How to create a mood board for your next design project
Embarking on a new interior design project, whether that's redecorating your living room or remodelling a bathroom, can be equally exciting and overwhelming. With so many decisions to make around paint colors, fabrics, furniture, and more, it can be difficult to know where to begin. One way to kickstart your design process is by creating a mood board to help organize your ideas.
Planning a room refresh or perhaps a home renovation but don’t even know where to start? What if I told you there’s a tool that can help get your ideas organized and on the right path from the get-go? It’s called a mood board, and it doesn’t matter if you’re a novice or the most experienced interior designer, every interior design project starts with a mood board.
Mood boards are an invaluable tool when it comes to designing a room or even updating it. It is always useful to have a visual snapshot of how your space will look and flow.
Ok. totally get it - design projects can be overwhelming under the best of circumstances. But, I’m here to show you how you can make your own simple interior design mood board to help get your project off to a strong start and not waste time or money by going in the wrong direction.
What is a mood board and why is it important?
A mood board is a visual representation of ideas for a design project. At its most basic, a mood board is a collage of images.
This collage is a designer’s go-to tool for a project’s initial planning phase. It represents ideas taken from the initial discussions between a client and designer (or anyone wanting to design their own space). Its goal is to establish clear direction on a project before actually beginning design work.
The purpose of a mood board is to help explore ideas and figure out the general style, mood, colors, and overall feel of a room or project space.
The mood board lets you put your ideas together in one place, then take a step back to see what works well together and what doesn’t. It helps inform your design direction and avoid potentially costly mistakes down the road. The last thing you want is to put several hours into a project only to realize later it’s not going in the right direction.
Use it to clarify ideas swirling in your head or to communicate those ideas (and get buy-in!) with your significant other.
Once you’ve created your mood board, I recommend reading my post on How to Design a Room.
Step 1: Choose a method for creating your mood board.
If you prefer to see and touch items before making selections, opt for a physical mood board. Using tangible elements, such as paint chips and fabric samples, allows you to experience the colors and textures in person and make the most informed decisions.
A physical mood board that I would present to an onsite client.
A digital mood board (which is what I use when working virtually with clients), on the other hand, opens up a much broader range of design possibilities because you can use virtually any image you find online as inspiration. I use programs like Adobe Photoshop or the free website Canva (I pay for their pro account) to craft one from scratch.
A mood board created for a virtual client using Adobe Photoshop.
Mood boards for a virtual client using Canva.
Step 2: Gather Inspiration
My favorite quick and dirty way to gather inspiration is to make a Pinterest board. Start pinning rooms, color schemes, furniture and accessories that you like. Try to avoid having too many preconceived ideas and just start pinning what appeals to you.
Look for the individual shots of furniture with only the plain white background so you can see it alone with your other items without the “visual noise” of a staged room scene.
If you can’t find the product you’re interested in already on Pinterest, go to the manufacturer’s website, hover over the top left and look for the red Pinterest “pin” icon to pop up on most all product website images. Clicking on this allows you to pin directly from a brand’s site.
Be sure to include all the elements of your space. It can be easy to forget the more boring but important pieces like window treatments or flooring. Pinterest makes it easy-peasy to go back in and add/subtract to your board until your heart’s content.
Step 3: Arrange and rearrange your mood board.
Shuffle around the various elements of your mood board, experimenting with different combinations of color, texture, and pattern. Take your time but be confident. As you arrange the items, try to keep them proportional to how they will appear in the actual room. For example, a paint color that will coat all four walls of the room should feature prominently on the board, while a fabric that will cover only a few throw pillows should appear comparatively smaller. A sofa should be presented bigger than say a piece of artwork.
Interior design mood board elements
Overall “feel”, mood, or room-style inspiration pins for your space
Furniture pieces - both representing what you already own and new pieces you’ll need so you can see how they will work together
Artwork
Rugs
Window treatments
Paint swatches (these vary wildly when digitized vs reality. (Check out my post on picking paint colors.)
Flooring
Accessories
Once your mood board is complete, take a step back and mull it over. Give it some time to percolate in your head.
Once your ideas have marinated for a while, make any edits or adjustments if anything just doesn’t feel right. I’m big on “gut checks” with design and life in general. So pay attention to this feeling, and don’t try to force a round peg into a square hole so to speak.
Creating a mood board using Canva
Here are the basic steps for creating your own Canva mood board:
Go to Canva and click the "Templates" in the top menu, click “Poster” under Marketing.
In the top left of the dashboard, Type “mood board type template” in the search bar. Several options will be displayed on the left
Click "Photos" and drag and drop free stock images or insert your own imagery into your template frames.
Do the same to add colors, text etc.
When finished, download your moodboard by clicking the downward pointing arrow on the upper-right.
Step 4: Use the mood board to inform your design decisions.
Once your mood board is organized to your liking, it's time to start purchasing items and get to work in the actual room. If it works and flows on your mood board, it will work in your space, provided you have used the elements in the appropriate scale.
Use your mood board as a roadmap while you shop for furnishings and materials, and reference it often as you start filling out the room. With a solid plan laid out in front of you, creating your dream room isn't so overwhelming after all.
