Published on 2025-06-29 13:07
Meet Penny, our yellow lab, using her custom modern farmhouse doggie barn door!
This little project shows how I search for things online now. I only use traditional Google search for 3 things:
- Going to specific websites
- Getting directions when I’m walking
- Finding pictures for inspiration
My husband and I are big DIYers. We’re always looking for cool ideas like backyard makeovers, dog costumes for Halloween, unique ways to capture memories.
We love seeing the real work and stories behind what people build, and enjoy learning new ideas from others in the DIY community.
I’ve noticed AI is getting better at serving up photos of real-world, human-made projects. Some can now find and summarize a few of these images.
But when I want the widest variety and the most authentic inspiration, I still turn to Google, Pinterest, and Etsy to see what real people have made.
That’s how we found the idea for Penny’s door: saw a photo online, designed our version, and built it ourselves.
For everything else, whether I’m doing research, brainstorming, or looking for quick answers, I use AI tools such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini.
And while Penny’s great at opening her barn door, she’s not great at closing it. We’ll need a little more training (and maybe a little less stubbornness 🤪) for that.