How Interior Designers Use Pinterest in 2026

Kitchen with wooden cabinetry, a burgundy tiled island with a hob on the top, and a shelf of decor with glasses and artwork — (Image credit: Future)

Anyone whos ever started a visual project, whether it's a wedding, a holiday, or a home, will know about Pinterest. A platform that lets you 'pin' your 'interests' like a mood board, it allows imaginations to run wild. While the site is filled with all sorts of visual inspiration, it's the ultimate source of creativity for every kind of interior design project, big or small.

From every interior design trend under the sun to general color scheme inspiration, Pinterest is perfect for guiding your home's look. 'Pinterest can be a great way to capture and catalogue ideas you’d like to incorporate near-term or longer-term into your home,' explains designer Jennifer Wilson of Jennifer J Interiors. 'It can also be a good way to flag images as your 'North Star' – a target aesthetic you love and want to stay true to amidst the barrage of ideas that you are peppered with daily.'

But with so much inspiration at your fingertips, what's the best way to use Pinterest? Interior designers share all.

1. Determine What you Like (and Don't)

a Victorian living room painted pale blue with a large striped couch, eclectic mix of statement art and a blue tufted rug — Whether it's paint inspiration or sofa ideas, Pinterest is great for understanding what styles you like.

Like discovering your interior design style, Pinterest can be a useful way to uncover exactly what you like (and don't) when it comes to home decor or design trends.

'For homeowners, Pinterest can be a valuable tool for identifying what you’re naturally drawn to,' explains Abby Gruman of Abby Leigh Designs. 'Rather than focusing on individual rooms, I recommend creating boards and saving images that consistently catch your eye. Over time, patterns begin to emerge – whether it's a color palette, material, architectural style, or mood – which can help you better understand your personal aesthetic.'

Once you've begun pinning your likes, your algorithm will become tailored and personalized, meaning finding inspiration and styles you actually like will only get easier.

2. Let It Inspire you, Not Direct You

Dining room with white walls, a jute runner, an organic wood dining table, orange painted wooden dining chairs, white pendant lights above, and blue and green modern art hanging on the wall — Stumbling across this dining room on Pinterest might inspire you to try out white walls and colorful furniture.

While it's easy to get carried away with Pinterest, it's important to remember that it's a source of inspiration, not a step-by-step guide – it's just like making a moodboard.

'My biggest tip is to use Pinterest as a source of inspiration, not imitation,' advises Abby. 'While it's tempting to recreate a space exactly as it appears online, the most successful interiors are the ones that reflect the people who live in them. I encourage clients to use Pinterest to collect ideas, details, and references, then work with a designer to interpret those elements in a way that feels unique, cohesive, and tailored to their home. The goal should never be to copy a room, but rather to create something that feels personal and entirely your own.'

A home reflects its owner when it's filled with meaningful objects and design details that have been considered, part of the eclectic interior trend's appeal.

3. Create a Moodboard or Theme

Living room with green walls, blue rug, pink ottoman, leather sofa and blue velvet sofa, yellow armchair and large fireplace with abstract painting and bookshelves on either side — Creating a moodboard is a great way to organize your feed. For example, you could start a 'living room ideas' folder.

'Start high level and pin anything that inspires you, that can be beyond home schemes too,' suggests Becca Meyer of BB Meyer Design. 'I love adding in landscapes, travel destinations, and materials to help build the mood and the concepts for each space. Once the algorithm picks up on the theme of the board, the "More ideas" tab will pull in additional inspiration that is pretty spot on, which I love.'

'For decorating your own home, Pinterest can be incredibly helpful if you use it with some restraint,' adds Becca. 'I recommend creating boards by room, then saving anything without overthinking it at first. Once you have a collected board, go back and look for themes and edit it down. There's so much to look at and choose from, and you don't want it to cause overwhelm.'

'Also, don't design entirely from Pinterest, stick to the themes and use it as a tool to train your eye. From there, you'll pick up on design details and materials in the wild to draw inspiration from. The goal is not to copy or to make anything too specific, trust your instincts and follow your taste!'

4. Hunt Down Specific Pieces

Living room with beige walls, crown molding, large bay window, marble fireplace, bookshelves, and persian rug — Use Pinterest to hunt for specific pieces, like midcentury armchairs or a rare Persian rug.

'We use Pinterest when trying to search for a piece of furniture or fixture we don’t already know about,' says interior designer Jean Liu. 'It becomes a visual search engine for us, and through it, we’ve found great sources and vendors.'

