How to Use Pinterest Like an Interior Designer

Feeling overwhelmed at the start of a design project is very normal. From clients to friends, I regularly hear how everyone feels inundated with images of beautiful homes, which makes selecting a design path very tricky, so in this week's blog we share how to maximise Pinterest for your design project and ensure your account stays clear, concise and organised.

Pinterest is one of our favourite places to collate all our design inspiration; with the handy pin button and hundreds of thousands of images at your fingertips, it’s a great way to easily organise all of your ideas. But could there be such thing as too many pins? We think so! So, here’s how we use the platform to help our clients…

First, Download the Pin Button

At the end of 90% of our consultation calls with a prospective new client, I send the link to download the Pinterest browser button. It is amazing! Not only can you save all the images and products you like in one click, but it saves the link to the webpage, so when you go back later you can find it again. Click here to download it.

Next, Start Searching

It may sound a little obvious, but starting your Pinterest search using broad terms such as ‘Contemporary Interior Design’, ‘Mid-century Modern Home’ or ‘Scandi Home Style’ will give you plenty of images and inspiration to set you on the right track. We also like to scout through our favourite interior magazines, blogs and suppliers, using the pin button to save our favourites as we go along.

Collate Your Favourites

Create a board for each room of your project and be super selective, saving just 15 - 20 of your favourite images to each. This is how we organise our Pinterest boards…

This is how we organise our Pinterest boards. Click here to take a look.
(As we’re working on multiple projects, we have a few more on each board.)

Analyse The Images

Carefully analyse each image you have saved and think what is it that drew you to it. Maybe it's a particular pairing of textures? Or the size of the artwork above the fireplace? It might be a specific architectural detail. Sometimes it could even be the entire look and feel of the space.

Add Notes

Pinterest’s helpful ‘Add A Note to Self’ feature allows you to post a note directly under a pin. Even better, only you can see it, so don’t worry about what you’re writing. Anything from ‘Love the series of pendant lights down the hallway” to ‘Show this to Tim!’ will do, as long as it’s helpful to you.

Bring It All Together

Once we have undertaken our research and have an idea of how we see the design progressing, we create a concept board for each space. We include a range of images, from inspiration shots to furniture we love or fabrics we’re inspired by. We then annotate our board, so the client knows what each image represents. We’ve found this really helps our clients to envision the space and focusses their minds on the design direction we are heading towards. Once you have collated all your images, we recommend you do the same.