Ideas board: how to collect inspiration for a renovation
Interiors, materials and products you like are easy to keep in the Doma app on the “Inspiration” board: “Profile” → “Inspiration” → “+ Add” - a photo from the gallery or a link from Pinterest, a marketplace or an article. The app saves the image from a link itself. Each property has its own board, shared by the owner and the designer: each of them sees the other's ideas. A contractor or foreman on someone else's property can't see the board. Ideas are sorted into folders - for example, “Kitchen”, “Bedroom”, “Bathroom”.
Why a board if there's Pinterest
The renovation route's “Planning” stage has the item “Gather references”: pick interiors you like. Its hint says you can save images right in the app. The board in the app has three advantages:
- it's tied to the property - ideas for the apartment won't get mixed up with ideas for the country house;
- it's shared with the designer - no need to send links one by one;
- it holds both photos and links - a photo of a tile from the showroom next to a sofa's product page.
How to add an idea
- “Profile” → “Inspiration”.
- Tap “+ Add”.
- Choose “Photo from gallery” - a photo of a room, material or finished design - or “Link” - Pinterest, an article, a product page.
- If you like, add a caption - it's optional.
- Tap “Save”.
For a link, the app takes the picture from the page itself. If there's no connection - “The picture will appear when you're online”. If the page has no product picture, the app shows “No picture found”: open the product itself or attach a screenshot from the gallery.
Examples on first opening
The first time on a property, the board shows examples of how your board could look. Add your own ideas, and remove the examples with “Remove examples”. Your own photos and links will stay, and the examples can't be brought back.
How to sort into folders
- A new folder - the “+ Folder” button in the row above the board, then a name, for example “Kitchen”.
- Move an idea - hold it and drag it onto a folder. Or tap the idea → “Move to folder”.
- Take it out of a folder - tap the idea → “Remove from folder”. Such ideas are shown under “Unfiled”.
- All ideas at once - “All”.
- Delete a folder - its ideas stay, just outside folders.
It's handy to sort by room, and within a room to write in the caption what exactly you like: “front colour”, “light over the table”, “this tile, but matt”.
What you can do with an idea
Tap an idea - “What to do with this idea?” opens:
- “View” - full size;
- “Rename” - for example, “Green kitchen”;
- “Open original ↗” - the page the link came from;
- “Upload picture” - if the link has no picture: from the page or from the gallery;
- “Move to folder” or “Remove from folder”;
- “Delete idea”.
In the web version on a computer: click an idea to open it, right-click for actions, drag it with the mouse to a folder.
Who sees the board
- The owner and the designer - the board is shared: each of them sees the other's ideas as soon as they reach the server.
- A contractor or foreman on someone else's property can't see the board. Their screen says “This property’s board belongs to the owner and designer”. On their own property, a contractor will have their own board.
The contractor doesn't need the board: what's been chosen, the designer turns into the design and drawings. The route has an item for this, “Hand the working drawings to the crew”: the crew works from drawings, not verbal agreements. How to run a renovation together with a designer is in Renovating with a designer: design supervision stage by stage.
If someone else's idea on the shared board breaks the rules, open it → “Report”. The examples don't have this button. More in Reports and blocking: if a member behaves inappropriately.
How to use the board with a designer
- Before meeting the designer, collect ideas and sort them by room. That makes it easier to explain what you like.
- Write captions about what exactly you like: colour, material, light, furniture.
- The designer adds their own options to the same folders - you see them on your side.
- Delete what you don't need: the board is what you really want, not everything you liked.
- What's chosen becomes the design: from then on, decisions live in the design and the route, and the board stays as the history of the search.
What to do if
- There's no board, and instead it says “This property’s board belongs to the owner and designer”. You're a contractor or foreman on someone else's property - that's by design.
- You can't see the designer's ideas. You both need a connection and the app open: ideas go to the server once there's a connection. Also check that the right property is open.
- A link has no picture. Tap the idea → “Upload picture”.
Checklist
- The right property is open.
- The examples are removed, your own ideas are added.
- Folders by room.
- Each idea has a caption saying what you like.
- The designer sees the board and adds options.
What to decide before work starts, besides pictures, is in Planning an apartment renovation: what to decide before work starts.