I'm in the mood for... sharing a moodboard! A moodboard (or inspiration/storyboard) is a wonderful tool used by many interior designers (and by many other professionals, in fact) to help visually experiment with a design. It is an excellent way to get a more concrete idea of how your room will look and the atmosphere it will create for you. Usually it's done by taking pages from magazines or catalogues - anywhere really - compiling textile samples and colour swatches and assembling them (either in an organized way - reflective of the rooms layout - or as more of a random collage). However, in this technological age there are more options for moodboards. Recently, I've been working on one for my den.

The Internet is my main resource for inspirational photos - mainly because I just can't bring myself to tear pages out of magazines - so my moodboards usually consist of me copying and pasting images into... brace yourself... Word documents! Yeah, I know, complete lunacy; but hey, it works pretty decent for the most part. I have previously mentioned my new obsession with Pintrest {here}, and adore the aesthetic appeal of the boards on that site. However, what I really love about a moodboard is the ability to layer images to bring a room to life. I think Pintrest is a great first start to help me acquire ideas, but I need something more to get that ideal moodboard layout.

I think I may have found just the thing in Olioboard - an online moodboard creator which not only allows you to select from a multitude of brand name product images (including some of my favourites, Crate & Barrel and West Elm), but also permits you to upload your own photos (and registration is FREE!!!)

The user interface is super simple and within minutes you're able to fashion your own moodboard - complete with background room shots if you so desire!

Without further ado, this is the moodboard I created for my den (drum roll, please):

Olioboard Den Moodboard

Some of the items hubby and I have already purchased (either previously for the Old Place or to fill out the New Place), but there are a few items that will have to wait for a while. I'm dying for the Dash & Albert rug as well as the new slipcover from Bemz for our Ikea sofa (Tylosand), so right now we're saving our pennies for those gems - not to mention a nice comfy slipcovered armchair (pictured is the Hanover chair from West Elm, which sadly is no longer available). I will be making my own pillow cushion covers from the turquoise geometric print and I might consider even trying curtains in the multicoloured floral print (the red floral print is on our existing two giant, plush, pillows courtesy of Pottery Barn). I haven't sewn anything since I was in gradeschool (glow in the dark killer bunny shorts... um yeah... it happened), so I will need some backup on that one but I think it can be done!

Hmmmmmmm....


Does anyone else put together moodboards before starting on a room, or is your style more to wing it (that is to say, your imagination is awesome!)? How have your rooms turned out using either method - close to your vision or evolved into something completely different? What do you like about my den ideas, or what would you change?

I'm linking up my moodboard to Remodelaholic. There is a great series on living room moodboards with LOTS of inspiration, so please pop by and check it all out!