How to Make A Design Mood Board

Gone are the days when knowing how to make a design mood board was intimidating and over your head. With so many programs at our fingertips, DIY designers don’t have to wait to learn photoshop or another time consuming program just to plan their own designs. In fact, you can now learn how to do it, using a free program, in a short amount of time!

Are you ready to get a little technical? I promise it’s not that hard, and once I’m done showing you the process for my signature mood boards, like this one, you’ll wonder why you hadn’t done this sooner. Let’s get into it.

Why You Need a Design Mood Board

Ever heard of that quote by Benjamin Franklin that says “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Well I believe that goes for your home’s interior design as well! Many times, people will fall in love with one piece for a space they have decided to makeover. They purchase this piece, then fall in love with another piece, place it in the room, and realize it clashes with the item they previously purchased.

They keep buying items, without a clear vision of how everything will look or fit into a room. Then end up with a space they don’t really love, that just doesn’t look finished. I’ve been there before, and I’m sure you have been too. This is why I think knowing how to make a design mood board is a must.

You don’t have to be a professional interior designer to make a plan, but a plan definitely looks professional. Even if you’re the only one that will see it. Once you begin to make your plan, you will begin to envision the space as it will look once finished, and can make design decisions with a better eye.

Not to mention, you will have a solid idea for the room’s budget once all the furniture and items have been determined, and placed on the page. If you’re like me, living with chic taste on a not-so-chic budget, sticking to a budget will be important. Now let’s start planning.

Mood Board Programs

There are many ways to make mood boards now, using various programs. Morpholio is an app that can be used on your phone, which I used briefly, and seems to work well. However, I prefer to use my computer and view a bigger screen when making my design boards. Photoshop is an option, though you must pay for the software, and learn the tools which take time and patience. Picmonkey is also an option, and has a free version that can be used.

I prefer to use Canva, because of its ease of use, free and paid options, and templates for other items I create frequently. The monthly fee is 12.95/month, which is completely worth it for all of the features I use each month. If you will just be using it for a quick design, the free plan may be your best option. If you do choose to use the free option, you won’t have access to some of the “extra” tools, but you can still create a gorgeous mood board.

Let’s get to the steps.

Gather and Save Your Design Images

With your design in mind, take a look at various home decor websites, choosing the furniture and decor that fit within your look and budget. Right click on an image, and save it as a jpeg to a file on your computer. I’d suggest choosing a few different types of each item. Therefore if you don’t like the look once the item makes it to your mood board with all of your other times, you’ll have another option on hand.

Sometimes, retail websites will have more than one image available to view, including an image with a white background. Try to save this image, as it will be easier to manipulate on your mood board if you are using the free Canva option. I’ll talk more about this below.

Create a Canva Design

Now, open Canva, and click on “Create a design.” You’ll see a drop down list of options. I normally click on “Custom dimensions” and enter 1000 for the width and 1500 for the height. This gives me a good length of space to place all of my items, and looks great as a Pinterest pin. You could also just click on “Pinterest Pin.”

Upload Images to Canva

Next, in the far left ribbon, click on “Uploads.” An upload screen will now appear on the left side of the screen. Now, at the top of the upload screen, click on “Upload an image or video.” Under “upload from” choose “Device,” and find the file you previously saved all of your images to. Then select all of the images in the file, and click “open.”

All of your images should now appear in the uploads screen on the left side of your Canva window. Now, pick the first image you would like to appear on the blank page, and click once. This image will now appear on your mood board on the right side of the Canva window. You can now drag any of the points in the corners of the image to make it bigger or smaller.

There is a ribbon at the top of the window with other options including crop, flip, link, position, and a few others for the paid option. Use any of these to manipulate the image to your desired look. I normally crop, increase the image size, and position it forward or backwards (on top or behind another image). Under the paid option, Canva gives you the option to remove the background, which I always do. This brings me to the next step.

Remove the Background From Images

This is not mandatory in creating your mood board, but it certainly makes for a cleaner board, and helps you to envision your design even better. Click on the image you’d like to remove the background from. Now, in the top ribbon, click on “Effects” then click on “Background Remover.” Wait a few seconds, then viola! Background gone.

Seriously so simple and easy. I will say there have been a few images that this tool couldn’t completely remove the background from (mostly beds), but 90% of the time, it’s seamless.

If you are working with the free version of Canva, removing the background is not mandatory or necessary. I would suggest, again, saving images with white backgrounds if possible and cropping out as much of the background as possible.

Move Images to Desired Location

Now, if you haven’t already, move your images around on the board, dragging and dropping them, to create your preferred look. I like to move the images in a position as close to the room I’m actually designing. Therefore, if I’m making a bedroom board, I’ll center the bed, add a nightstand on either side, dresser below, etc.

1. “Frozen” by Clare// 2. Bloom Wallpaper// 3. Marble End Table 4. Vivi Velvet Bed// 5. “Rose Please” Print// 6. Isabella Chair// 7. Katia Chest

There you have it! Now you know how to make a design mood board of your own. All you have to do now, is download the design to your computer by clicking on the arrow in the top right corner next to “Share.”

I’ve listed the sources above just in case you like this particular mood board and want to know more about the items. If you’re designing a mood board just for you, you can skip the titles and branding, however, numbering and listing the items for yourself would help you to stay organized. If you’d like to number and list your items, just click on the “Text” button in the far left ribbon, and choose a text style.

I hope I’ve eliminated any hesitancy you may have had about making a design mood board. As you can see, it’s super easy, and doesn’t require vast technical ability. You can even do this on your phone through the Canva app! Now you really have no excuses. Start planning your designs today, and make your DIY designing projects so much easier.

If you have any questions, comment below and I’ll be happy to help.

Want to save this for later. Pin this tutorial and mood board to your favorite Pinterest board!