Interior Design Moodboards and How to Create One for a Project

What is a mood board?


Mood boards are visual presentation tools and integral aspects of the interior design profession. While developing an interior design concept, a mood board will help designers working on a project communicate their vision and ideas with clients, contractors, and other stakeholders in the industry.

A mood board must include illustrations, swatches, colour schemes, textures, sketches, notes, and other elements. These will help to capture the style and mood of interior styling projects.

Image source: viryabo@polyvore.com



What purpose does it serve?


For inspiration, feedback, or presentation purposes. A mood board can also help to:
  • Clearly define the design concept, theme, style, and finishing.
  • Describe the scope of works through illustrations, notes, and finishes.
  • Explore different options and possibilities
  • Narrow down and refine material choices.
  • Present and pitch the outcome to prospective clients, employers, builders, and other stakeholders in the industry.


How to create a mood board


As a professional interior designer, the initial approach is to narrow your focus by asking yourself the following questions. With that, you will be able to have a clear direction for the task and choose the appropriate elements to create a mood board.
  1. Who are you designing for?
  2. What are their expectations?
  3. What are you trying to achieve with the project?
  4. How do you intend to accomplish your goals?
  5. What message do you wish your concept to convey?
After providing answers to the questions, it is time to:

1. Collect the required materials that match the theme, style, and ambience. These include images, photos, objects, samples, swatches, etc.
2. Arrange all elements methodically. Use boards, portfolio books, or design software.
3. Review and refine the collection. To create balance and harmony, enhance the features and elements where necessary (styles, colour schemes, finishes, and the like).
4. Share your mood board presentation with prospective clients, work team, or other stakeholders to communicate your vision and get their contribution or approval.



Use grids, collages, or freeform layouts to organize your elements. Add labels, annotations, or hand sketches to explain placements, selections, and design layouts. Remember that your mood board is your reference point and guide for any interior design project.

Related Books of Interest





Interior Design Coloring Books of Modern Home and Office Interiors

If you love interior design and have a feel for home decorating and office styling, these coloring books filled with modern interior images are for you. Filled with hand-drawn 3D illustrations of interior features and elements, they are enjoyable adult coloring activity books that will reduce stress and anxiety, tap into one's creativity, express individual personality, and lighten moods.

From cosy bedrooms to classic bathrooms and contemporary office interiors, whether you want to relax, get inspired, or simply have some quiet fun, each of these coloring books will provide hours of enjoyment and inspiration. They will give free rein to creativity and will stimulate imagination that can inspire DIY home styling enthusiasts to create their designs if or when they have plans to redecorate.

1. Kitchens


If you are looking for stimulating ideas for kitchen designs and layout concepts, you will love this. With kitchen drawings specifically tailored to stimulate your kitchen design ideas, Interior Design Coloring Book of Modern Kitchens offers a unique collection of illustrations that reflects a professional attribute of the industry.

2. Bedrooms


If you love anything home and garden décor related and love to colour in your spare time, this coloring book, Interior Design Coloring Pages of Modern Bedroomswill entertain you. Not only will it interest you, but it will also calm and soothe your nerves and shut you out from the everyday din around us. Additionally, it will give you little tips here and there on what you can do or add to your bedroom décor to enhance it.

3. Bathrooms


If you are an interior designer, decorator, or interior architect, this book, Interior Design Coloring Book of Modern Bathrooms, will not only stimulate your creativity, but it will also serve as an inspirational book if you are looking for bathroom designs and layout concepts. You will undoubtedly love this coloring book with its modern interior features.

4. Home and Office


This Home and Office Interiors Coloring Book for Adults is a great relaxation activity book for adults who love anything interior design and decoration related. It offers a unique collection of 3D hand-drawn illustrations you can color to quietly entertain, calm and soothe frayed nerves while shutting out the everyday noise around us. And if you are an adult with a feel for interior décor, this adult coloring book will give you some tips and ideas on enhancing rooms and interior spaces.


5. Kids' Interior Designing Coloring Pages


If you feel your kids or siblings love home decorating, a good way to set their focus on interior designing is through coloring book activities. And using this book, Kids Interior Designing Coloring Pages for 8 to 10-Year-Olds Who Love Home Decorating, is a great way to start. It is a fun and educative coloring activity book for interior design-inspired kids. It can inspire and influence 3rd to 5th graders to pursue one of the best professions in the world.

