Before you read any further, let me tell you that I am biased. I love Houzz. However, when I started blogging, I kept being directed to Pinterest as the best place for home décor and design. I've had a Pinterest page for many years, but I've rarely used it for anything other than inspiration for clothes and photo shoots (and the occasional gift idea). So, I jumped back in and reworked my Pinterest page. As I started pinning, I struggled with a number of things that made me long to skip back over to Houzz for my design inspiration.
Here's why!
1 - Dead end pins - OMG. There is nothing more frustrating to me than clicking through a Pin to it's host website to find nothing there. I'm pinning for real life projects so I want to know details and you so seldom get them on Pinterest. On Houzz, the vast majority of the photos are posted by the architect, designer, vendor or photographer. The photo leads to people, products, and more ideas!
2 - Manipulated photos - Design photos should be clear. They should represent the setting. On Pinterest, you can see that many photos have filters, cropping and other alterations that make it pretty but not a good source for design inspiration.
3 - Photo management - I find the saving and categorizing of photos sooo much easier in Houzz. You can save photos in albums, label them, and organize the thumbnails quickly and easily. The thumbnails allow you to quickly view all of your folders which is important if you have multiple projects.
4 - Information - Many Houzz photos include detailed descriptions with lots of information on the furniture and finishes in the photo. Additionally, Houzz shows you other saved photos from users who saved the photo that you are viewing. There are situations where questions go unanswered, but many posts include quite a good bit of information.
5 - Collaboration - Similar to Pinterest, you can follow users. However, Houzz gives you a "clean" comment section for each photo that you can use to say what you like/don't like about the photo. It shows directly underneath each saved photo which is incredibly helpful for communicating with vendors.
6 - Volume - When you search "rustic kitchen" on Houzz, that's all you get - hundreds of quality photos of rustic kitchens. When you search "rustic kitchens" on Pinterest, you get a wide variety of posts from DIY projects to select pieces of furniture to...well... a few rustic kitchens.
In a nutshell, I "heart" Houzz. Pinterest is best for me when I am looking for general ideas and DIY projects, but it is not my preferred source for design ideas.
Ok, let the debate begin! Tell me why you agree/disagree with me!
Examples Above
Line 1 - a photo and link from Pinterest to a blog that mentions the photo source as Instagram
Line 2 - a photo and link from Houzz that includes the designer