Houzz: the Pinterest for home project ideas and construction trends

Houzz.com is a website that originally started out with architect and interior designers sharing portfolios.It has now expanded and can be a little overwhelming when looking to find inspiration for your new build or renovation project.

This Houzz Ideabooks tutorial will walk you step-by-step through the process of creating an Ideabook, sharing it with your designer, adding photos, and commenting on those photos effectively.

Why Houzz instead of Pinterest when gathering inspo? It is really not an either/or question. Pinterest has a lot of inspiration however it can turn into a rabbit hole with recipes, outfits, and lots of other things that do not have anything to do with your project. It is much easier to find photos on Houzz. Houzz has a design-specific search engine that lets you filter by style, size, budget, color, and more.

Here at Mangrove Bay Design & Lighting when we start a new project with a client we ask that they collect inspiration images either on Houzz or Pinterest. A picture is worth a thousand words they say and this helps us see your vision for the project. It is a visual log of all of the elements you want to include. So how do you start your ideabooks? Check out the steps below.

Create Houzz Profile

Once you create a Houzz profile, you can start adding Ideabooks to your profile and saving photos to those Ideabooks. Ideabooks are similar to Pinterest boards.

From the Houzz homepage, click on Your Houzz in the top right corner of the window and select Your Ideabooks from the drop down menu.

Click on create Ideabook.

Give your Ideabook a name. This step is very important. Designers manage many projects so if you just name your ideabook kitchen we will not know whose kitchen it is. Please name your ideabooks your last name and room name or address and room name . For example, Smith Kitchen or 123 Maple Kitchen. Create a separate idea book for each space of your project. If you are renovating your kitchen and bathroom for example you will have two ideabooks one named Smith Kitchen and another named Smith Bathroom. Click on the toggle to make your ideabook private and then click on Create.

Share your ideabooks with your designer. For us type in designmangrove.

If you look at the Ideabooks section of your profile page, you will see your new Ideabook listed. It will be gray until you add your first photo. Remember you can access all of your Ideabooks from any page on Houzz by clicking Your Houzz in the top right corner then choose Your Ideabooks from the dropdown menu.

Now for the fun part! Add photos to your ideabooks from Houzz. You can use the search bar at the top to search for photos. You can also open up your ideabooks and click on Photos.

Scroll through the photos until you see one you would like to save. Hover over the image and the share and save options will appear. Click on SAVE.

When you click on Save a dark box will appear telling you where the image will be saved and also allowing you to make comments about the photo. What do you like about the photo? For example, maybe you found a kitchen photo and you really like the tile on the backsplash but that is it. Type that in the comments so your designer knows exactly what you like.

The key to using Houzz Ideabooks for effectively communicating with your interior designer is the comments. Without your comments, your designer has no way of knowing why you saved that photo. Did you like the tile color? The overall look? Or just the light fixture?

You can also comment on things you dislike. That is why we set ideabooks to private so we don’t hurt anyones feelings.

Once our clients have added a good number of photos to their ideabooks for their project (at least ten to fifteen for each space is ideal), We go through each photo and study it along with their comments to create your proposed plans.

Here is an example of part of a clients ideabook for their laundry room.

Houzz is an amazing resource, and if you use it properly, it can be a valuable asset in making sure you get the results you are seeking for your new construction or renovation project.

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