How to Create Your Own Mood Board

From Dream to Reality

The change in seasons tends to bring about the desire to deep clean our homes and dust away the cobwebs. It also might present you with the urge to shift things around a bit in your space. Whether you’re feeling the subtle pull to get started on those design projects you’ve been daydreaming about all winter long or simply looking to refresh a room’s color scheme, creating a mood board can act as a beautiful starting line for your next home renovation or room rearrangement. (Left Photo Courtesy of Greer Design Co.)

What is a mood board?
Sometimes called a design board or an inspiration board, a mood board is a visual tool that helps to refine the ideas you have for your space. Whether you’re looking for mid-century modern or a more traditional style, a mood board can help you visualize how different textures, color palettes and wood tones flow together to create the style you’re envisioning.

According to Co-Owner of Greer Design Co. Mady Perillo, a good mood board includes several important pieces in order to help bring the vision of a home interior to life.

“The most important aspect and overall goal of the mood board is really to create a curated space where all your selections look cohesive and beautiful together,” Perillo says.

Building blocks 
The building blocks of a mood board include gathering inspirational images, choosing a color palette, taking inventory of furniture, lighting and décor elements that you have sourced for your space, and collecting any and all textural elements such as tile, stone, fabrics, cabinetry and window coverings that you want to use.

Photos Courtesy of Greer Design Co.

The first step is gathering inspiration for your space. This can look different for each individual, but a great place to start is collecting images that speak to you.

According to Perillo, Instagram, Pinterest, print ads or design books are great sources for images. You don’t have to limit yourself to visuals of interiors; rather, choose photos that speak to you. Focus on how the image makes you feel, the color palette and if it aligns with the feelings you want your home to evoke.

A cohesive color palette is another main building block for your mood board. Generally, you’ll want to choose three to five core colors, including neutrals. “This can be used for paint, stains, upholstery and window coverings,” Perillo says.

When it comes to furniture, lighting and décor elements, “you want to be sure they are all complementary to each other and look good paired together,” Perillo says.

After you’ve curated the pieces for your mood board, next is putting it all together in either a physical or digital format.

Physical vs. digital
There are pros and cons when using either a physical or digital mood board — that’s why Perillo recommends using both when designing a space. “Both are necessary to create a cohesive design,” Perillo says. “We always pair them together.”

PHYSICAL
It can be easier for you to visualize your space when you have tangible elements for the room in front of you. This is one of the benefits of a physical mood board.

What should you include on a physical mood board? Paint swatches are a wonderful starting point for the color palette portion of your board. Other great elements to include are samples of tiles, fabrics, hardware and flooring. Perillo recommends shopping locally for these items.

“Local stores will have samples you can borrow or have, and [they] have experts to assist you in your project,” Perillo says. “If you can’t find something locally, I would look to see if your favorite online retailers offer samples of fabrics, wood and tile.”

Seeing how different textiles, wood grains, hardware and surfaces all look and feel together can really help to bring your room inspiration to life.

A downside of a physical mood board, Perillo says, is that it can be difficult to keep together and is not easy to transport. “But a pro-tip is to put all of your elements in a decorative tray that you can easily move around,” Perillo says.

Photos Courtesy of Greer Design Co.

DIGITAL 
When creating a digital mood board, Perillo recommends using a program such as Canva or PowerPoint. Both are fairly easy programs to navigate. To use either program, you’ll need to import digital photos from your phone or camera or screenshot images from favorite websites. Depending on your skill level, you can then remove backgrounds, change image sizes and orient the images on your page to find the right fit.

A pro of using a digital mood board, according to Perillo, is that it’s easy to create, edit and share. This allows for continual tweaking and updating, which can be especially helpful when working with an interior designer on your project.

Your digital mood board can easily be saved and kept in cloud storage. Another benefit of the digital board is that you can add links to home interior items for ease and convenience of shopping.

A con of using a digital mood board is that colors appear different hues based on your screen, Perillo says. It can also be hard to gauge the scale of different items in each space by simply viewing them on a digital board.

Whether you’re gathering inspiration for a design that’s simply a daydream or you are working with an interior designer on a home renovation project, a mood board is a vital, cost-effective tool. Here’s to spring dreaming! ✦