To say social media 2012 has arrived would be to vastly understate its position in the current fabric of society. Luckily, for the brevity of this blog, let’s focus on how it has begun to segment itself. We can look at three sites that feature robust content for anyone wanting to see fashion forward interior design images.
www.houzz.com
Houzz allows its users to post imagery by style, space and metropolitan area. So for example, Let’s a vendor has posted images of a home they did in Atlanta in an eclectic style that was organized into what Houzz calls an “ideabook”. Similarly, an interior designer in New Orleans might post images of a home they did there that projected a traditional style.
You can also let your images focus on more narrow types of space. So, you can sort to see images of tropical family rooms, contemporary kitchens, Asian inspired dining rooms, etc. The value proposition to the user is the ease and utility of searching for images in settings and styles that might appeal to them. So a search for a Mediterranean kitchen yields this wonderful setting:
via Houzz
www.pinterest.com
While Pinterest is many things to many people, for our discussion it offers a wealth of “pins” on “boards” that allow users to express their interest in various types of design in different settings in an organized manner. Naturally this creates a browseable ecosystem where like minded users can share the beautiful things they love. In the process of that sharing a certain type of affirmation is generated for good design and good products.
Both of the above examples of social media sites feed into the increased desire of the consumer to do greater and more in depth research on their interior design or overall construction project. This has resulted in an infinitely more informed consumer when they enter one of our showrooms with their design professional.
www.designshuffle.com
Design Shuffle has appeared on our radar more recently than the prior two examples. With that said, perhaps the best thing to do here is to use their own words to describe their site. “DesignShuffle.com is like Facebook for the design community. We provide a platform for design professionals such as interior designers and architects to showcase their portfolio, and we bring targeted audiences to see the uploaded portfolios”. And in my view they accomplish their mission brilliantly.
While browsing Design Shuffle, I came across this wonderful image from an old friend Michael Wolk.
via Michael Wolk
This shot showcases the work of Michael’s Miami firm, Michael Wolk Design, set in the Tahiti Beach area of South Florida.
In summary, you do yourself a disservice by jumping to the conclusion that social media sites are for young people and individuals with too much time on their hands. Check out the three sites mentioned above and you will love what you see on fashion forward interior design trends.
