Welcome to my Houzz

Remember the days when you tore pictures of your dream home out of magazines, stuffed them in a drawer and scrambled to find the right one when you were ready to begin a remodeling project?

Just as listening to music or talking on the telephone has gone high-tech, so has finding the right look for your home. Welcome to Houzz.

Houzz is an online site where you can find pictures and put them in a personal ideabook so they are readily available with just the click of your mouse. The site has more than 300,000 magazine-quality photos, uploaded by design and decorating professionals.

Liza Hausman, vice president of marketing for Houzz, describes it as a free website and mobile application that brings together homeowners and remodeling professionals using technology.

"There are a few ways you can use the site," she said. "The way most people start is to use it for inspiration and to help define their style. They can browse all the photos or, if they are doing a living room, they can sort by living room and just look at living room photos."

Hausman said the photographs also can be filtered by style, such as traditional, contemporary or transitional. In addition, you can tailor your view by city.

"As they discover photos they like, the can save them in an ideabook. It's what we used to do when we ripped photos from a magazine and put them in a manila folder," she said.

Since the ideabooks are online, they can be easily shared with a spouse or professional collaborator. There's also a place to comment about what they like and don't like about each photo.

"It's a key communication tool within families ... they say they don't need marriage counselors," Hausman said.

Additionally, anyone who views the ideabook can add comments.

Not only are the photos easier to access, they provide links to professionals and resources, Hausman said.

"Houzz.com is an excellent interactive database of interior design inspiration. It is not only fun, but motivating. A useful comprehensive library to both designers and home-design enthusiasts alike," said Peggy Scinta, principal designer, P. Scinta Designs in Las Vegas.

Aside from looking at great design, the main goal of the site and its ideabooks is to make tackling your next design or remodeling project easier and less stressful.

And that's precisely how and why Houzz came to be.

Northern California residents Adi Tatarko and Alon Cohen, who were remodeling their home in Palo Alto, became frustrated by the lack of good photos for inspiration. They had been instructed to buy books and magazines to search for ideas but rarely could find photos they both loved.

"Their ability to describe their vision to an architect or designer was really limited. And they were limited to word of mouth recommendations (for a professional to work with) from friends," Hausman said.

And though the architect might be a good fit for their friends, they didn't suit Tatarko and Cohen's project, she said.

"After working with an architect, they ended up throwing it all away and starting over. They knew there had to be a way to use technology in a better way. So they created Houzz," Hausman said.

Cohen's background was in engineering for eBay. Tatarko's background was in business.

"It was such a good tool their friends starting using it. Then professionals in the Bay Area began using it. In 2010, they started it full time as a business," Hausman said.

At the winter event at World Market Center Las Vegas, Houzz introduced its site to the thousands of home furnishings and design professionals who attended the five-day trade show, hosting an informational booth and explaining the concept during a seminar.

"I didn't know much about it. It was a fluke I went in (to the seminar)," said Jill Abelman of Inside Style in Las Vegas. "I already had the app(lication) on my phone and I didn't get it. After that (seminar), it's just the best ever.

"For years I have been telling my clients to buy magazines to give me direction, a clue as to what their style is. Houzz is a great tool to work with clients."

Professionals find that looking at a client's ideabook can save time and money because they can begin creating a design before the first meeting based on their client's preferences.

"On top of that, it's all free. It's super simple to use and user friendly," Abelman said.

According to Hausman, Houzz serves as an online portfolio for design and decorating professionals. Not only is it easily accessible when visiting clients, it can connect them with clients worldwide.

Abelman said she has several long-distance clients who email their ideabooks or links to her. They also can see examples of her work, since she put her entire portfolio on Houzz.

"Even if I forget my portfolio, I've got it so I can work with my client," she said.

"I discovered the Houzz website about a year ago either by invitation from the site or during one of my frequent searches for new and innovative interior design tools. Once on board, I quickly realized Houzz was not only a great opportunity to showcase my firm's work, but a resource fit for designers filled with great examples of unlimited design projects," Scinta said.

In addition to being able to contact the designers who created a look for information about a specific product, Houzz allows for products to be tagged.

"Since launching our profile on Houzz, we have been contacted several times by other users for help with sourcing products from our projects or general design questions. As we love what we do, we are only happy to share," she added.