Online Inspiration – Houzz and Pinterest

Gathering ideas for your building or renovating a home is easier than ever thanks to websites designed specifically to share interior design and architectural inspirations. Two sites that I enjoy visiting are Pinterest and Houzz where people share photos and ideas. Every time you visit these sites you will see something new.

Pinterest is a relatively new site that enjoys tremendous popularity. According to their website, “Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.” If you are decorating or renovating a home you could start your own boards with inspirations.

You can select a category to peruse such as House & Home and from there you will be able to search images Pinterest members have shared through their pinboards. The pinboards are a creative way to electronically organize inspirational photos.

Houzz  features over 200,000 photos featuring interior and exteriors of homes. Design professionals use the site to showcase their work with the Houzz community by uploading photos to share. In turn, homeowners collect their favorite photos and find design professionals in their area.

Houzz members organize and share their photos through custom ideabooks. Homeowners use the ideabooks as a tool to manage and share information for renovating or building their home. For example, if you are renovating a kitchen you could create an ideabook with all our inspirations and share it with your architect. It is a great way to communicate exactly what you want.