Pinterest is the leading tool used to translate what clients visually want without having to explain it. It’s what I use 99.9% of the time with my clients. 

With 200 billion saved pictures and Home Design being the #1 reason why people use Pinterest in the first place - you’re bound to find what you’re looking for.

At the start of all renovation and new home design projects, I ask my clients to create a Pinterest inspiration board. This is so I can get a sense of their style and ensure my vision aligns with theirs. 

Instead of “I’m looking for a vaulted bedroom with a gabled dormer and exposed collar ties”, you show them THIS. 

But there’s more to just pinning a handful of pictures. Here are some tips and tricks to optimize your design inspiration.

00:01:48 - 1. Follow the Right People for You Inspiration
00:04:02 - 2. Create a Pinterest Board
00:05:38 - 3. Start Pinning and Organize into Sections
00:08:05 - 4. Advanced Tips: Search, Notes + Presentation
00:10:12 - 5. Share Your Board With Your Team

READ THE TRANSCRIPT AND ADDITIONAL NOTES BELOW

If you haven’t already, create an account by going to www.pinterest.com or .ca. Enter your email and a new password, then click Continue. Next edit or add your name and add a profile photo.  This is so your Team can easily determine that it’s you. Dimensions should be 165 x 165 pixels. After choosing your language and location, select 5 or more topics to follow. Click Done to save.

1. Follow the Right People for Your Inspiration

I would be remiss to tell you to follow us @homeownerhq or @pottsdesignco. With over 5,000 combined pins in over 40 visible boards, we can help you find some inspiration.

Then, take a look at who we follow and follow those who share the styles that you like. Do the same in the search bar. Search styles, home design magazines, both print and online, a specific home show or blogger, and of course, friends and family.

2. Create a Pinterest Board 

From your profile, inside your saved pins, click the + sign and choose Board. Title your board something that clearly defines you for your Designer, especially if your account name is unrecognizable. Some example are “Your Name's Home Design Project” , “Street Name | Home Inspiration Board”, or a blend of the two. If you ever need to make changes, click the pencil icon.

You can have this as a secret board, meaning it’s not viewable to the public, or public and anyone can search your board and pictures. The choice is yours. It will not affect whether your Team will be able to see it or not. Check the box if you would like to hide it from the public. Then click Create.

3. Start Pinning and Organize into Sections

Let the pinning begin! 

Search for phrases that match your style and specific space, and blend styles in your search. For example, searching “modern home exteriors” or “modern kitchen” comes up with a wide variety of what people think modern is. Instead, add an additional style of home that reflects your taste. Search “modern farmhouse home exterior” or “modern traditional house exterior”. Exchange house and home, as well as dining room, eating nook, breakfast nook, etc.

When collecting your inspiration for your architectural team, think less about colours and furnishings for now, and more about the building. Think about the functionality and flow (how would you use the space?), shape and features (how would you want to see the space?), and overall aesthetics (how would you want to feel in the space?).

Once you've pinned a few pictures, go into your board and, at the top, click Organize. Select a picture (or pictures) and below choose Create Section. Label your section based on the room type pins and click Add. This will make it easy to find specific pictures in sections, especially if you’re having a meeting with your team, at any stage of the design or build.

Continue to pin as many pictures and organize accordingly. Once a section is created, you can pin a picture directly into the section or, you can use Move and drag-and-drop pictures you've already pinned.

List specific rooms but try to limit it to 10 max. The most common are Bedrooms, Bathrooms, Exteriors, Great Room, Dining Room, Kitchen, The Property, Mudroom/Laundry, Garage, and Master or Main Suite.

🔥 Hot Tip: If you find yourself overwhelmed by all the design options that are out there, just know you're not the only one. Take a break. And then create a board strictly for "rapid-fire pinning". This is where you pin as many pins as you can into that board. Once you're exhausted, go into that board and see if there are any pictures that you've previously pinned. Take note of those pictures. If you find yourself accidentally pinning the same pictures over and over again - there's a reason why. Those are your pictures.

Over time you will find that you’ve doubled up on some pictures. Remember that: there’s a reason you’re posting that one twice.

🔥 Hot Tip: Choose a Board Cover - 00:07:20

Choose the Pin that represents your project the most. This would most likely be an exterior picture, but you can use an interior picture if you like.

4. Advanced Tips: Search, Notes + Presentation

You may find that you don’t like everything about a picture. Maybe you just like the window configuration, style, or the vaulted ceiling feature. 

Scroll down to see similar pictures, or

🔥 Hot Tip: Use the Pinterest Lens. It is a camera tool that lets users focus on a whole picture or just a part of the picture, and find related pictures based on the area selected. It’s basically Shazam, but for images, underpinned by image recognition and machine learning tech. 

Click the icon in the bottom right corner. Highlight the part of the image you want to see more of. 

To leave a "Note to self"and for your collaborator, after saving a picture, above the comment section, click Add Note. If your team is not a collaborator, you can comment on the picture. Only leave positive comments as it will be sent to the owner of the Pin and viewable to the public. This specific information will help your designer incorporate your favourite design elements into your own project where appropriate.

You don’t want to be too heavy with pictures and overwhelm or confuse your team, but at the same time you also don’t want to go into your project with only 1-2 pictures. Determine your favourite and eliminate until you have 4-8 in each section. If you find yourself having a difficult time pairing them down, copy the board, and keep the heavy file for yourself. Make sure you label them differently.

🔥 Hot Tip: If you're looking for products from a picture, there will be a tag shown at the bottom right corner. Hover over the picture and all the tagged products will be labelled or be visible with a white dot. Click any and a Product Pin (image of only the product) and similar products will appear, just like using the Lens tool. 

Pinterest is also working on creating Shopping Lists and will also be rolling that out later this year.

5. Share your board with your team

To share your new board with your Designer, inside your board, click on the + icon at the top. You can either: 

1. Email them a short link to view your board at any time. Click Copy Link and insert it into an email. Or,

2. Make them a collaborator. The benefit of being a collaborator is, if your board isn't finished, whenever you pin a picture, they will get an email notification that a new picture has been added. Type in your Designer's email address and click the Invite button.

Best practise is to ask whether they would like the link or become a collaborator.

While you can easily get stuck down a Pinterest rabbit-hole, just spending a few hours over time, before your project begins, can make all the difference. You’ll be amazed at how much time and energy you save for both you and your design team (and build team!) by creating a Pinterest inspiration board.