To Pinterest or not to Pinterest
Pinterest can be a great resource. It has ideas on how to organize everything and anything. It has DIY solutions in all price ranges and skill levels. Pinterest is a good resource for visual learners, you see the design on your screen.
So why don’t I like it?
The problem that arises for me, as a Trained Professional Organizer, occurs when clients see something on Pinterest and ask me to create that system for them. Just because it is on Pinterest doesn’t mean it is the right solution for you. It is the right solution for the person who posted it.
Evaluate the idea and think about how you do things before you copy it. Just because you like the way it looks or because it is trending doesn’t mean it will work for the way you think and do things. Deciding how to organize your books, jewelry etc needs to be done in a way that you can find what you need when you need it and in a timely manner.
Organizing your books by colour looks great on the wall, will you be able to find the book you need? If you did it with a small number of books or only pick 2 or 3 colours of books you could adapt the idea and make it work.
Books sorted by colour create an interesting design for your wall
If you organize your jewelry hanging it from the horizontal bar of a hanger using binder clips to attach the jewelry may be a good solution if you don’t have a lot of jewelry. If you hang all your jewelry and then slide the hangers on a rod to look for a certain piece of jewelry the jewelry might become tangled as they sway when the hangers are moved. How would you attach your rings? You might end up this your jewelry stored in many different locations and not be able to find what you want.
If you have a small amount of jewelry and space on your wall to place your hanger this might work for you.
A recipe may look great. Is it something you can make in a big batch and freeze so you can get 2 meals for the time you are spending in the kitchen? Are the ingredients something you have in your cupboard or will you need to make an extra trip to the store?
Enjoy using Pinterest use it wisely to help you save time, money and effort.
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situation. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home, office, mind and time. She guides and supports you to be accountable for your time, to complete projects and reach your goals. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Click here to learn more about her online course Create an Organized Home.
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I think Pinterest is great to organize ideas of all kinds – but maybe not the best source of actual organizing ideas, for the reasons you state. I store quite a bit of information there, though not as much as I used to, but honestly, I rarely go back to look at it again.
Pinterest has many different ways it can be used. I know some organizer set up private boards with their clients to share organizing ideas and products.
That’s an excellent idea!
I really love Pinterest and I get a lot of Website traffic from there. You really need to keep it updated though to really benefit from it. I do use it a lot for recipes and often go back to my favourites. I could not imagine sorting books by colour though lol. I don’t keep tons of books even though I love books. I usually can find what I need on my shelves. Lately I have been purchasing books and adding to my kindle but if I am honest I prefer an actual book. Okay, now I am curious to know if you are on Pinterest so I will go and check.
Yes I am on Pinterest because it is the 3rd largest search engine people use to find information. https://www.pinterest.ca/juliestobbe/
I like Pinterest for inspiration, and for keeping ideas grouped into categories. I definitely agree that any solution needs to be well considered for the specific situation at hand. I actually get a lot of traffic from Pinterest, and I do enjoy just hopping around and getting ideas. Like Janet, there are some boards I haven’t looked at in a long while.
I now usually only use one board for my blogs. I don’t use it very often for ideas unless a client sends me a link. I some times feel like there is so much information that it is overwhelming.
I haven’t looked at (or added to) my Pinterest boards in years. I suppose people could get themselves in trouble (or waste time and money) implementing ideas they see there. BUT if a client asked ME to help them implement an idea, I would treat it as a springboard for discussion, just as you have discussed in this blog post! And we would find a solution that does work for them.
I have tried using the ideas as a springboard for a conversation. I have not been very successful in my discussions. So I do organize the item the way they like and unfortunately they usually change it later. I am glad they are flexible to change when something doesn’t work.
I like Pinterest for the ability to search and organize visual ideas, but I find the social aspect of it odd. I don’t want to follow anyone’s board. I don’t care what other people are pinning unless I’m looking for a specific thing; I want the thing, not my friend’s random searches. And, as you alluded, something trending has very little applicable meaning. Too often, Pinterest is trying to curate something for me. Gah!
Luckily, my clients are more likely to say, “Here’s the problem. Can you help?” than to show me an example of something they want. I’ve always thought that was like taking a photo of a movie star who looks nothing like you (hair color, face shape, hair texture) and saying, “I want THAT.” You’ve laid out the problems perfectly!
I like your comparison of taking a picture of a person you would like to look like and thinking it will work. One must take into consideration the shape, size, location of the space to organize to find the best solution.
I agree that often times people see the picture on pinterest and assume that it is a solution, not an inspiration. The process and outcome look different for everyone!