Redecorating a room in your home or ready to totally overhaul your space? A great starting point can be using an interior design mood board to set the tone of your brand-new space and creating one will help curate and narrow down what you want it to look like. Think of it as a place to brainstorm your vision before bringing it to life. It’s a fun, helpful way to dream big and help create a space perfectly tailored to your lifestyle and taste.
There are a few ways to go about creating a design mood board, so let’s get started.
Step 1: Choosing Your Medium
Gathering images and inspiration for your interior design mood board can be done by gathering images online, or through physical objects, but how you display them is up to you. Choose between a physical design mood board or an online one before you start looking for inspiration. Here’s a quick breakdown on each option:
Physical
Creating a physical interior design mood board by using a corkboard, poster board or any flat surface like an empty wall or spare table is a great option if you prefer physical photos and want tactile pieces in your design mood board.
Online
If you’d rather curate your board on the go, try using an online platform. Websites and apps like Pinterest and Canva are valuable sources of inspiration from around the internet. Both are free and easy to use, and come with tons of access to photos, motifs and beautiful images you can draw your own ideas from.
Pinterest allows you to pin images from all over the internet to different boards so you can customize your inspiration by room, colour, style and more. The versatility of this option makes it the easiest way to cultivate an online interior design mood board. If you’re new to Pinterest, The Brick’s Pinterest page can help you get started.
If you’re into a more streamlined design mood board, Canva is an online, user-friendly graphic design tool that lets you see your inspired images on one page. It can be an excellent way to visualize how the pieces you’ve curated go together.
You can also use tools such as Photoshop or any number of mobile interior design mood board apps as they work in similar ways. Or, keep it simple by gathering images and saving them in a photo folder on your phone or computer for easy access when you can't be on the internet.
Whichever medium you choose is a matter of preference and how you want to go about gathering inspiration. An interior design mood board doesn’t have to be fancy or high-tech, it just has to work for you.
Step 2: Looking for Inspiration
Once you have decided where and how you’re going to display your design mood board, it’s time to start finding inspiration.
Fun Tip: Consider the look, aesthetic, and overall vibe you want for your space and look for those terms when searching. Descriptive style words like glam, cozy, rustic or country can help inspire and refine your search.
Where to Look
If you aren’t sure where to look when building your interior design mood board, we recommend checking out some of our blogs about interior design such as country style, what to do with an unused dining room, or even furniture trends for 2023. We also have My Brick Home, where we share inspiration throughout the seasons, already organized by room for your convenience.
Plus, you can search our website for descriptive words like retro, cozy, glam, country, industrial and more to find furniture inspiration for your design mood board. We’re also on Instagram where you can find fun ideas and photos to draw inspiration from.
Don’t forget to search magazines, books, print outs and other physical media sources. And remember to look for inspiration outside of the box: fabric samples, paint swatches, art, or even items straight from nature like flowers, shells, and wood can be wonderful additions to your interior design mood board. Drawing ideas from your surroundings is a creative experience, so anything goes. If it inspires you, put it on the board!
If you know what kind of colour palette you’re looking for, half of the battle is already done! Narrow down your search to include these colours and you’ll be well on your way to creating your design mood board. If you are looking for a general vibe rather than specific colours to start off with, that’s okay too! Head straight into searching for styles over colour.
Step 3: Collecting Inspiration
Start pinning, screenshotting, printing out and collecting whatever inspires you, and add it all to your design mood board. There can be just a few things or lots to look over if needed. The more you search for inspiration and start to collect images that speak to you, the easier it will be to narrow down items for your new space later. It can be overwhelming to start, but take note of everything that catches your eye for now, as this is just the collecting phase.
You can put images of anything on your board, but if you come across pieces that you’re looking for, like a bed in a bedroom design mood board or a couch for a living room design mood board, keep it! Even if you wind up not purchasing that exact item, it can help guide your search. Having a focal point to work around can be helpful too - if you already have an item you want to build the room around, start there and work outwards.
Fun Tip: If you find yourself on furniture websites, add items you like to a wish list or favourites page (if available) and make note of it in case you want to purchase them later on.
There is no rush in creating a space you love. When designing using a mood board, you can add everything that inspires you at once and sort through it later or organize it as you go. This part is personal to how you like to organize and visualize ideas.
Step 4: Curating the Inspiration
Once you are done gathering ideas and imagery, it’s time to narrow it down. This is an important step in bringing your interior design mood board to life, so take some time to go over it. See if you have the same colours throughout or the same styles, and don’t forget to look for themes, colour palettes and aesthetics that truly showcase how you want your space to be. Remove anything from your interior design mood board that no longer inspires you or won’t work for your room and focus in on what will help create your vision. This process can take as long or as short a time as needed, just until you are happy with what you have. Remember that your design mood board is meant to guide you in your shopping journey and be a reference point, so make sure it only showcases what you really want your room to evoke.
Once you have narrowed down your board to what truly inspires you, voila! You’ll have created your very own interior design mood board.
Extra Step: Start Shopping!
Now that you have a clear vision of what you would like your space to look like, you can start shopping. Begin your project by referencing back to any of your favourited items, or search in store and online.
The Brick has something for every room. From bedroom furniture to appliances, electronics, mattresses and even patio pieces, there is something for everyone and every design style. We hope this guide on how to make a mood board has inspired you, and we can’t wait to be a part of bringing your vision from the board to real life! Shop at thebrick.com to get started on your redecorating journey.
