Beyond Pinterest: more eye candy for homes

If you're a home design junkie, you probably already know about Pinterest. And frankly, a person could spend an entire day just, cough, "researching" the best boards to follow. Not that I would know anything about that.

But Pinterest isn't the only game in town. If you're looking for more eye candy to browse through on your lunch break, try these sites, too.


Fab: Always something interesting and beautiful on sale for a limited time, often at a deep discount. Fab's roots are in "flash sales," so it isn't really a social experience yet, but lately Fab has moved in the social direction. Available on Android as well as on iPhone/iPad -- and in fact, some people suggest that users prefer Fab's mobile experience to the website. Log-in required.

Fancy: This one is a hybrid -- "part store, blog, magazine and wishlist." As with Pinterest, you can browse without signing in, but your activities are restricted; a sign-in will also let you customize and save your preferences. An infographic over at Techli delves into other differences, including their staffing, funding, traffic and more. Fancy is available on iPad, iPhone and Android too.

Houzz: Geared specifically toward living spaces. Much more robust and targeted than Pinterest, but therefore not quite so streamlined. For someone who wants to dig in, though, it's great. Houzz also has a very highly rated iPhone and iPad app -- but sadly no Android, and the website is not particularly friendly to phone browsing.

Etsy: The craft-marketplace giant is another site you've already heard of and that really could support a blog post all of its own (and probably will). Its mobile experience, at least on the iPhone, leaves much to be desired for browsing; Activity Feed and other social features don't exist in the app, and you can't access Etsy's blogs, either. For really serendipitous discovery, check out its foreign blogs -- to find them, go to its main blog page and look in the right rail.

Gentlemint: Sort of like Pinterest for guys, except with "tacks" instead of "pins." I'd venture to say that you're more likely on Gentlemint to come across a mosaic of Sasquatch made with beef-jerky "tiles." Good luck, fellas.

And if I may be so bold: While I'm on the subject of Pinterest, I'd like to invite you to follow our burgeoning boards there. And please join our Flickr group to share your home projects, before-and-afters, favorite original homes photos and more. We'd love to feature some of them on our new site!

Leave a comment: I'm sure I haven't even begun to scratch the surface. Besides Pinterest, where do you find online eye candy for home inspiration?