Why You NEED To Create A Moodboard When Designing Your Home!
This year, the Easter weekend has been painting, painting and more painting for myself and Chris. If you haven’t heard, we are currently renovating our home together, (if you wanna be nosey, you can follow our journey on Instagram @staceyscuratedhome ), but we are guaranteed to not have been the only ones with the paintbrushes out! Each year there is a surge in DIY over the Easter break, so much so that the NHS even issued a warning last week to tell DIYers to ‘take care’ over the weekend whilst carrying out their home improvements, following last years rise in DIY injuries over Easter!
This is me tiling our bathroom a couple of weeks ago, never one to shy away from trying something new, this is the second time I have tiled and it turned out pretty well!
…For some people, they like to get stuck straight in to their home projects that they forget the planning, they see the paint, they like it, they buy. That’s a nice lamp, I’ll have that. Nice curtains, not lined but love the fabric, so they will do!
I must confess I used to be guilty of this. I would see something I liked, it didn’t necessarily go with the rest of the space, but I half liked it, I was impatient and wanted to get the project moving, so I bought it. I didn’t properly plan my designs and when my space felt mismatched at the end, it really was no wonder why.
Then I discovered the power of the mood board. To some this term can sound pretty scary. I used to think they were something only designers could create or someone really high tech that knew their way round an iMac. Disclaimer, not the case, anyone can create a mood board, you don’t have to be an interior designer to do so.
Mood boards are basically a visual expression of the end goal/design you desire to create and they are so easy to put together. It’s an opportunity to see how well things work together and gives you the chance to push your boundaries to come up with innovative schemes. They can also help everyone involved with the project understand your vision and stay on track, whilst deterring you from making silly or unneeded purchases.
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I still like to gather inspo the old fashioned way. In such a digital age there is something really nice about a printed magazine.
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Before I discovered the power of the mood board I used to make impatient purchases. In fact I almost fell victim to this the other day, when I saw a bargain cushion cover. It was green, green was kinda part of my scheme for the living room and after all it was a bargain so I needed it right? Wrong! I whipped my phone out and had a little look at my mood board, reminded myself of the vibe I was going for and that this cushion cover-albeit a bargain, was not it, and I put it back. And let me tell you I felt very proud of myself 👏🏻! And actually thinking about it now, the cushion cover was really not that great, and had I of bought it, the whole design could have gone off in a completely different direction. I am so pleased I could quickly refer to my mood board on my phone and avoid the tangent I could have so easily gone off on!
Before I discovered the power of the mood board I used to make impatient purchases. In fact I almost fell victim to this the other day, when I saw a bargain cushion cover. It was green, green was kinda part of my scheme for the living room and after all it was a bargain so I needed it right? Wrong! I whipped my phone out and had a little look at my mood board, reminded myself of the vibe I was going for and that this cushion cover-albeit a bargain, was not it, and I put it back. And let me tell you I felt very proud of myself 👏🏻! And actually thinking about it now, the cushion cover was really not that great, and had I of bought it, the whole design could have gone off in a completely different direction. I am so pleased I could quickly refer to my mood board on my phone and avoid the tangent I could have so easily gone off on!
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This is the mood board for my living room and as you can see there is hardly any green, only through plants. This made it a no brainier for me to put that cushion cover back!
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So where and how do I create my moodboards?! 👇🏻
So where and how do I create my moodboards?! 👇🏻
I personally LOVE a physical board so that you can see how well textures and colours will work together in real life, however a digital board can also work just as well, you can refer back to it like I did when you are shopping and keep your purchases on scheme! If you decide to create a physical board you can always take a photo of it on your phone so that you have a digital reminder of it when you are out!
A great free online tool for creating moodboards is Canva, there is a desktop and an app version and it’s pretty simple to use! You can add screenshots of inspo, furniture and accessories you have found/like and colour schemes, to see how they all work together.
It might take you a few goes to create a scheme you fall in love with, it might be that you make a few and then see which one you are drawn to most. This is what I usually like to do and something I do for my clients and their furniture so they can decide which design it is they prefer. But use this as an opportunity to really push yourself and play around with colour and ideas that you like but scare you, you might just fall in love with them!
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If you would like help discovering your own home style and want to know where I get my inspo for creating mood boards, how and where to find samples if you are creating a physical board and how to infuse all of this into your home, then sign up to my newsletter to get your hands on my FREE eBook ‘Curating Your Home’.
If you would like help discovering your own home style and want to know where I get my inspo for creating mood boards, how and where to find samples if you are creating a physical board and how to infuse all of this into your home, then sign up to my newsletter to get your hands on my FREE eBook ‘Curating Your Home’.
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Thanks so much for reading, and let me know in the comments, do you prefer a physical or digital mood board? 👇🏻
Stacey x
