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How to use Pinterest (and why I love it)

If you're not using it already, you may have heard the buzz about a new site that's quickly gaining popularity. Pinterest is a social media website that allows you to save or 'pin' and categorize images that you find interesting. Check out the Chatelaine Pinterest page.

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If you're not using it already, you may have heard the buzz about a new site that's quickly gaining popularity. Pinterest is a social media website that allows you to save or 'pin' and categorize images that you find interesting. Check out the Chatelaine Pinterest page. In the past you may have torn pages from your favourite magazines and collected them in a binder or pinned them up onto a corkboard, this site allows you to do the same thing, with the wealth of all of the images available on the internet at your disposal. You can use it to store your ideas for redecorating your home, planning a wedding, or recipes that make your mouth water. Not only useful, this clever site is lots of fun and highly addictive. I've been using it a little while and it's quickly become one of my favourite tools for decor inspiration. People have recently asked me how to use it, so here is a quick summary on how to use Pinterest.

1. Anyone can peruse the images on Pinterest without joining, however, if you'd like to start pinning and sharing images yourself, you'll need to sign up for an account.

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2. To sign up you must request an invitation, which generally takes a couple days, or, alternately you can ask someone who already uses Pinterest to invite you. 

3. Once you've signed up, you're ready to start pinning and collecting images. One of the easiest ways to 'pin' the images you find, is to install the 'Pin it' button to your internet browser. You may have also noticed that a number of websites have a 'Pin it' button next to other options to share photos on Facebook, Twitter etc, you can also use this function to upload images to your Pinterest boards. 

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4. As you upload images, you'll be prompted to categorize them into different 'boards', these will help you to organize your images into different categories e.g. Lighting ideas, kitchen inspiration, fashion you love etc. Later, when you want to review these images, they'll all be displayed on the same page or 'board' together, making it easy to find and come up with coherent ideas.

5. One of my favourite Pinterest features is the ability to 'Follow' the boards of other users. Often while perusing the images already uploaded onto Pinterest, you may find you really like a specific user's style or aesthetic and 'following' allows you to keep track of any new images they might add. When you find an image you like on someone else's board, you can 're-pin' it to your own boards.

6. In addition to their website, Pinterest now also has a smartphone app, so you can enjoy a little bit of pinning during your downtime, or easily access your inspirational images while you're out on the go. 

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Want to get a better idea of what the site is like? You can see my own Pinterest page here or visit their homepage here.

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Let the pinning fun begin!

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