How to Create a Mood Board for Your Home

Designing your dream space starts here

At Maché Interiors, we often describe a mood board as the soul of a design scheme. It's where intention meets inspiration, and ideas start to take form. Whether you're redesigning a single room or curating the look and feel of your whole home, a mood board is one of the most valuable tools in the process. If you’re planning your own project and unsure where to begin, start here. One thoughtful mood board can shape an entire home.

Here’s how to create a mood board that goes beyond Pinterest-worthy and actually helps you design a space that feels like home.

Start with How You Want to Feel

Rather than beginning with colours or furniture, ask yourself: how do I want to feel in this space? Calm, grounded, playful, inspired? Use this feeling as your filter for everything that follows. The most successful moodboards are emotional as much as they are visual.

Gather Inspiration Widely

This isn’t just about interiors. Look at art, fashion, nature, travel, photography, even textures and materials you love in the everyday. What colours are you drawn to? What shapes or light qualities? Your board should reflect a mood or story more than a literal shopping list.

Choose a Colour Story

Once you have a collection of imagery, notice the tones that recur. Is there a warmth or coolness to the palette? Neutrals with punctuations of colour? This will become the starting point for your whole-home palette and help guide your paint choices, textiles and accents.

Layer in Materiality

A well-rounded moodboard includes textures and finishes — not just colours. Think: linen, brushed brass, marble, rattan, oak, boucle, gloss paint. These tactile cues help ground the vision in reality and create depth. If you can, source physical samples to pair alongside your imagery.

Tell a Story with Composition

Think of your moodboard as a mini editorial spread. Group colours together. Balance light and dark. Show contrast where needed. The layout should flow naturally and reflect the atmosphere you’re trying to achieve. It's not just a collage — it's a design narrative.

Refine with Purpose

Once you've pulled everything together, step back. What doesn’t quite belong? What speaks loudest? Edit down until every element earns its place. This process of refinement is what turns a board into a blueprint.

A strong moodboard doesn’t limit creativity, it focuses it. It becomes your design compass when choices arise later on, ensuring that everything from the sofa to the switch plates aligns with the bigger picture.