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How To Decorate Series: Gathering Design Inspiration and How To Create A Moodboard in Keynote

by - Monday, March 04, 2019

In the last instalment of the How to Decorate series, I talked about space planning and room function. Obvious as they may be, taking the time to think about those things will help you hone in on the best way to layout your room. You'll be able to identify any structural changes that need to be made and figure out what your furniture needs are. 

Once you've answered the basic question of what you want the room to "do", you can focus your attention on how you want the room to "feel". If you're a design fanatic, this might be the most fun part of the process! At the end of this post, I show you an easy and simple tool that will help you create the most beautiful designs. But first,

How do you go about decorating or designing a room? Start by finding inspiration. 


modern farmhouse mood board, how to create a moodboard, design inspiration ideas
image sources: rug | sofa | art | mirror | wallpaper | pendant light | baskets | vases


There are a wealth of resources out there to help spark your decorating ideas. Here's four sources to check out when you're in need of design inspiration:
  1. The most popular source by far is Pinterest. A visual search engine, use Pinterest to collect ideas and save images that inspire you. I organize my Pinterest boards by room (here's one for Mudrooms & Storage, and another for Kitchens) and also by style (check out The Beach House for coastal decor ideas)
  2. Do you like to read about design ideas in depth? Design magazines are still a great way to get inspired. Plus, you can spend as much time as you want poring over every detail in the photos. I still subscribe to a few printed magazines and use the Texture app to read many other digital publications.
  3. Design blogs (like the one you're reading now!) are a wonderful way to see not only ideas but the How To's of implementing those ideas. Some of my constant favourites are Centsational Style, A Thoughtful Place, Emily A. Clark, and Marcus Design. Find bloggers whose style you want to emulate and they'll likely share ideas you want to bring into your own home.
  4. Instagram, much like Pinterest, provides an abundance of visual inspiration. Use Instagram's "Save" function to stockpile ideas. You can also sort your ideas into folders for easy identification. One little trick: if you've got a favourite Instagrammer, click to see who they're following and you might find new accounts with a similar style that you'll want to follow too.
  5. An unexpected source for design inspiration? Your closet! Yes, the colours and patterns you wear are likely similar to what you'd like to see in your home design. In my closet, there's an abundance of blue, florals and crisp patterns, and gingham and plaid. And if you've seen my house, you'll know that holds true for my house as well!
Now that you have a wealth of ideas, how do you bring them all together?  By creating a mood board. 

how to design a room, how to use a mood board, how to create a mood board


What is a mood board?

A mood board or moodboard is a collection of images which together convey a design concept or idea.

What do you use mood boards for?

Mood boards can be used for many different purposes including:
  • creating a decor plan for a room
  • defining your brand colour scheme for your business or blog
  • planning fashion outfits
  • creating a round up of products, ideas, or colour inspiration
  • creating a gift guide
  • planning your garden and planting scheme
  • defining your decorating scheme for a holiday, birthday, or event
Whether you are a design blogger, professional designer, or homemaker, the uses of mood boards in aiding home design are endless! Perhaps the biggest benefit of a moodboard is this:

A mood board is a great way to see how your ideas work together - before you make any permanent purchase decisions

You can swap products in or out of your mood board. You can bring elements together and see how you like the entire scheme. And once you get things looking just right, you can purchase the products shown with confidence. Mood boards save you from second guessing and making costly mistakes.

How do you create a mood board?

You can create a physical mood board using a pin board and images cut from magazines. Or, you can create a digital mood board using a graphics tool. 

You don't need Photoshop or a fancy graphics program to create a mood board. It can be as easy as copying images from the internet and pasting them in a blank document.

In this video, I show you my favourite and one of the easiest ways to create a mood board using a program you likely already have on your computer: Keynote.



Keynote is super simple to use and produces mood boards with ease. Are you inspired to create a mood board of your own? Let me know if you do! I'd love to see it.

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