Building a following – Kevin Harris uses social media to advance his design ideas

History is unfolding all around us and for many people, including Kevin Harris, it’s happening online.

Harris maintains an active social media presence. He’s on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Houzz and LinkedIn. He also maintains a blog.

“It’s a great way to share with people what you are doing,” he says. “You reach around the world.”

An Italian magazine wrote an article about his Tuscan inspired home in Jackson, Miss., which appeared in the Robb Report. That publication found Harris online.

Harris doesn’t worry if others will copy his designs. Each work he does, he says, is in the moment. There’s no need to worry about what happens once you put your influence into cyberspace.

“It’s an application of an idea, so why not share it?” he says.

Harris always has to, eventually, walk away from each of his projects.

At the many residences he has created, that often means closing a gate behind him. Social media keeps the fate open—the conversation alive—and often leads his work to new directions.

If someone repins a home he has built on their Pinterest site, he receives an email about it, along with a note from the pinner about what it is they liked about his work.

Pinterest and Houzz also help clients communicate, with exact visual representation, what they’d like to see in their homes.

“Sharing is good for architecture,” he says.