Maybe you’re remodeling, or perhaps you’re having a new home brought to life from the planning of your architect and the execution of your builder. Whatever the scope of the project, you’re bound to accumulate an assortment of ideas and correspondence from different sources around the web. Of course, you could print theses electronic messages and links, or you could pull out the trusty graph paper to plan out new ideas for furniture arrangement and keep them in a file. But over the next couple of postings, we will cover a few free, online services that we think might help you stay organized, and keep your digital files accessible away from home.
- Pinterest – By now you probably have heard that Pinterest’s free, online digital “pin-board” has a healthy audience which is wildly popular with females of all ages (although the male users have begun to make a name for themselves too). Their visual format, highlighting images that others have “pinned” to their boards creates a pleasing and ever changing feed of images. With pre-defined categories, you can search other pinner’s boards, looking for images and inspiration. Additionally, the ability to “pin” an image and a link to a board of your own can be extremely helpful.
Find that perfect faucet on the 40th page of Home Depot’s website? Much like a bookmark, you can “pin” an image of the faucet, jot down your thoughts, and save it for future reference. Perhaps the beauty of Pinterest in this application is the ability to build a concept board, with the colors, textures, and finishes you’re attracted to in a quick, digital way. Furthermore, you can share your boards with vendors and others during your project to visually explain your style.
- Houzz – Much like Pinterest, Houzz allows you to peruse thousands of images (900,000+ at the time of this writing) categorized by room function, style, or searchable keywords. By creating your own Ideabooks, you can save images to your collection to share with others, or to mull over on your own. Not sure about the placement or finish of something in your home? Want some outside advice? Houzz lets you upload a photo through their discussion boards and others can weigh in on your questions. Again, this is a powerful tool in helping share your vision with others involved in your project.
So keep checking in here over the next few weeks to learn more about how some free online tools can help with your project!