My goal is to help you create a gorgeous home on any budget so that you can up-level your lifestyle, create your dream home or start a new phase in your life.
So what do I believe you must do before even considering buying furniture or paint colours for your home? What do I know will save you tones of money on wasted items or worse yet, not give you the end result you are looking for?
The biggest problem almost everyone has is visualising how the end space will look and come together. So these two things help you filter out the things you don’t want, help you understand your style and then help you see what your space will potentially look like before you start matching to the green beige sofa that doesn’t seem to go with anything else on the planet…
So what are these two things that you need? A mood board and a sample board of course!
The main reason you need mood & sample boards, is so that you can see what your room or house will look like ahead of time. You need to see whether the colours, materials, textures and ideas that you have will go together or clash. It gives you a chance to make mistakes, test ideas, be creative and really create your dream space the way you imagine it to look. These will save you money and help you buy the right items for your home (every time!)
I usually create a mood board before my sample board, and then I ensure I am happy with both of these before I start sourcing furniture and looking for specific items.
What is a mood board?
A mood board acts as a filter, it helps you hone in on your desired feel and atmosphere of a space. A mood board can have your inspiration on it, colours, pictures of rooms and anything else you think explains your ideas in a tangible form. The idea is to express your ideas somehow and see them all together in one place.
This is how you can use it as a filter to get rid of things that aren’t quite right for this project (especially if you’re like me and have 10 million ideas that you wish you could use in every space!) I would suggest always having a mood board, no matter how simple or easy your project is. (If you would like a step by step guide on how to create a mood board, you can find it here How To Create An Interior Design Mood Board
What is a Sample Board?
A sample board places all of the paint colours, tile and grout colours, surfaces, materials and fabrics that will be used in each room, in one place. It is a fantastic way of seeing how your combination of ideas will look together in a very basic format. I call up every company and ask for an exact sample of all of my ideas (and a few extras) to be sent to me so that I can build my sample board. Don’t ever guess or hope that it will just look great. It rarely does. You need to see and feel the material for yourself, especially if you are ordering your items online.
I hope this helped you to get clear on your idea and hopefully has saved you money already!