So you have a room in your home that you want to start designing and you want to make sure all of the materials and finishes are going to look good together. Well, the best thing to do is to create a mood board, but how do you know what all will look good together? See the blog post below for where to start with your mood board and common finishes you want to incorporate next.
Start With a Base Textile
What I like to do first is find either an accent pillow fabric, curtains or upholstery that I love and this is what I will set as my base for the room. If I ever am unsure of where the mood board is heading from an aesthetic standpoint, I’ll always refer back to that one base textile. This textile will act as your color and style inspiration. If your base textile is more busy either being a smaller print or just a lot going on, then make the other elements of the room more simplified. We will get into this more in one of the later paragraphs, but if you do introduce another textile into the mood board, let this other textile have a large pattern or more simplified lines so it doesn’t compete with your base.
Base Textile in Mood Board: Posh Textiles Beatriz Teal
Lean Into Paint Colors
After the base textile is chosen, I always like to choose the paint color(s) next. I’ll say it again, paint can be as impactful or as much of a wallflower as you want to make it. Personally, I would limit the paint colors to (2) colors per room, but this number is based on a number of factors like the size of the room, height of the room and natural light. When choosing paint colors, I typically try to look for the colors in the base textile that aren’t as prevalent, the more subtle colors. By doing this, once that subtle color in the base textile is the paint on the walls, it pulls out the subtle color of the base textile and it all starts syncing together. Almost like a “I see what you did there” moment.
Paint Colors in Mood Board: Benjamin Moore Salisbury Green; Benjamin Moore Vapor Trails
Add in An Additional Textile
Like I mentioned in the first paragraph, this is where the second textile comes in, if you so choose to add a second textile. In this mood board I envisioned this additional textile being a rug. You want this second textile to be more opposite of your base. If your base is more busy, you want this textile to be more simple, and vice versa. What makes the room come together is that these two textiles need to have an overarching theme, such as color or style. With the base and additional rug textile in the photo, they share the same common dark color and even though their language isn’t necessarily the same, one is a dense pattern and one is a large scale stripe, they still speak to each other.
Additional Textile in Mood Board: Endless Knot Main Street 38-Charcoal
Flooring / Wood Elements
Wood brings so much warmth to a space, so I love incorporating it in almost every room. With this mood board, I incorporated wood into the flooring and went with a dark floor to play with some of the dark tones in the base textile. If you have flooring already for the room you’re creating your mood board for, bring in wood tones with shelves, furniture legs or side tables. I would especially recommend bringing in wood tones if you have carpet flooring. The density and hardness of the wood pairs nicely with the softness of the carpet.
Wood Flooring in Mood Board: From the Forest Brook White Oak
Metal Accents
I find that choosing a metal accent can be the hardest part of figuring out a room, so I typically save it until last and once all the other elements are coming together. With metals, you want to pull in metal accents that will contrast, but will add richness to the room like this deep bronze accent metal. The base textile that I chose had these nice brown tones to it that would be highlighted with a bronze metal more so than a deep black or satin nickel. Black metals typically look better with a lighter palette. A satin nickel finish compliments a darker palette that has gray undertones. Bronze and brass metals lean toward a historic and antique vibe. Let choosing the metal accent be one of the last selections you make.
Metal Accent in Mood Board: Wilsonart Satin Brushed Medium Bronze Aluminum (Sample is only for color)
Summary
In the end, it’s all about cohesive contrasts. Brining dense and sparse patterns together, hard and soft materials and dark and light colors. To me, this is what makes a room feel well balanced and cohesive. I hope this helped you spark the creative gene for your home!
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