When renovating his studio apartment in Melbourne, Colin had clear ideas in mind, including what he wanted to change, remove, and replace, and how he wanted to organize the space. The first source of inspiration was a room-dividing modular shelving system from one of his favorite designs featured on NTS — El Camarin.
Colin set about gathering all of his inspiration in one place to guide his design decisions and purchases. He built his mood board in Milanote, but there are many online tools to choose from, such as Pinterest and Canva.
Colin liked the existing Milanote interior design template and how easy it was to drag and drop images, links, and videos from websites or platforms like YouTube. He especially loved its ‘web clipper’ extension that brings in items from websites with one-click.
It’s essential to research and try out different options to ensure you select the tool that best suits how you personally like to build and interact with your mood board.
Use your mood board to collect textures, colors, or specific living room furniture pieces. The more specific and detailed you can be, the better. Colin knew he wanted to incorporate some bamboo texture and a rice paper light shade, so these were early additions.
Importantly, try to avoid collecting lots of images of rooms or complete designs that you like the look of. Instead, focus on the details within these designs or rooms, such as colors, patterns, textures, finishings, furniture, and furnishings. This approach will help you create a more focused design.
Try to find images of items on a plain white or transparent background to avoid visual clutter on your mood board. This will help you curate different pieces and see how they interact with one another within your space.
In the early stages, don’t worry about any preconceived concepts or ideas you may have had or notions of ‘what goes with what’ or even constraints such as budget or dimensions. Instead, collect anything and everything that you would love to see in your home or space.
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You may well be surprised by how well all the things you love actually go together. It’s also a great idea to include images of existing items or features in your home or space that you intend to be part of your new design, so old and new can coexist in harmony.
Once Colin had gathered all his inspiration and imagery of what would be staying in his space, he started to organize his mood board and edit as needed – removing any duplicative content or anything that wasn’t quite working.
Colin was keen to purchase second-hand furniture wherever possible, and his mood board acted as a visual shopping list and reminder for things he’s looking for.
Colin felt it kept him from making mistakes too because it kept any purchase decisions very targeted. This resulted in a number of second-hand purchases that he’s extremely happy with — his dining table, his beloved blue dining chair, and a lovely leather footstool that he will use and treasure for years to come, similar to the satisfaction of building a dream verandah.
As he worked on his mood board, Colin realized that the process was not just about creating a visual representation of his ideal space, but also about understanding his own tastes and preferences. By collecting and curating images of different design elements, he was able to identify patterns and themes that he may not have noticed otherwise.
Colin’s dog, Shiro, now relaxes in his light, bright, and highly functional updated home, which shows the power of careful planning and design.
Colin is happy.
