A picture speaks a thousand words and mood boards are the perfect way to communicate your ideas to others.

What is a mood board?

A mood board is used to express your creative ideas visually. Interior designers use mood boards with a collage of pictures, colour palettes or samples to explore and display their design concepts.

The main idea of a mood board is for you to bring all the elements of a room design into one place eg the type of furniture you would like for the room, a sample of the colours, the fabric patterns, plants, rugs, décor, lighting, cushions etc By bringing all the design elements in one place, it helps you see what works and what may need to be changed. 

Mood boards are a great way to experiment with different ideas and colors. It’s a way for you to put all your ideas together and see if the colors and products work together before going out and spending money.

How to create a mood board.

Mood boards can be created in different ways.

Magazines and boards

The traditional way of creating mood boards was to cut out pictures from magazines and paste onto a piece of board. Samples of fabric can also be added to the board. The drawback to creating mood boards this way is that you are limited to the pictures you find in magazines. At times you may not find a picture relevant to your concept.

The same process can be applied using a cork board which is easier if you would like to re-arrange your items or add on fabric samples.

Digital Mood Boards.  

With the internet opening up our world, we can now source thousands of pictures to use on a digital mood board. Creating a mood board on your pc is easy, using Microsoft word, Powershop or other software programs.

The beauty of creating a digital mood board is that it is easy to change ideas. You can delete items, add colors and save different versions. A mood board is a work in progress and it will take some time trying different ideas to come up with your dream design

Canva

Another easy way is to use Canva – a free photo editing program available online. Sign up for a free account and use one of their templates to create a mood board of your design style. Canva has free stock photos that you can use or you can upload your own pictures to use. Canva is fast growing to be a leader in creating digital graphics and editing photos and we are sure you will fall in love with this program. You can use also use Canva to create graphics for your social media accounts and the kids can use it for school projects. Win,win!

 Create a mood board in Canva with a free account.

Style Sourcebook

Style Sourcebook is an online platform specially designed to create moods boards. Sign up for a free account and create as many mood boards as you like. The great thing about Style Sourcebook is that it has a database of products sold in Australia. How frustrating it has been for us in the past creating a mood board with magazine cut outs and not knowing where to find the products Once you have finished creating your mood board in Style Sourcebook, you have a list of products you like along with the retailer and cost. This is a wonderful way for you to budget and know exactly where to purchase the products.

Draw inspiration from other designers and other user’s mood boards with Style Sourcebook. You have the option to display your mood board on the platform or to keep your mood board private.

 Creating mood boards in Style Sourcebook is easy.

Tips to creating a mood board.

Decide on the style of your room eg Australian, Boho, Coastal. Remember to save any inspirational pictures and the website if found online. Read more on Interior Design Styles to help you find your own design style. 

Pinterest is a great source of inspiration and ideas for home décor. Save your favorite pins and you will soon see a pattern of what design you are drawn to.

Think of colors and what you already have in the space that can’t be changed. Will your colors compliment the flooring?

Do you already have items that you want to use in the room. If you are creating a digital mood board, take photos of the furniture or home décor products that you already have and upload to your mood board. (You can use Canva to delete the backgrounds in photos.) This gives you a starting point to creating your design and ensures that the items you already have will work in your new space.

Enjoy the process and remember that a mood board is a work in progress. Revise and make changes, try new ideas and styles and save your work so that you can go back to it at any time.

Happy Styling

Sandra xx