Conclusion

Colouring books are not only for young children but also for adult colourists who want to have fun and explore their artistic side. It is an excellent hobby that is worthwhile, comforting, and satisfying, a leisurely activity that is life-enriching.


Interior Design-Related Articles of Interest

How to Develop an Interior Design Concept – 5 Basic Principles to Follow
Double-Height Interior Spaces: Bedrooms Overlooking Living Areas
9 Eclectic Style Mistakes - Why You Got the Design Wrong
Contemporary Interior Design Styling – Adding a Touch of Drama to Living Rooms

Interior Design Concept of Double-Height Interior Spaces: Bedrooms Overlooking Living Areas

One of the remarkable features of small interior spaces with double-volume ceilings is their visual spaciousness and airy feeling. You can also get two rooms sharing the same floor space (one above the other), something you will not find with the typical; two separate rooms on the same floor level.



Studio apartment with bedroom area overlooking the living room. Image used under license from 123rf.com

This retro-style studio apartment gives an impression of largeness and airiness, with a connecting feel between the living and sleeping areas. A striking feature of this double-volume room is the elevated bedroom with its modest metal handrailing, painted brick walls, and flooring framed with wide flange H-beams. The bedroom overlooking the living room is a perfect example of how to combine functionality and aesthetics in contemporary interior design.

This interior design concept is ideal for anyone on a budget looking for a small space exuding style and comfort.


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How to Develop an Interior Design Concept – 5 Basic Principles

Contemporary Interior Design Styling – Adding a Touch of Drama to Living Rooms

The Minimalist Interior Design Theme

This modern interior design idea is aesthetically pleasing, calming, and absolutely clutter-free. You can call it the no-dramatic-dramatic look. With its soft colours of shades of pink with a bit of white, this is the dream look for those inclined towards minimalist style interiors.

Minimalist interior design idea. Image used under license from 123rf.com


Indoor House Plants (Artificial and Natural)

Adding flora to interior spaces will turn your living room into a space infused with nature. Greenery adds warmth to home interiors bringing in the outdoors in many dramatic ways. Additionally, indoor house plants, whether they are natural or artificial, are affordable, make great conversational pieces, and create a clean and fresh ambience.  

Beautiful splashes of green hues add warmth to this space.


Stylish Ethnic Interior Design Idea

Ethnic interior themes are mainly dictated by the addition of urban-style decor items and accessories. Majorly based on the traditions of different cultural groups, it is also referred to as tribal designs. This image of a contemporary interior style is decorated with African-style decor - simple furniture, framed wall art, natural wool rug, woven baskets, textured pillows with bold patterns, and other tribal artefacts.

Simple and stylish modern interior design.


Other Interior Design Posts of Interest

How to Develop an Interior Design Concept – 5 Basic Principles

7 Ways to Upgrade Your Kitchen without Spending a Fortune

We have all heard time and time again that the kitchen is the heart of the home. But does this still apply today? Do we still congregate in the kitchen, helping to make dinner? Do we spend this precious time chit-chatting about our daily affairs? Perhaps, perhaps not. Times may be different, but family units still remain the same.


We can re-capture those precious moments. If there is a will to achieve something, there will be a way to do it. If your kitchen looks fresh, warm, and inviting, everyone will want to hang around it. On the contrary, if the space is not-so-great, drab, and plain, you need to infuse some cheerfulness and style into it. And you do not require a high kitchen upgrade budget to achieve this. There are ways you give your kitchen a facelift for a lot less than you can envisage. While some upgrades will cost you nothing except elbow grease, others will cost you no more than a few hundred dollars.

De-clutter

Make sure you do not crowd your countertop with stuff that should be kept away in designated storage spaces. There is nothing as unpleasant as a surface littered with cereal boxes, jam jars, cutting boards, bottles, plastic containers and fill-in family recipe books. These can be stored in wall-mounted racks, floating shelves, and decorative storage baskets. Some will also find their space in kitchen cabinet compartments, pull-out spice racks, pigeon-holed drawers, or the pantry if you have one. 

