The early stages of planning a kitchen are exciting and liberating. You start with a blank canvas and begin to piece together exciting ideas for your dream room. Luckily, our modern world makes it easy to collect inspiring images and samples to create your very own mood board to help you narrow down styles, brands and colours. Creating a mood board can help you and your kitchen designer create a kitchen that you’ll love forever.
What is a Mood Board?
Mood boards are popular in the world of interior design. In essence, a mood board helps you collate ideas, themes and inspiration in one place. Even if you don’t think of yourself as a creative person, you can easily craft a successful mood board. All you need to do is begin browsing catalogues or websites for images that you like.
Your board of inspiration might comprise pictures from magazines, newspapers, catalogues, travel brochures or images you find online. You don’t need to be constrained to pictures of kitchens, either. A snippet of a shade of blue that you love, the edge of a beautiful fabric, or a tile that you saw in a reclamation yard could all spark your imagination.
To begin a mood board, consider your current style at home. What do your soft furnishings, paint choices and furniture say about your style? Do you favour a modern look or traditional choices? It can be helpful to request a brochure from Hill Farm Furniture to get your creative juices flowing, and companies will often send out samples or swatches free of charge.
Online or On Paper?
There are two main ways to create a mood board. The first is the traditional method of collecting physical pictures or samples and sticking them onto a large piece of paper or cardboard. The more modern method is to create a board online via a website or app such as Pinterest. It’s likely that you already have an idea of which method you might prefer, but each has its own benefits.
Online
The beauty of creating an online mood board is that it is quick and easy. At the click of a button, you can add images and ideas to your mood board whenever you see them. Your ideas will be stored in your online account whenever you might need them. This can be particularly useful when popping in to see us at Hill Farm, or when out shopping for tiles or flooring. You’ll be able to look at your phone to remind yourself of colour schemes or soft furnishing ideas.
On Paper
The traditional mood board is more labour intensive but certainly remains worthwhile. Finding images may involve leafing through kitchen catalogues and you will often need to use scissors and glue to create your board. You can’t create your board on-the-go, instead dedicating time to it whilst at home. However, there are rewards to a physical mood board that can’t be reaped online. Colour schemes may appear more vibrant on paper, and you can even add textures including fabrics or wallpaper. It is easy to hold tile choices up to your board to check they will work with your design dreams.
Specific Design Ideas
Once you’ve got the hang of creating a mood board, you could even begin to create mini mood boards for the various choices you will need to make to complete your bespoke kitchen. Individual mood boards could include:
Cabinet Doors
At Hill Farm, we understand that your kitchen should be as unique as you are. Modern, farmhouse or traditional styles can all be accommodated. Don’t forget to also consider the style of cupboard door handle you would prefer. The handle should complement the wooden door for a timeless look.
Worktops
Your worktop must withstand the requirements of a busy lifestyle whilst also looking beautiful. Use your mood board to make decisions about the material you desire, from solid wood to granite or marble. Your worktop should sit perfectly atop your hand-made kitchen cupboards, either blending in or standing out.
Sink and Taps
The kitchen sink and taps are your opportunity to make a statement! Undermounted, farmhouse or Belfast, the choice is yours. You can speak to a designer at Hill Farm if you are unsure which sink would look best with your chosen style.
Appliances
When designing a kitchen, not only do you want it to look great, but you will also require appliances that will make cooking a doddle. We offer the best appliance ranges including Aga, Falcon and Franke.
Flooring
Tile, wood or engineered floor coverings are all popular. Your choice may depend on your taste and your lifestyle. You may also need to consider other factors including beloved family pets or the presence of muddy wellies.
What Do You Already Have?
Although you are designing a brand-new bespoke kitchen, there may be some items that you already own and plan to keep. Dining tables and chairs or dinner sets may need to play a key part in your new kitchen. It is therefore important to create your kitchen mood board with these items in mind.
Meeting Your Kitchen Designer
At your appointment at Hill Farm, we’d love to see your mood boards! Bring them along, whether on paper or online, and we can go through your favourite ideas together. Designing kitchens is our bread and butter, and with our expert knowledge we can make suggestions based on new appliance options or exciting new paint palettes. A good kitchen designer should quickly grasp your chosen style and help you to make informed decisions. We can also show you examples from our portfolio in a similar style to your mood board.
When you work with Hill Farm Furniture, you receive a bespoke service from the first appointment until after installation. Creating a mood board gives you the opportunity to show us exactly what you’d like, before leaving us to work our magic.
Contact us today to book an appointment, to visit the showroom or for more information.
