Houzz.com product ideabooks

Houzz

Houzz.com recently asked me to create monthly ideabooks of products that I love. Houzz is one of my favorite inspirational websites, and I relish window shopping, so I gladly agreed. My first ideabook is Cache & Carry: Portable and classy storage containers. I think you’ll find that my ideabooks will be more practical and affordable than most. That’s just how I roll. That doesn’t mean I won’t include favorite splurges here and there.

You can find a slideshow of my newest ideabooks in the sidebar to the right. Happy browsing! UPDATE 08/29/11:  I will be posting new ideabooks on Houzz every other month instead of monthly because of other demands on my time.

Pinterest

I figured it was time for me to join all you pinners out there. I’ve saved my favorite photos on my computer for years—for my own personal use. I wasn’t always fastidious about labeling the source, which was troublesome if I ever wanted to use them on my blog. But an online resource like Pinterest solves that problem. Now I can save and share my favorite photos with links to their sources. Genius!

Pinterest pinboard: clocks

The collage above is a sample of one of my pinboards: Clocks.

I spent the weekend pinning my heart out. I’ve only got 97 pins so far, and many more to go before I share all my favs that I’ve saved over the years. It’s a tedious process tracking down sources, but I’ve vowed not to pin anything without noting its source. And I challenge all of you to do the same.

Ok, I’m stepping up on my soap box for a minute.

It’s heartbreaking to see uncredited photos on Pinterest or photos that are credited to the wrong source. If you find a photo online that you want to pin, follow the link trail until you find the original source. Don’t link to the blog that linked to the blog that linked to another blog that didn’t bother to link to the source.

Let me give you an analogy. We all agree that pirating music is wrong, right? Ok, so let’s say I illegally download a song. Then I post that song on my blog for everyone else to download for free. And I don’t tell you who the musician is or where you can buy the song. Instead, I link to where I downloaded the song illegally. Would you agree that what I did is more detrimental to that musician’s livelihood than merely stealing the song? Sharing photos and not linking to the original source is the same thing.

Ok, I just stepped down from my soap box. I hope everyone can exercise more integrity and consideration when sharing other people’s work.