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How to Houzz
Houzz has to be one of the single most powerful architect-client interaction tools invented in the last decade. It is a beautiful platform for architects, and clients to pull inspiration for home renovation, addition, or new construction projects. A great place to find examples of cutting edge residential styles. There are endless ways to use Houzz, but I have outlined what I find to be most helpful.
Photos
Houzz is currently broken up into Photos, Shopping, Pros, and Stories. We will begin by reviewing strategies of how to best use the Photos. First of all, using the built-in Ideabooks function which allows you to organize saved photos into groups like, Kitchen, Bedroom, Patio, etc. is critical to keeping your thoughts together, and strategically assembled.
The second way to utilize Photos is to help you find furniture, light fixtures, or other products that users have tagged with a link as to where to find them. Most of the time you are able to find the product right on Houzz, and can buy them without having to leave the site. This feature is fantastic, because it allows you to purchase the items that helped complete the aesthetic of a well designed space that you may be looking at to inspire your next project.
The final way we will go over in this article to use Photos in Houzz is their comments section. I find this function to be the most useful. If you were to identify a detail, or material you liked that was used in a photo, a vast majority of the time you can ask the Professionals associated with project what the material was, or how the detail was executed, and they will respond to your comments. This is a huge help when you, as a client find a tile, wood flooring, or fabric you like, and we as designers have to investigate what was used in order to provide a similar aesthetic to the initial inspiring photo.
Shopping
Houzz may have initially been a social media platform for home design, but it has evolved into a comprehensive home design, planning, and execution tool. Not only can you become inspired by great design you seen on Houzz, but you can also buy furniture, fixtures, and decorations you see in your favorite spaces through the Shopping section of Houzz.
Directly in the Photos of these spaces, people can place tags on items that are for sale directly through Houzz allowing you to complete the design of a space with the appropriate final touches. Beyond simply being able to purchase items from Houzz, their pricing is incredibly competitive allowing you to buy excellent looking furniture at affordable prices. Finally, if you are working with a nationally accredited design professional, and a Houzz Pro, they can provide you with a discount on pieces you buy on Houzz, if you buy them through your professional. This program is called the Houzz Trade Program, and is an excellent way Houzz is extending their abilities to provide a comprehensive solution to great home design and execution. If there are pieces that you would like to buy that you see in Photos, you can still add them to ideabooks, and send the images to the Houzz pro you are working with, and ask them to find these pieces.
Shopping for furniture, and truly getting an idea of what these pieces look like in a space has never been more effortless. I cannot stress enough how useful it is to be able to be inspired by, and purchase pieces from Houzz directly.
Professionals
The Find a Professional section of Houzz provides every user, whether you are the home owner, designer, or builder the opportunity to find professionals in the industry to help complete your job effectively .
Designers, of all kinds can be found under the design & remodeling section of the Find a Professional portion of Houzz. The range is from whole home architectural designers to specialty kitchen or bathroom designers. This is a useful tool for home owners as they are initially seeking design assistance to get their project running, but similarly design professionals can find specialists within this section to help complete the job if unique conditions are required beyond the designers skills.
Contractors can also be found in this same section of Houzz, ranging from whole building construction, to specific home services. This is an excellent way for clients and designers to find contractors as they tend to have a collection of photos of their work available for reference. Finding a good contractor is always a challenge, but Houzz makes it as easy as possible with both reviews, and portfolios available to assist you in making a decision on who to entrust with your construction project.
Sticky Note Conclusion
Houzz is an extremely powerful tool when preparing, designing, and executing home projects of all scales. These 3 areas, Photos, Shopping, and Finding a Professional, I have covered are just the sections I utilize most often, and recommend to my clients. There is a separate Stories section of Houzz which is rich with information that anyone can find useful. I will have to cover that in a future article, as it is such an excellent resource on its own.
If you need help at any stage of your next home project, please reach out, and tell us what you have in mind.