How To Make Interior Design Collage – Over the years of running my own interior design business, I have perfected a process that includes creating inspiring collages for my client work. As part of the overall project guide and proposal included in my consultation fee, I create a collage of inspiration after each new home interior design consultation. I find these to be a great tool for communicating my initial vision for a project and making sure the designer and client are on the same page from the start. I’ve been getting a few questions lately about how I create my inspiration collages and I thought it would be fun to dive into my process and share some of the favorites I’ve created recently!
I make my collages using Keynote for Mac, but there are tons of programs out there: Microsoft PowerPoint, Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, even some phone apps you can use to create something similar.
How To Make Interior Design Collage
First, I clicked on Pinterest to get some inspirational images. I really like to start with images that are more conceptual in nature and aren’t necessarily an illustration of the room I’m going to design. I have a board called “Motivation” just for this purpose. These include small furniture samples, flat layers of materials, floral arrangements and lots of garden photography (I get lots of colorful inspiration from these!), fine art, textures, textiles, architectural photographs and landscapes. Whether it reflects a mood that interests me or a color combination that I find truly attractive, I find anything that I really want to hold on to. Then, I review my boards about the rooms I will design, such as “Living Room”, “Bedroom”, “Kitchen”, “Dining Room”, “Entrance and Foyer”, “Home Office and Library”, “”. Children’s rooms” etc. I like to look at previously added images to see what flashes in my mind. Next, I’ll use Pinterest’s search bar to find more specific things to add to my collage, like “historic tile floor patterns” or “rusty velvet interiors.”
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Then I pull out my fan deck and start choosing paint colors as a reference to the overall color scheme I have in mind. All (and sometimes none!) of these colors will become the actual paint colors of the room. If I were a graphic designer I would probably pull out my Pantone color swatches. As an interior designer, getting rid of paint samples makes sense to me! Sherwin Williams and Farrow & Ball are my favorite paint brands. I choose about 5-7 colors for each collage, with at least 1-2 neutrals in the mix, depending on the project. I then copy the swatches from their website and resize them to fit my inspired collage layout.
Finally, I play around with the layout of the inspiration collage until I’m happy! My goal is to create a collage that feels coherent and visually balanced. That’s why if I have two inspirational images that are similar in color tone or content, I try not to put them side by side in a collage. For example, I will not put two photos of a sofa side by side, and if I do, I make sure they are from different angles. Another example would be two photos with a strong color background. Instead of making blocks of the same color by lining them all up in a row, I try to dot them evenly around the collage. Paint swatches can also help balance the design. For example, if there are many red images in one corner of the collage, I will definitely put a red swatch in the opposite corner.
It’s easy to recreate the collage format I used! I make all the inspiration images and swatches the same width so I can fit them into a three-column layout. Sometimes I crop individual images a bit to make the editing work. Each of my inspirational collages can be the same width but slightly different heights depending on how everything fits together.
Here are some favorites I’ve designed recently. Click on any of the inspiration collages below to view larger! And if you feel super inspired by someone, feel free to pin them to your own Pinterest board!
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Let me know if you have any questions about my process! I would love to see the collages you make. Tag me on Instagram @! Click here to learn more about my interior design services. A few weeks ago I shared some of my favorite tools I use to run my design business and blog.
From morning till night, this is my #1 go-to for creating design plans for writing blog posts, browsing the internet for inspiration.
I’m often asked what programs I use for floor plans + mood boards for my blog and client presentations. And today, you lucky dogs will get the inside scoop…
When designing a space, whether for myself or a client, the process often begins with gathering inspiration and taking notes about the proposed space.
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Before the first meeting with the client, I ask them to look at magazines + search online for areas and elements that interest them. There’s no need for a common theme or specific style. It’s not important. Basically, if you love it for whatever reason, tag it. We can examine it later
The next part of the initial design process is to write down the room’s needs, requirements, and use + purpose. How do you want the room to feel? If the room could talk, how would the room describe itself?
These first steps get me started on putting together how the room(s) will look, feel, and work!
I use AutoCAD for this. Unlike cheap drag-and-drop architectural programs, AutoCAD is 100% manual for creating plans with the exact measurements required. This program is most commonly used by professionals in the field of architecture and has been for many years. I’m using an old version of Architectural Desktop 3.3. Here’s a look…
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For those who want to make your own furniture plans, there are a few drag + drop programs you can try. Or you can try SketchUp, a 3D modeling program.
), I also scour the web + my design resource library for furniture and decor items to create a room that fits the look + feel + function I’m designing.
Have you ever taken a screenshot (a snapshot of your computer screen) on the web? If not, easy! Your computer keyboard has a button called PRNTSCR, usually in the upper-right corner. Click on it and at that moment you will get a screenshot of your computer screen.
Once I have a good handle on about 90% of what I want for the space, I start creating a mood board. For this part of the design process, I use Picasa, a free image editing + editing program. It has a collage making section and is very user friendly.
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From initial ideas + ideas to the creation of the real living space, it is a process of developing a design + creating a mood board!
In addition to working on local client projects, I also offer e-design services to people living anywhere in the United States. All communication for these projects is online. Along with my work + my blog, as I said before, my computer is like my 4th child… it’s a bit sad to say, but it’s true.
So there you have it… How I create design plans + mood boards for clients.
Have more questions about running a design business? Ask me! I would also love to hear your thoughts and experiences.
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Disclosure: This post is a partnership with Intel to share my thoughts + how I use an Intel 2-in-1 laptop for my design work. #spon Discover the 3 easiest tools to create an interior design mood board for your living space! We share the do’s and don’ts of mood boards, as well as details on what is required when creating one. By creating a mood board, your interior design journey will be much easier and much more fun!
Imagine going on a journey without a map. Or starting a business without a strategy. Or how about going to a restaurant that doesn’t have a menu? It’s like designing and decorating your home without a mood board. A mood board (or vision board) is a visual guide to how you want your home to look and feel. Below, you’ll find everything you need to know about interior design mood boards and how you can start creating them for free – right now!
A mood board is a collection of images that helps you visualize what you want to achieve with your design and how you want each room to feel.
A mood board helps