How to Make a Mood board

Well, its time to begin my next project- the playroom! This house is bigger than any other that we’ve ever lived in. Which means that we get to have space for an office and a playroom!!! I’m excited to have a dedicated place for all the toys that isn’t in my living room.

these are “before” images of the room from the listing for the house

So let’s talk about the plan for the playroom! Well, the truth is that behind the scenes, my husband and I have been working on it for months. We tore the paneling and plaster walls off down to the studs. A closet was added and drywall has been installed. One wall has wallpaper installed too! We’re now on the super fun stage of mudding and sanding down the seams to finish up the drywall. 

All that isn’t that fun, but the room will start progressing in the next few days! So let’s start at the beginning (a very good place to start). When you read, you begin with ABC. In design, it’s a mood board! (can you tell I’ve been listening to the Sound of Music)?! I got a TON of requests for a tutorial on this, so let’s go!

how to make a moodboard

Let’s start with the video tutorial so you get an overview on what I did. Then, I’ll dive in with more details below:

If the video doesn’t work here, you can watch it on YouTube here. P.s. I’m trying to build that page up, so if you’d subscribe, I’d really appreciate that!

SUPPLIES

• I use the website Picmonkey to make mood boards. I started using this a few years ago because I LOVE how easy it is to learn! They have a free site, but I pay to use it (its $8 a month if you go month to month or $6 a month if you pay annually). I’d just suggest doing the free trial for 7 days if you want to try it out.

step 1

I’m going to share instructions for exactly what I do. There are a TON of ways to make a mood board so feel free to make changes to express your own style.

Start by going to PicMonkey.com. Hover over design and then select “blank canvas.”

step 2

Next, select the print size 8.5″ x 11″. Scroll down and click open on the bottom, blank template.

step 3

Now it’s time to design the mood board! I like to start by adding a bar at the bottom with the name of my project. To do this, click on the butterfly of the left hand side (it’s the button for adding graphics). Under the “geometric” tab, select the top left rectangle.

step 4

Resize your rectangle to fit at the bottom of the page by dragging the corners of the rectangle. To change the color, click on color 2 on the graphic window to the right of your image. You can change the color by selecting a color on the color table, use the dropper tool to select a color on the mood board, or by typing in the hex number. 

step 5

Next, it’s time to add text to the bottom bar. To do that, click on the Tt on the left hand side. Choose a font (I use Geo Sans Light for the plain font. I uploaded a custom font named Antelope for my script font). Click “add text.” Next, click on the text box and start typing. Adjust the text box by dragging it to get the size you want. 

If needed, change the color of the text. Finish by putting the text on top of the color bar at the bottom on the page.

step 6

Now is the exciting part- time to start adding images! Before beginning a mood board, it’s a good idea to have a pretty good idea of the products you want to use in the room. Take a screen shot of every item as you finalize your decision and put them all in one folder on your computer. Hint, you can always have a few options and see how they work together on the board.

To add your own image, click on the butterfly graphic again. At the top of the page under graphics, click on the drop down menu that says “add your own” and select “my computer.” Choose an image you’d like to start with.

Note, if you get lost or need help knowing exactly where to click, make sure to watch the video so you can see exactly what I do.

step 7

Resize your image to be a smaller size and drag it where you’d like it. Repeat step 6 and add all of your images on the board. Here are some hints on how to get them looking nice-

• When you’re screen shooting your product shots, try to get as tight of a crop as possible. Aka, you don’t want a big white border around the product- this can make the mood board look a little sloppy. 
• Start by adding the key furniture/wall coverings/ rugs to the mood board and then add in the smaller pieces. You really want to see how those big pieces work together!
• I like to resize my product images so they’re somewhat to scale- the rug and sofa should be big while the pillow and accessories should be small. These help you see how balanced the room will feel. It can also help you trouble shoot if you’re missing texture of color.
• If an image is in front of another and you want it behind it, you can use the layers window- just select the down facing arrow and you can send it to the back. (in the image below, I wanted the sofa leg in front of the rug).
• If you want to get a little fancy, you can use the eraser tool. This is perfect for if you have a white border that overlaps a product shot. Click on the piece of furniture you want to erase the white border off of. On the graphic window, click on the tab “eraser.” Then just use the eraser to reveal the image below it. You can make the eraser bigger or smaller by adjusting the slider. You can also zoom in to the image by using the zoom button at the bottom of the page.
• Mistakes can happen. If you end up making a mistake, just click the back arrow at the bottom of the page.

step 8

Once you have your mood board where you want it, it’s time to save it! Picmonkey has two options for this-

1. If you want to export the image so you can print it or share it on social media, click on the “export” button at the top of the page. Rename it what you want (mine is: Playroom Mood Board). Save it as a .jpg or .png (I use .jpg). For quality, I usually select the Pierce (the middle choice). The quality just depends on how big you want it. Finish up by clicking “export to computer.” Whenever I finish a mood board, I make sure to export it.
2. If you want to revisit this image and make tweaks later, click on the “save” button at the top of the page. Rename it what you want and click “save” or “update” (if you were working from a file you’ve used before). Then, if you change your design, you can come back in to Picmonkey and edit the mood board. I ALWAYS save my mood boards so I can make adjustments. To later edit it, go to PicMonkey.com and then hoover over “edit” and select “my hub.”

after

starburst sculpture / tic tac toe / electric fireplace and tv stand / barrel chair / Chesterfield loveseat / mint pillow cover / rug / wallpaper- tiger mural / kids bentwood chair / brass and marble lamp

Here we have it, the final mood board! I hope this tutorial is helpful. For me, I never redecorate a room before making a mood board. This is how you communicate your vision! They are an amazing tool for visualizing the space. I’ve loved using Picmonkey and I think you’ll find it as user friendly as I do.

Please let me know in the comments if you have any questions! And stay tuned for a bunch more posts on finishing the playroom!

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