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Mood boards are one of the easiest ways to showcase your home interior inspiration and convey your design ideas. They act as a tool to build clear design stories and help manifest and express your vision, even if you can’t fully visualise the end result.
There are two main types of mood board, physical and digital. A physical mood board may display magazine cuttings, colour swatches and tactile material samples. A digital board is one of the quickest ways to collect ideas. Platforms such as Pinterest and Canva are designed especially for the job, making it much easier to refer back to when out shopping or curating a space. Before you start your own here are a few top tips.
Tom Howley Blue Fitted Kitchen
Creating a mood board will help you collect and display everything that has inspired you so far, giving you a set of design goals to work towards. Even if you are not a creative person, it’s a fantastic visual way to present your lifestyle aspirations to a kitchen designer. Sometimes it may be hard to explain your personal style or the direction you want to go with, which is why digital mood boards are the easiest way to start.
Pinterest is a tool that is becoming ever more popular with interior designers and homeowners alike. It’s a place to quickly collate images in one place. Upload your own inspiration, source kitchen design ideas from brands online or repin other users images you simply love.
At first, start with several Pinterest mood boards rather than just one with hundreds of pins. You may want to create a board that’s specifically for cabinet colours and finishes, one that shows kitchen layouts and another that has storage features. Once you begin to develop these boards, you will start to see common trends. Timeless grey cabinetry, colourful styling or just a general theme that you may not have otherwise thought about.
When it comes to creating your Pinterest boards and populating them with pins, it’s always a good idea to add descriptions. If a designer is looking at your board, they want to be able to pick out ideas with ease. If there are images that you’ve pinned solely for the colour, taps or handle finish, then you need to say so.
Top Tip: Pin from brands you have your eye on or save features you already have in the home to help ensure the space works as a whole. This may be a style of extension, door and window designs, architectural features such as beams or wall colours.
Keep in mind your space and budgets. If you have a small galley style kitchen, try and find inspiration that displays this particular layout. This doesn’t mean you can’t implement kitchen design ideas from more extravagant spaces, just remember what can be achieved and what can’t.
Top Tip: Find similar images to those you already love using Pinterest’s visual discovery tool. This tool helps you instantly search for similar ideas, even letting you zoom into the picture to search for specific items. Find everything from kitchen chairs, handles, lighting or dishware.
Once you’ve been working on your separate boards and feel you’re happy with your ideas, it’s time to start editing them down. Recurring ideas will appear throughout your boards, and images will stand out above the rest such as two-toned cabinetry, curved islands, work surface finishes or key appliances.
An overarching theme can become prominent throughout your mood boards, maybe a minimal space or a traditional country style kitchen. Make sure you include these images in your final board with descriptions on the style rather than a specific kitchen product. Remember your final board doesn’t have to include all kitchen images; pin tile patterns, textures, colour swatches, even artwork or places of interest. Anything that inspires and influences the aesthetic of your design will help your designer.
Curate your final board so it’s clear and easy to navigate. Write descriptions of what it is you like on each image and keep the board brief so a designer can clearly see your vision. Discover more of our own Pinterest inspiration and exquisite kitchen designs ideas here.
There are so many avenues to draw inspiration. However, Pinterest is a great place to start – and means the designer can clearly see what it is you’re trying to achieve.
If you’re starting your kitchen renovation journey, then our designers are here to help bring your kitchen design ideas to life. You’ll be able to find our experts in our showrooms throughout the UK. Find your nearest here or book your free design visit today.