With billions of pinned home décor photos and ideas available, Pinterest can be a great place to start planning your home renovation. Pinterest features everything from ideas on how to landscape your backyard, to what living room rug to choose, to which mailbox will best match your bright red door.
Pinterest can provide inspiration to anyone who wants to redecorate their home or update their landscaping. However, it’s often easy to get trapped in a Pinterest “rabbit hole” chasing ideas and forgetting to actually put them into action.
At Ohio Valley Group, we want to help you be confident and prepared while planning your dream home. Don’t let yourself get overwhelmed – take these steps to make a plan and turn your Pinterest Board into a reality.
What is Pinterest?
For those who are unfamiliar with the platform, Pinterest is a website that hosts billions of photos and documents that a user can “pin” and save to their personal board. Simply type in a phrase, such as, “stylish kitchen decorations” and countless photos will instantly appear featuring savvy cabinets and sleek countertop decorations.
Over the years Pinterest has become a popular platform for people who want to scoop up fun and interesting arts, crafts, baking and – of course – landscaping and home décor ideas.
With billions of “pinned” photos to choose from, Pinterest can be a great place to find inspiration – but it can also become a source of stress and anxiety. That’s why it is so important to have a plan in place.
Where Should I Begin?
First, start by getting organized. Make a kitchen folder, a living room folder, a yard folder, a pool folder, a garden folder, etc. Having all of your different photos and inspirations neatly organized into separate folders will make things less stressful and easier to sort through.
Having everything organized will also allow you to take a step back and look at the big picture. Instead of finding a door that you like and having to sort through a jumble of photos for thirty minutes to find a matching mailbox, simply hop from one folder to another to compare ideas and take notes.
Another way to stay organized is by sticking to a particular theme or style. There are dozens to choose from, such as “rustic,” “country,” “modern,” “Bohemian,” “Boho,” and many more. Sticking to one style will diminish some of your stress when trying to match designs, themes and color palates.
Most importantly, don’t be afraid to get creative! With so many ideas to choose from, it’s easier than ever to find a style to match your family’s needs and your personality at the same time. Throw some interesting and unique designs into your folders – you never know what you might end up with.
There’s So Much to Choose from – How Do I Pick?
After hours of searching, comparing photos and chasing designs through that Pinterest rabbit hole we warned you about, you may feel a little bit overwhelmed. With so much content, how can you possibly choose?
One good way to narrow down your list is by visiting your friends and family members. What do you like about their home and yard? What do you love? What do you secretly hate?
Looking at pictures on a computer screen and seeing them in action are completely different things. You may love a color palate in a Pinterest photo but hate it in real life. On the other hand, you may find that you like one particular style a lot more in person than you did when scrolling through your app.
If you can’t find any real-life examples of what you are looking for, the next best thing would be to get professional advice. Professional landscapers and home designers will be able to direct you on what styles and colors will best fit your home, family and personal preferences. Show them your Pinterest board and they may be able to put together amazing combinations you wouldn’t otherwise have imagined.
I Have My List – Am I Ready?
Unfortunately, not everything will fit in your yard or will be a good match for your home. Once you have a good idea of what you want to include when remodeling, go back through your notes and decide what to move forward with and what to leave behind. Would you rather have a gazebo and a porch swing? Or a swimming pool and new deck? Now is the time to make the hard decisions.
This is also a good time to finalize your budget. Before going to a landscaper or home decorator, have a detailed budget in place. This is arguably one of the most important steps in creating your dream home. Having a budget will give the professionals you are working with a good idea of what they should recommend and how to move forward so you can get the most out of your money. Figure out how much you can reasonably spend and add about 15% extra to cover any unexpected expenses.
Everything Is Ready, What Do I Do Now?
This is it! You have your Pinterest inspirations neatly organized, you’ve set a budget, you’ve gotten ideas from friends and family members and now you are ready to move forward with making your dream home a reality.
Now that you have your plan in place take some time to fill out our online Vision Planner. When answering the questions be as detailed as you can. This will let us see exactly what your goals, ideas, and inspirations are so we can begin designing a plan to fit your family’s needs. Together, we can work to create the home of your dreams!
To learn more about our services and who we are, please visit us online or call (440) 543-0500.