Whether it's a vintage furniture trend you're obsessed with or a particular lighting idea you have to get your hands on, Pinterest is great for sourcing niche objects. 'I have found it to be more useful to feed the term or the fixture I’m looking for into Pinterest and to give it a day or so to populate,' adds Jean. 'Looking immediately doesn’t always get as good results as giving it some time to flood the feed, so to speak.'

'Pinterest is such a great tool for decorating our homes, both as a visual reference for inspiration but also for finding products, vendors, and designers you might want to work with,' explains Selena Reif, founder of Selena Michele Interiors. 'There are so many beautiful and inspirational images on Pinterest, which is great, but there are also tons of specific products on there, and it’s an amazing tool for finding out about new, lesser-known brands and artisans. There have been so many times when I’ve found a new-to-me vendor on Pinterest, so now it’s one of my go-tos when I need to source truly unique pieces.'

5. Get Architectural Inspiration

A bright entryway with an open front door filled with natural light with a glass pane arch and doors, two patterned rugs, a white side table and a circular black mirror with pink flowers. — Use Pinterest to visualize permanent architectural features, whether it's stained glass for your front door or wood paneling for your entryway.

'Pinterest is one of my favorite tools for sparking inspiration, particularly when I'm exploring architectural details and millwork solutions,' says Abby. If you're deciding between colorful woodwork or statement ceiling trim, you want to get more permanent architectural details right, which is why a visual aid is so handy.

'If I’m feeling stuck on a project, I often use the platform to discover fresh ideas for built-ins, wall paneling, cabinetry details, and other custom elements,' continues Abby. 'It’s an incredible resource for uncovering creative solutions and seeing how designers around the world approach similar challenges.'

'Pinterest is handy for visualization,' agrees designer Liz Williams. 'We recently tried to decide how to dress a boxed bay window in a breakfast room. Searching for this on Pinterest helped us determine whether we preferred a valance, panels, or Roman shades to specify the best type of treatment for the space. Sometimes something unexpected pops up, or random images may inspire other ideas.'

6. Let it Spark Emotion

A sitting room with a gray velvet sofa and walls in a Jitney by Farrow &amp; Ball. There is an ornate white ceiling and intricate architectural mouldings on the wall. — As well as helping you find how you want your home to look, use Pinterest to help you find how you want your home to *feel*.

It's all well and good using Pinterest as a search engine for inspiration, but it's important not to take it too literally. At the end of the day, a truly accomplished home resonates with you and sparks emotion whenever you're there.

Design choices affect your mood, so instead of focusing on a specific style you want to recreate, consider how it makes you feel instead. 'I encourage homeowners to look for emotional consistency rather than stylistic labels,' says Laura Lubin of Ellerslie Interiors. 'Instead of asking whether a room is traditional or modern, ask yourself how it makes you feel. Do you consistently gravitate toward spaces that feel layered and collected? Light and airy? Cozy and cocooning? Pinterest can be incredibly helpful in identifying those patterns.'

7. Edit and Catergorize

small floral patterned orange toned wallpapered entryway with a black and white checkerboard floor and green front door — Sift through your pins and catergorize them into folders for clarity, for example, 'checkerboard tile inspiration'.

'Once you have at least fifty pins, edit ruthlessly,' advises Laura. 'Remove anything that
doesn't fit the common thread. By the end, you should be able to look at the board and immediately recognize the story it's telling. Often, the images you delete are just as revealing as the ones you keep.'

'Start by creating boards for your projects. Pro tip: Once you have your board created, you can also go in and create sections within that main board,' says Selena. 'This is such a great way to get really organized on Pinterest. You could have a board called “home” that has sections for the different rooms in your home, or you could have a board called 'kitchen, with sections for different aspects of the design like cabinetry, hardware, lighting, etc.'

'The sky is the limit, but good organization really helps with being able to find your pins later,' adds Selena. 'Then start pinning everything that draws your attention. I like to start with a few images I know I love, then click on one of them and scroll down to look at what comes up that is similar. I love going deep down the Pinterest rabbit hole that way and always end up finding something new.'

'Use as many facets of it as possible!' says Alex Kinion, founder of Grounded Homes. 'Pin from your favorite websites to save products for later, create boards with sections for each room or area within your home, and use the suggested pins to dive deeper into additional ideas that you may not have thought of originally. Follow your favorite designers or creators to get inspired, and remember to gather inspiration from multiple sources and put it together in a way that is unique to you!'

'Save the things you love the moment you see them, even without a project in mind,' says interior designer Vanessa Katzen, 'because the best rooms are built from references gathered slowly over time. A great board is an archive, not a shopping list.'

Love beautiful design ideas, expert advice, and inspiring decor trends? Sign up for our newsletter and get the latest features delivered straight to your inbox.