How to Use Pinterest to Decorate Your Home

Maybe I should just call this a love letter to Pinterest.

There are so many ways to use Pinterest to decorate and to be inspired and I’m going share my process with you.

What Is Pinterest?

Pinterest is sort of a hybrid between social media and a search engine, sort of a combined Instagram and Google.  Users, that’s us!,  can share their inspiration and ideas and others can find it on this platform.  It’s basically a visual discovery engine!

What do you think of that description?

It’s basically a virtual pinboard, or idea board.

You can search for something and get so so many ideas and inspirations!

It’s not just for home decor either, you can use it for recipes, planning a party or even a wedding.  You’ll be amazed at all the ways you’ll find to use Pinterest.

So I feel like I should point out that you might also want to invest in some sort of timer.  Because you can sit down to look for something “real quick” and look up a long time later.

I mean, that’s never happened to me.

Well, maybe once.  Or twice.

Why I Use Pinterest to Decorate My Home

You might think Pinterest  paid me to tell you this but that’s not the case.  I sure can hope that they’ll recognize it in some way though right?

Pinterest is one of the best design tools to come onto the market in my lifetime.

Did I mention that it’s free?

You’ve got loads of inspiration right at your fingertips for no cost at all!

I mean, what could be better than that?

Okay, yes.  A bag of money to decorate with, puppies.  I get it, I can think of a few things too.  But really, it’s a great tool.

What Do You Do When You Start a New Decor Project?

When you start a new project do you start out shopping for it?

Sometimes that’s how one starts, but usually you start out with a plan.

You should always, always, always start out with an inspiration board.

Every Project starts with an inspiration board.

When we decided to build a garage we spent hours looking at garage styles and plans and pinning them to a project board.

While we’re planning a shed we are adding our ideas to a project board.

Unlike social media, Pinterest doesn’t make us feel judged, it just shows us pictures that match what we’re searching for.

There’s no need to buy a bunch of magazines to get tear sheets for decorating anymore.

But of course that’s just a guilty pleasure for me so I buy the magazines anyway.

Another story, for another day.

How to Get Started With Pinterest

If you don’t already have a Pinterest account you’re going to want to set one up right away!

They make it easy to do that, just go to Pinterest.com on your computer or download the app onto your phone or tablet, and you can easily create an account.  It will walk you through the steps by choosing a few categories of interests so that it knows what to show you.

Don’t worry, once you start using it you’ll find all kinds of great ideas.

Make a Board

The first step to using Pinterest to decorate is to create a board for the project that you’re working on.  You can call it whatever you’d like but I usually name it for whatever project we’re working on at that time.

Start your pinboard and just add everything you like to it.

It doesn’t necessarily have to fit the project you’re working on.  Anything can be inspiration for a project, colors, shapes or travel destinations.

Really anything that helps you feel what you want your project to look like.

Of course you can add more boards too, for future projects, or recipes, or just for fun.

When we started considering a new front door I started pinning front doors on Pinterest.  I created an inspiration board of the doors that I loved for our house.

When we were shopping at the hardware store one day and came across a door on clearance, we didn’t have to spend any time considering whether it was perfect.  We already knew.  We had an inspiration board with similar doors all over it.

The upside on using Pinterest for a project is also that sometimes I will run across ideas that I hadn’t thought of.  Color combinations or another way of organizing that can change the whole project.

You can also change the description of the pin to say exactly why you’re saving it.  Change the caption to “this is the perfect wall color” or “I love these throw pillows”.  This will help you when you get ready to refine your board.

Pro Tip:  If you click on a pin it will open in a new window, scroll down below the large image and you should find more pins that are similar to the one you like.

Next Refine Your Board

For this step you can either delete pins from your current board or start a new board.

I like to make a new board that has our final (or close to final) decisions on them.  I like to keep the original inspiration in case I can use it for a future project.

We are in the midst of two remodels right now and we use Pinterest to decorate and design the projects.  The idea boards keep filling up and ideas changing, but the design decisions have been easier as we’ve moved through the project.

There is simply so much inspiration.  And fortunately Pinterest gives us a way to contain it all.

Once you start saving all the pins that you like, you will see the path forward.  The colors and shapes that you’re attracted to.

You may be surprised when you get to the editing portion that many of your ideas have something in common with each other, and it’s not until you look at them all together that the style and idea starts to emerge.

Now You’ve Got A Project Board

Once you’ve started narrowing down your style you should try using the search bar to look for very specific items. If you’re missing a detail or just need something specific this is a great way to find that one key item without endlessly scrolling.

Now that you know how to use Pinterest to decorate your home, you’re going to be able to use it for all kinds of projects.

So the only thing you have to do is set a timer, because once you head down the rabbit hole of Pinterest, it can be hard to come up for air!

Want more great home decorating tips?  Be sure to sign up for our mailing list so you don’t miss a thing.  You might also want to check out:

How to Find Your Decorating Style
How to Choose an Area Rug

And be sure to let us know in the comments below if we’ve missed anything or you’ve got questions!