The first thing I ask every new client for (it’s not their budget)

Most people expect my first question to be about budget, square footage, or whether the sofa is staying. It isn’t.

It’s this: “Can I see your Pinterest board?”

Almost everyone has one. Weekly Pinterest users are nearly twice as likely as other Americans to list interior design as an interest, according to YouGov research reported by Home Accents Today. Usually it's two or three hundred pins, saved late at night over months. Kitchens, hotel lobbies, a bedroom in Copenhagen, a front door in Charleston.

And almost everyone hands it over with the same apology: "I know what I like. I just don't know how to make it work in my house."

Your Pinterest board isn't a mess

Here's what I've learned after years of scrolling through other people's boards. A Pinterest board isn't a mess. It's a pattern you can't see because you're too close to it.

When I look at a client's board, I'm not looking at the individual rooms. I'm looking for what repeats. The same warm oak shows up in a kitchen, a bedroom and a restaurant. The rooms are always lit from the side, never from overhead. There are lots of white walls, but nearly every pin has one dark, cozy corner.

Those patterns are the real brief. They tell me more than any questionnaire.

From pins to a plan

Then I walk through the house exactly as it is. I note where the light falls, the architecture we're working with, and what's staying. I match the patterns to the rooms. That's when a pile of pins becomes a plan.

One client's board was full of navy powder rooms, oval mirrors and nickel faucets. Her finished powder room has all three, in a layout that works for her house.

It matters even more when two people share a home. They usually have two boards, and they're usually convinced they have nothing in common. They almost always do. Finding that common ground is often my favorite part of the job.

How to read your own Pinterest board

1. Scroll fast. Don't stop on any single image. Just notice what keeps coming back.

2. Write down the repeats. Note colors, materials, the mood and the light. Ignore the one-off pins you loved for a single detail.

3. Pick three words. If you can describe your board in three words, you have a direction. Every purchase should pass that test.

   
   

And if you'd rather skip the late-night scrolling and hand it over, send me your board. Turning it into a home is exactly what I do. I work with clients across the South Bay and beyond.