I've avoided it for just these reasons! It's an overwhelming bunch of people selling their ideas...

Salon, I don’t go there often, but when I do and see a picture I like, I try a reverse image search on it. Sometimes works, sometimes not.

I don’t have an account, though, hopefully someone who does has better ideas.

How do you look at pintrest without an account.? I very occasionally will click on a link that someone has posted, but I rarely get beyond one photo before the login wall stops me.

I get the log-in pop-up, but am able to bypass it. I just click the X at the top right on it.

I use pinterest all the time for recipe ideas and have an extensive collection saved. I don't use it for decor, other than sometimes seeing table decoration ideas (which I never use). I had to visit the site to post here, because I couldn't remember exactly how it works. If you see a pic of something you want to look at, if you hover over the pic, a box will appear with the name of the source of the recipe. If you click on that, it takes you to the site where the recipe is posted (and directly to the recipe). That same hover also gives you the option to save the recipe and on which of your boards you want it saved to. I sometimes save to multiple boards, like Appetizer and Vegetarian.

Not sure if this helps...I'll go back and try using it for decor and see if I have different results.

eta I just found one pic like you described that when I clicked on it, it just took me to a pic with no info (this bedroom with bunk beds). But before I got to the dead end, it showed the pic with white circles that you could click on that did an image search for the products in the pic plus similar products. I have no idea the source of those pics, seems like retailers would want you to get to their site, or designers, too. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/70437488350349/visual-search/?x=224&y=406&w=88&h=70&cropSource=4&surfaceType=stela&rs=feed_home

I love Pinterest. There are a lot more ads than there used to be but you can usually tell it’s an ad. And sometimes an individual might just upload a picture of something they like to save to their own board. If the board is public, that single image could show up in your feed and lead to nowhere. But the majority of images are linked from a website.

Here’s a group of images on my Pinterest feed. I’m going to click on the pretty shower. It opens the picture larger and tells me the source. Then I click the picture again, and it takes me to the interior designers website and the story where the shower is featured. So in summary, just keep clicking the image and most of the time it will take you where you want to go.

In the first image below, the green tile image says it's Promoted by Zia Tile, so that lets me know it's an ad. Sometimes I guess those could be useful if you want to buy what they're selling, but I mostly like Pinterest for ideas. I have boards to get ideas for my kids' birthdays, recipes, and lots of different house boards--kitchen, bathroom, outdoors etc. I find it easier to use and organize than other sites, but I've been using it for several years. Good luck and I'm happy to answer other questions.

Step 1, find an image you like.

Step 2, click the image and it shows you the larger picture and the source. You can then save the picture to one of your boards, or click it to get more info.

Step 3, click the picture again to go to the source and see more info. This picture is the top of the page but if I scroll down, I'll see the original bathroom picture that I clicked on.

Thank you all for sharing this. I DO pretty much just what you say to do, and only sometimes do I get any info that I'd like. If it's decor, I don't mind an ad if it tells me what the product is.

My experience is mostly frustratiion. What really drives me wild is that I will get repeat showings of the things I liked because I clicked on them, but still no further info.

I have variable success with google image search and t frequently just brings me back to the photo I've tried searching.

Anyway I will try again and again but I am relieved to know that it's not me being singled out and clueless.

Hmm, I'm not sure why that is. It could be that you need to curate your feed by doing different searches. Otherwise it will feed you what it wants. But it can also be dangerous because it will then ONLY feed you what you've searched for, so you see the same ideas over and over instead of fresh decor ideas. But I find it helpful to see a product in real life. Like when we were doing our remodel, I could search for a specific tile name and see how it looks in a room vs just a couple tiles. Or get an idea of what a paint color might look like on a larger scale. Or for fashion--we just went to Paris so I searched for Paris Winter Outfits and got ideas. But it's just one tool in the box for sources. And yes, their emails are relentless--I unsubscribed.

My son got me started years ago. He was saving recipes to it and said I could get them there. I still have an account, but I haven't logged into it for years. It is nothing but commercial ads now.

I am about to quit using Marketplace for the same reason. Marketplace used to be an easier to use Craigslist and mostly real people cleaning out what they didn't need. It is just business and scammers now.

What platform are you using, salonva? Is it the app on a phone or tablet or the site on a desktop/laptop?

I mainly use Pinterest for arts and crafts ideas, and I do notice there are a number of bogus links - or links to spammy sites - also lots of repeats/copycats. I'm usually not interested in obtaining sources for materials, tho. I just use images/videos for ideas, and save them to my own boards for later reference.

Pinterest is basically a collection of fancy bulletin boards compiled by individuals. Many people save(pin) items they like for inspiration, but they're not advertising or selling anything.

I think home & garden magazines - on or offline - might be a better resource if one is looking for brands to purchase, when it comes to home design items. They're have more incentive to provide sources, unlike random individual Pinterest users.

And perhaps you can find the names of professional designers, etc. on Pinterest and follow them?

I don't understand why some people are having problems, but maybe it's because they don't understand the purpose of Pinterest. It's is a place to save things you find on the internet to boards you set up on your Pinterest account. You can also save things that are on Pinterest to your boards. Basically, you're "pinning" a link to a recipe, picture, article, etc. to your board. When Pinterest first came on the scene, I thought it was a great way to save things from the internet without having to bookmark them. I don't use it as much as I used to, but it's still a valuable resource for me.

I've used Pinterest for years and years and I love it. I get lots of recipes, Christmas ideas, decorating ideas. I like a recipe where it has a "jump to recipe" button so I can skip all of the

talking, I also like to read the reviews of recipes. I get lots of ideas for shirts on my Cricut.

It's not perfect, but does have a lot of good things going for it.

I belong but don't go there regularly although I get daily emails from them trying to lure me back.

I guess I have/had different expectations for how it would work. I can appreciate it for inspiration pictures and the lke, but I was hoping it would go a step further and provide more information . I guess maybe the people who share or pin the photos are just doing it for the visual. Again, particularly for decor, if I see an item that I'd like to buy, I drill down to see where I can buy it. It usually doesn't work like that. With recipes, I have better luck but even there, I can go round and round and follow the source and still not get to the recipe.

Carol, this is when I am using my chromebook.

Everyone has been so helpful (thank you stiley for the step by step). I am going to slightly tweak my expectations and follow some more suggestions but mostly I think it's changing my expectations. :)

Thank you

I used to use it a lot when it first came out but then lost interest when you needed an account to see anything. I do have an account but it just wasn't as good anymore. I keep an account because sometimes when I google search, the result may be something on Pinterest. I hardly ever go there so I just went and I couldn't get anything to open, I just got endless circles but then I realized that maybe it was my ad or pop-up blocker and sure enough, that was the issue. So, if you are using an ad blocker or pop-up blocker, you need to turn it off for the site because it won't open the pages that it needs to open to get to the actual article that the picture is from.

Count me in on the column that doesn't care for Pinterest. However, I didn't think of it as a place to save things like recipes. That could be helpful.

I tried it briefly for food, but came across the same issue as others mentioned: an endless path to the actual source which mayor may not have a recipe. Maybe I didn’t give it enough of a chance but I found it annoying.

That said, I recently came across a picture on Pinterest of an idea that I intend to copy. But that is an image that came up with an internet search, not using the app.

Use Pinterest for inspo photos only...it's just random photos with very few links for info or content.

I use Bing Images. You can click on a photo to view it without going to the site...but you can if want to. And they bring up similar images which makes it so very handy.

Apartment Therapy, Homes & Gardens, Architectural Digest etc, are also good sources for images. AD sign up for free with your email.