Pinteresting Properties: How Social Media Reinvented Room Design
With well over 70m users to its name, Pinterest is the 2010 breakthrough network that has now officially seized a chunky slice of the social media pie. Offering a predominantly visual alternative to other leading platforms, this quirky online network has become a mainstay of the online shopping world in the 5 years since its understated launch.
A recent survey by marketing consultancy firm Millward Brown found that a staggering 96% of Pinners utilise the platform as a planning tool, with 94% using the information gathered via Pinterest to inform their buying decisions. At Pinchin Architects, we’ve embraced Pinterest as a key tool in the 21st century property design process - and today we’re seeing what this online phenomenon, the only major social network with 4 female users to every male, has to offer the socially engaged homeowner.
Pinterest & Property Design
Traditionally, residential architects have drawn on a combination of industry experience and professional inspiration, with inventive designs throughout architectural history paving the way for the ones that follow. Today, the social media universe feeds the residential architecture world, with many architects, developers and homeowners swearing by platforms such as Pinterest for their daily dose of creative inspiration.
At Pinchin Architects, we incorporate Pinterest into our process by discussing a brief with a client on their dream home, and then collecting Pinterest images that relate to their ideas. We compile these images into a board of inspiration that we then share with our client. After that, they can access the board and comment on which images they like, also adding inspiring images of their own in order to refine their brief for us.
The Exploration Nation
One of Pinterest’s greatest assets is without doubt the awesome variety of ways to explore what’s on offer. With users able to search by Categories, Pinners or Boards as well as the manual way, every aspirational homeowner can find an online spectrum of design ideas tailored to their specifications - and with 35% of users visiting exclusively via mobile, Pinterest has become an integral part of many users’ everyday. Furniture makers, interior designers and artists across the world are continuing to flock to this vibrant online channel in the hope of trading inspiration for custom - much to the gratitude of the homeowners who benefit from this increased access.
To Pin or Not to Pin
The platform’s ‘pin’ functionality brings unique benefits you won’t find with other leading networks - offering users a sense of ownership over the posts they love. Rather than simply liking or sharing their favourite pins, account holders can make their mark on everything that takes their fancy - and, in the case of inspiration-hungry homeowners, add the pins they love most to their proverbial cork board.
Drawing Boards
Architecture
Architecture lovers will find themselves in paradise on Pinterest, thanks to the glorious array of pins dedicated solely to beautiful building design. From wonders of the world to feats of residential architecture, the platform is positively packed with home renovation ideas - and it couldn’t be easier to start bookmarking the buildings you love. Check out Dezeen’s jam-packed Architecture Board for an online platter of bright ideas, and visit Design Milk’s equivalent for a peek inside the world’s most awe-inspiring home designs.
Colour
If you’re in hot pursuit of the perfect colour palette, there are thousands of Boards across Pinterest dedicated to helping you find the hues that will fill your home. With accounts like Gypsy Outfitters offering homeowners a taste of the rainbow through Boards built around evocative colour schemes, you can explore a universe of options until you find a pin that takes your fancy. For lovers of muted tones and rustic beauty, we’d suggest starting with the Paper Mulberry - her range of rich, earthy colour keys are a treat for any interior design purists.
Furniture
Creating your dream home from the ground up includes everything from the walls and floors to the finer details - and thanks to the immense range of independent, multinational and designer retailers accessing the potential of Pinterest, you can hand-pick your ultimate furniture set at home or on the go. Remodelista’s Furniture Board is an online confectionary of stylish and sustainable design options dripping with cool minimalism, while SMP Living’s collection of furniture-focused pins offers a vibrant palette of practical quirk.
If you’re ready to explore the potential of residential architecture, contact Pinchin Architects. We work closely with our clients to design spaces that satisfy their dream home checklist, drawing from the boundless Pinterest pool to help you hand-pick every element of your property.