Clean and De-Grime 

Put the sparkle back on your kitchen countertops. Give them an in-depth clean and de-grim process. A beautiful shiny surface is so inviting. Everyone will feel "the clean". 

There is no universal method for putting the shine back on your countertops. All you need are the general cleaning techniques stipulated for whatever material you have. Wood, marble, granite, laminate, or slate. How to clean each material differs. However, most require just soapy water or an ammonia-based cleaner like SoftScrub. If you desire a polished shine, your counter will need a refinish. This is still much cheaper than replacing the entire countertop.

Replace the Existing Kitchen Countertop

If you can comfortably afford to, replace the existing kitchen countertop with some modern or traditional material. For a modern touch, quartz is an attractive and hardwearing material. Additionally, it is a natural stone. It is less expensive than granite and, surprisingly, more durable. Quartz stone comes in many attractive colours without the streakiness of granite. You can choose a colour that contrasts with or complements your colour scheme. 

For a classic country theme, you can opt for a kitchen worktop made from reclaimed wood, oak slabs, butchers' blocks, or soapstone. And do not forget to add a farmhouse sink. Few kitchen design ideas compare to the warmth, aesthetic and charm of a farmhouse style kitchen. 

Infuse Some Style

If you plan to create a show-home look for your kitchen, style it. After de-cluttering, de-griming, or replacing the kitchen countertop, make the kitchen space a focal point of the living spaces if you have an open-plan kitchen. Ensure the style flows seamlessly with the adjacent room/area. 


For a dose of glamour, introduce some glass door cabinets (the wall units), and finish the remaining in high-gloss. If you have beautiful keepsakes to display, omit the doors in some areas and create open shelving that shows off your memorable pieces. Pretty-up the kitchen island (or breakfast counter) with attractive décor items like an eye-catching vase with fresh flowers or an ornamental platter with fruits. 

Hang a framed wall art that draws in all colours in the scheme. Using artwork is a great way to elevate any room. Add potted herbs placed on decorative racks, colourful cacti in terracotta pots, or stainless-steel utensils containers.

To create a traditional concept, use wall murals or special painting effects that can replicate any look from hardwood and bamboo to marble or limestone. These methods are inexpensive and easy to apply.

Bring in the Outdoors

If you love nature, you can upgrade your kitchen by bringing the outdoors in. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have much floor or counter space. A creative solution to adding foliage to a small space is to go vertical or use wall murals with lush foliage as the focal point of the kitchen. You can hang small potted plants from the ceiling or have hardware that projects them from empty wall spaces. If you have a nice deep windowsill, you can turn it into a mini herb garden or utilize it for vine plants.

For the ceiling hung variety, you can decide how low (or high) you want the hanging cords. They can be adjusted to the appropriate length you desire 

Give your Cabinets and Appliances a Makeover

You can rehabilitate your kitchen cabinet door and drawer faces (front). You can also give your old and drab appliances a brand new look. There are unlimited numbers of styling possibilities that, if you have a knack for DIY tasks, you can apply by yourself. These are great low-budget design options that will transform any kitchen space from looking ordinary to becoming aesthetically pleasing.

If you don't have stainless steel appliances, you can use paint-on stainless steel (liquid stainless steel) finish to upgrade your existing appliances. Change that dated look to a modern minimalist style. You can change the cabinet fronts by painting them. You can laminate them or apply some complimentary textured covering. You can apply decals to give them a totally refreshing look. You can also varnish them with coloured lacquer/stain.

Change Hardware and Fittings

From cabinet knobs and drawer handles, to switch and socket plates and pull-out systems, hardware can completely change the look of any space, including a kitchen. You can replace drawer and cabinet pulls for a style that will instantly update the room. And if you prefer the minimalist look of hidden hardware, that’s a great idea too. 

Switch and socket plates are no exception. You can choose from a vast number of colors in both modern and traditional styles. Although light fittings are not hardware per se, they can still give a kitchen a dramatic effect on a low budget. There are ways you can upgrade existing lighting; paint, change of shades, etc... If you have the standard run-of-the-mill type, you can combine (or replace) them with decorative sconces, spot, or dramatic pendants lights. Light fittings and fixtures can be the perfect accessory if used correctly. They not only brighten up the kitchen; they also change the mood and feel of the room.


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