Do you find yourself feeling overwhelmed when trying to pick out finishes for your home? Our top recommendation to combat indecision and to make sure things feel cohesive is to make a mood board. Mood boards may seem just like a pretty presentation on the surface, but in reality there is actually a lot of thought and time that goes into them. Whether it’s for furniture or for hard finishes, mood boards help maintain consistency and serve as a reference point to ensure that all design elements harmonize with each other. Keep reading to see why we use mood boards, what we select, and how we create them!

What is the purpose of mood boards?

Mood boards help you visualize the proposed design direction. We include materials, fixtures, and finishes to convey the overall look and feel of the space (and to help ensure that everyone involved in the project understands the designer’s vision). They also allow you to quickly experiment with different combinations before finalizing the design.

For our clients, we start with an inspiration mood board like you see below, and once a client approves that design direction, we pull together different materials in mood boards that will achieve that feeling for the room. This allows clients to make informed and confident decisions about what they want in their space.

What selections do we include?

• Wall color and/or wallpaper
• Flooring
• Countertop
• Backsplash
• Cabinet paint color or stain color
• Cabinet hardware
• Faucet
• Light fixture
• Mirror
• Sink
• Shower wall and floor tile
• Shower faucet
• Bathtub and faucet

How do we make mood boards?

Below is a step-by-step example of how we created a selection mood board for a kitchen. Depending on the room, some of the above selections may or may not be applicable. For example, we would include mirror and shower selections for a bathroom, however not for a kitchen… pretty straight-forward hopefully!

Inspiration image:
Start with an inspiration image to reference for creativity and stay on track with creating a cohesive design.

Select the “bones” | Flooring and wall color/wallpaper:
Floors and walls are the bones of the home and typically will inform the rest of the house’s design, so we like to start here with selecting materials.

Choose cabinet direction | Cabinet color/stain, island color/stain, countertop, and backsplash:
A large piece of a kitchen is the cabinets! So we like to choose a direction for cabinet and island colors to base other finishes off of that are easier to switch out.

Plumbing fixtures:
Next, we generally like to select plumbing fixture such as the sink faucet. The finish can have a huge impact on the overall feel of the design, which is why we like to test out multiple options at this stage to see which we like best!

Cabinet hardware:
Cabinet hardware is one of those things that gets overlooked easily, but in our opinion can be super fun. There are so many options out there to experiment with and kick a design up a notch or two.

Lighting:
Don’t forget lighting! Light fixtures can and SHOULD be fun! Be gone with canned lights everywhere and start welcoming lights that match your style.

Finishing touches | Furniture/accessories:
Depending on the room, finish the room up with furniture or accessories. In a kitchen with an island (which, let’s be real, is most kitchens these days), we include stools in the selection board to make sure they won’t clash when it all comes together!

If all of this seems overwhelming, we’re here to help! This is just the tip of the iceberg of what we offer as a design-build firm, so even if this seems like a breeze for some, trust us, there’s more to it than meets the eye. So if you’re looking for something like this for your own build or remodel click here to see how we can help you!

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