How have Pinterest and Instagram disrupted the interior design industry?

Published on 17th October 2018

From Facebook’s infamously dodgy data dealings to Trump’s Twitter tirades, there is no respite from the ongoing discussions surrounding social media platforms and their evolving and increasingly influential roles in global society. While social media itself far out-dates the widespread adoption of apps, it was the smartphone revolution that gifted us 24/7 access to the likes of Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter and Linkedin.

By the time early online enterprises such as Friends Reunited and MySpace had been rendered obsolete by their more sophisticated successors, entrepreneurs and brands had become savvy to the immense business and marketing opportunities these thriving online products present. Suddenly, and without exception, every industry was changing not only its marketing strategies, but also its project management and creative tools to incorporate app-based platforms.

Ahead of the annual BIID Inside Knowledge: Business success conference, where industry experts such as Kia Stanford, Pater Staunton, Natalia Shchyra, Sarah Ahluwalia and Simone Suss will discuss the apps that changed their lives, we asked fellow panel speakers BIID President Gilly Craft and President-elect Harriet Forde to share their thoughts on interior design’s most-used social media platforms — Pinterest and Instagram — as disruptive forces.

“Pinterest has changed the way we work dramatically, bearing in mind I have been in the industry for 30 years!” explains Harriet. Continuing, she says,“Sourcing and researching imagery used to be one of our major headaches but Pinterest is a fantastic data bank of images we can access easily. Now it’s all available for us instantly, sometimes we’re actually in the opposite position where we have too many choices and feel overloaded. Instagram feels like a much more fleeting experience – more rarely do I collect imagery from Instagram to keep. I enjoy seeing what the feeds I follow are up to, in more of an entertainment fashion than anything else. It works more as a platform to inform those that follow us as to what we are doing – ie. it's marketing.”

“Pinterest has been a fantastic way for interior designers to get a real feel for our client's style and preferences. adds Gilly. She continues, "Our team uses it regularly with clients, using the shared boards feature to start creating a mood board for a new project. When it comes to Instagram, not only are we as designers able to showcase our work to an entirely new audience, as well as get inspiration and build relationships from others, it's also an excellent way to share our work with prospective clients who want to see what we have done in the past.”

The App That Changed My Life will take place 1.30-2.30pm at the BIID Inside Knowledge: Business success conference, 8 November 2018. Tickets available now.