OUR TIPS FOR CREATING DESIGN INSPIRATION BOARDS

Photo by Belle Brocante

Over the past three weeks, we've shared the inspiration behind our latest projects; The Pierce, The Eisley and The Cameron Lounge. Before I start any project, I pull together a design inspiration board filled with images, textiles, and anything that inspires me. This board then serves as a vision board that helps guide my design process and is such a helpful tool when trying to focus my vision for the project. Below, I'm sharing my tips for creating your design inspiration board and if you haven't already, be sure to check out the inspiration behind The Pierce, The Eisley and The Cameron Lounge! 

1. FIND INSPIRATION FROM MORE THAN JUST PINTEREST

Ah pinterest - I love you, but you sometimes can pull me down a rabbit hole I didn't want to go down. I wrote a little bit about how I use Pinterest in the past, and love finding inspiration for my design projects through the platform. However, I try to also snap my own photos of textures I see when I'm out, our travels and include other images that spark my interest. By adding my own content to my design boards, it helps keep me from only pinning whats trending on Pinterest and keeps my design inspiration original. 

2. REMEMBER THE DETAILS

We tend to think big picture when thinking about our next project. You know you want that all white kitchen, with gorgeous contrasting floors and stainless steel appliances - but do you have inspiration for your kitchen gadgets, shelving, the backsplash, or even if you'll use a farmhouse sink or a traditional double sink? The details start to add up quickly and help you guide your vision for your project, so remember to think about the details when combing through all of your inspiration. Sometimes I'll save an image for the finish on a chair, or the texture of the wall, the smallest of details, even though the picture shows much more than that. Here's an even better tip to help you remember why you saved the image you did - change the caption to state what you like about the photo, so you can quickly jog your memory! 

3. THINK OF EVERYTHING

My inspiration also doesn't start and stop with only photos of homes, inspiration can come from anything. On my boards, you'll see that I save textures that inspire me, images from a fashion runway, a product image, art, illustrations and more. You get out what you put in, so if something attracts your interest, save it, caption why you liked it, and come back to see if it makes sense later.  There's no one "wrong" thing to include! 

4. EDIT DOWN, THEN ACTUALLY CREATE!

We all know and love Pinterest, and that's usually where my design inspiration boards start. I'll have a general direction of where I want the design for a project to go and I'll get to saving anything and everything that catches my attention. From there, I'll see a trend in my board and will edit out the things that don't quite fit. This helps focus my design vision and get a feel for where I want the project to go. Once this process is over, I print out the images that I feel communicate what I want to create the most and actually MAKE an inspiration board (or sometimes, an inspiration table) This is where it gets fun because I can actually find and include those textures that inspired me, samples of tile, wall colors and any vintage finds that I know will go into the project. 

5. BE OPEN TO WHERE YOUR MIND LEADS YOU

You may have one idea in your mind completely and you might search and search for things that fit into that mold. However, I urge you to keep an open mind and see where it can take you. You might find something that is completely out of left field but adds an element of surprise to your project. 

I hope you loved these tips, and feel free to comment below with some of your own for making design inspiration boards. Be sure to give us a follow on Pinterest and we are so excited to begin sharing actual sneak peeks of The Pierce, The Eisley & The Cameron Lounge.