
From Pinterest to Instagram to YouTube, social media platforms have become the go-to source for interior and architectural design ideas. Whether you want to update the paint color in a single room or transform your home entirely, social media can be a goldmine for ideas to help you create the home of your dreams. There’s no doubt that social media has changed the design industry in numerous ways.
Ideas
Even with the unlimited power and reach of the internet, it’s still possible to be surprised by things you find online, and ideas for interior design are no exception. Since anyone can post ideas online, people looking for design inspiration are no longer limited to magazines and television for design influences. This unfettered access has created opportunities for ideas and designs that previously may not have been popularized to catch on and become widespread. And the concepts are limitless. You can learn how to completely remodel a bathroom, how to make your own headboard from discarded materials, or even build your own tiny home from the foundation up. No matter what you’re interested in learning to design or create, there’s bound to be a way to learn about it online.
DIY
Whether you watched a video on YouTube or saw a post on Pinterest, the internet has convinced many of us that we can tackle any DIY project that we want. The upside is that many people have discovered a love of creating, building, and rehabbing that they might not have otherwise attempted without the step-by-step help from online resources. The downsides are that not all DIY projects are actually as easy as they appear online, and not everyone who posts an online video is qualified to actually do what they’re demonstrating, so you could end up missing important steps in DIY projects.
Access
The power of the internet is that it gives anyone with a connection the ability to learn about anything, including interior design. This has created unprecedented access to information that would have previously been unattainable. Through the power of social media, there are now fewer blocks between people and experts. You no longer have to pay a designer a 5 or 6 figure fee to design your home. You can follow the experts on social media and use their expertise to create your own design. You can also use the internet to increase your buying power by comparison shopping. See a couch you love on a designer’s post, but can’t afford the $10,000 price tag? An image search on Google could yield you a similar version for $800, giving you the ability to create the design you love within the budget you have.
Feedback
Social media is a source of instant gratification for many people. Now, you don’t have to wait for friends and family to visit your house to show off your new interior design or DIY project. You can snap some photos and post them online and you’ll suddenly have hundreds of people commenting on and liking your work. Given that most people are hungry for praise, even if it comes from strangers online, there’s no doubt that social media has given people a reason to get more creative with their designs and show them to the world.
Trends
Given the visual nature of social media sites like Instagram and Pinterest, people are becoming more interested in designing spaces that look good on social media. Influencers are attempting to project a specific lifestyle with each photo they post and the background is as important as the subject of the photo. Given that, designs have been changing to become social media friendly and help influencers create the image that they want to project. In commercial spaces, this includes interesting patterns and backdrops that make for good photo backgrounds. In residential spaces, it means colors and patterns that complement the person in the photo, and design elements that support the influencer’s brand, whether that’s minimalist, affluent, or funky. When these elements are viewed and enjoyed by the influencer’s followers, they then start to be incorporated into their own designs, thus creating new design trends all the time.
What’s your favorite social media platform to find design ideas? Have you ever completed a project in your home based on something from social media?
Whether we want to admit it or not, social media is certainly having its effect on home design trends.