results.  You can search based on a pin’s keyword, a user’s name or by a board name. There are tons of “kitchen remodel” boards, for example, each with their own individual pins.

Use the categories function. Pinterest covers a wide range of topics ranging from food to beauty. Popular categories you may want to look into for inspiration are “Home Décor”, “Architecture”, “DIY & Crafts” “Products” and “Design”.

Create your own boards. The main purpose of Pinterest is to pin images you find inspiring. It’s important to categorize your boards so images that are similar are placed together. For example, dedicating a board to each room in your home, each color scheme or by each project is helpful. It will be a lot easier when showing your contractor, friends or referring back to use the image yourself if your images are organized correctly.

And finally, show these ideas to your contractor or designer. Many of the photos pinned to Pinterest are high-quality and lead to the original website where the link comes from. This usually includes instructions on the project or information on where to buy the product, all of which will be helpful to implement the ideas into your home projects.