Raise your hand if you have a whole slew of Pinterest boards chock-full of what your dream house is going to look like. Keep your hand raised if you have no idea how to actually achieve that look.
Now take that hand that’s still in the air and softly pat your cheek, repeating the words, “It’s going to be OK. Mandi is going to help me.”
If you’re like 99% of Pinterest users, your boards are brimming with pictures of beautiful spaces — spaces you’d love to live in. Here, I’m sharing all my tips for narrowing down those 15,000 pins into an exact definition of what YOU love.
We’re going to approach this in three steps:
- The broad approach, where we get a sense of your general style
- The next-level approach, where we evaluate permanent fixtures, like cabinet fronts
- The detailed approach, where we get a sense for finishes and furniture
1. What's Your General Vibe?
The first thing is to look at your pins broadly. Are 85% of the kitchens that you have pinned filled with white brightness? Do you repeatedly pin soaring loft spaces with exposed brick? What are the colors, tones, and styles you're drawn to?
Pick up on the vibe that your boards are giving off.
2. What Features Do You Love?
Now, narrow it down a little. Say you love white kitchens. Is there a certain style of cabinet front that you keep pinning? Do all the pictures have subway tile with dark grout? Are the floors light tones or dark tones? Are your pins pointing you toward dark accent walls or a certain style of window?
3. What Accents Do You Adore?
After you've narrowed things down, look more closely at the details. Do you have an obsession with brass hardware or raw wood dining tables?
When I pin something inspiring, I always write in the pin’s description what I LOVE about the picture (whether it’s the light or the shape of a pillow). That way, I can focus on that one item and the rest just sort of falls away.
Last, and most importantly, will your choices work with your lifestyle? It’s easy to get wrapped up in white floors, white walls, and white cabinets, and to picture a perfect house that’s gleaming clean 100% of the time. But is that realistic for your life? Do you have a gaggle of children who like to destroy your house? Do you entertain a lot and need more than one piece of minimalist furniture?
After you’ve narrowed everything down, use your intel to search for materials in that style (for example, a white kitchen scheme with shaker cabinets and brass hardware). Then take one final gut check to see if it’s the direction your heart’s been leading you all along.
Happy house hunting!