I’m helping some friends design a few pieces of artwork for their newly revamped, freshly painted home at the moment. It reminded me how powerful – and how useful – a mood board can be in anchoring a creative conversation. ‘S’ loved all things girly, gorgeous and decorative, ‘J’ was looking for something bolder – he didn’t mind birds and butterflies in moderation, but didn’t want a house full of ‘fluff’!
They realised that when making the nuts and bolts decisions of doing up a house – door handles, floor tiles, light fittings – they were on safe territory, and largely in agreement. But when it came to giving the house some personality and injecting the space with a more revealing sense of taste they hit a blank wall. Literally.
In those instances I would always recommend a mood board. I’ve used them forever in a work environment; creatively they’re invaluable for allowing a team of people to visualise a concept. At home they are a great way of expressing – discovering, even – what kind of themes float your aesthetic boat and coming up with a look you will love to live with.
I’m a fan of making a mood board the good old fashioned way – cutting out pictures from magazines, ripping up paint charts, pinning pieces of fabric – but I’ve also just started creating virtual moodboards with the help of pinterest. It’s fun playing around with images that can help you design a room, a new look, a wedding, a whole lifestyle in fact. These images below are a few of my current favourites. Hope you like them too.
http://www.pinterest.com Tine K home collection pure SS2012
http://www.pinterest.com illegitimate-child.tumblr.com
http://www.pinterest.com caryambler/she-s-crafty/
createvintage 
Zoe, I love reading your ideas for home projects, and admire your vast talent and time management skills! So finding myself at home for a fortnight with master Coombes wracked with pneumonia and desperate for activities I thought back to Create Vintage for inspiration. Days later we have a rather pleasing mood board of sorts, full of textured card and favourite animals; a mottled painted plaster frog, and a table redecorated with pictures of cars and butterflies! Art? Not quite, but he shows promise and enthusiasm. I will try to get pictures to you via fb. Good luck with your next projects! Emms xx
Ems, THANK YOU and I love that you did this – can’t wait to see what you and Jakey made. Keep in touch, I need to see what other creations your budding artist comes up with. xxxxxx
Cool blog!