Sharing Pinterest Boards, mood boards and magazine clippings of things you love provide great visual tools for collaborating and communicating with your architect. These tools will help you get clear and organized around what you like and dislike.
Take these two steps:
First: get inspired: i.e. find your design style
Then: get organized: collect and organize visuals and samples of what you like
Here are a few ways to find & organize your inspiration:
Inspiration you can flip through: Design Magazines
Design magazines like Dwell, Architectural Digest and Domino have beautiful full page spreads. Visit your local grocery store and pick up design magazines. The key here is to get some variety. You may already know what you love, or inspiration may strike when you see a style you've never experienced before. Buy a few magazines outside your comfort zone to explore styles you haven't experienced before.
Create Pinterest boards
Yes - at least two! One of your likes and one of your dislikes. Look for inspiring homes, kitchens, bathrooms and bedrooms. You can share your boards directly with your architect or designer. You can collaborate with your partner.
Tip: Combine the design magazines with the Pinterest boards.
Sometimes the Pinterest search results get a little repetitive. The algorithm tends to feed you more of the content you have already liked, which can be great great if that's what you're looking for, but not so great for expanding your style horizons.
If you're looking to explore new styles and designs, pin photos from various websites where you find them. Many magazines will have the "pin" feature available and voila! You can bring outside content to you board.
Make a physical mood board
There is nothing quite like holding materials in you hand. Maybe you found a tile you love or have a sample cabinet finish. You can build your own mood board around these items. You can move them around and see how they look and feel next to each other.
Visit Open Houses
There is nothing quite like experiencing a space in person. Seeing and walking through a space will give you spatial context you can't get from beautiful photos. Open houses are easily accessible and you may even be able to get the name of a great paint color or find a cabinet maker to suit your tastes.
Tip: Bring along a laser measurer and take notes on how spaces feel to you. Does the owners suite feel just right? You can whip out your laser, measurer and take notes on room size. This will help you add some specifications to your wish list.
Drive neighborhoods
Seeing a design or material in person can help give it a yay or nay. It is the difference between seeing an entire house painted in a color versus a tiny swatch.
It is also helpful to see a design at scale. For example, how wide should your siding be? What material? What color do you want your gutters to be or paint? When we were making design choices, seeing them in person was helpful.
Whether you decide to make a Pinterest board, collect photos or physical samples of materials, the important thing is to find designs you love and make it easy to share with your architect or designer.