mood board test

before pic

One of my favorite bloggers, Sherry from www.thisyounghouse.com, creates custom mood boards for clients looking to solve their room design dilemmas. The last one she posted was for a Manhattan apartment living room. Her client wanted to change out their furniture and redesign their room with the nantucket/cottage/traditional style. I decided this was a good time to flex my own creative muscle. Could I come up with my own mood board for them? How hard is it, I wondered. After hours of searching online decorating stores and testing combinations of furnitures, pillows, paint swatches etc, I discovered it is indeed hard. Yet fun! Here is what I came up with. Not having a real client to please, I ignored the blue direction. My twist on nantucket—ditch the navy. Go yellow!
my mood board

Breakdown:

1. Color Palette: gray, sand (wall color), white and sunny yellow
2. IKEA EKTORP white corner sofa (sectional requested by client) $899
3. IKEA AINA unbleached curtains (to soften up the hard edges and provide a sandy, linen texture, not intended to close or block view but to frame it) $49.99/pair
4. AllPosters.com Monterey Bay, California 32x24 $19.99 (for a sunny yellow on the wall, plus a frame)
   
5. Ballard Designs Addison Table Lamp $119.00 (though I really love the Pottery Barn's Japanese Float Table Lamp $249.00)
   
6. IKEA LEKSVIK side table $49.99 (the client requested new coffee table and tv unit, but I felt their LEKSVIK coffee table and tv unit fit into the new plan and that they could even get a side table to match the other pieces)
7. Anthropologie Sun Glow Frame $24 (burst of sun brings in sunny yellow theme)
8. Crate&Barrel Palisade Torri Pillow $24.95 (beautiful pattern incorporates grays, browns and yellows)
9. IKEA KAJSA RAND cushion cover $9.99 2/pack (also like JORUN, GOREL, RITVA)
10. Crate&Barrel Outlet Meridian Hurricane $29.95
11. Pottery Barn Beachcomber Basket Magazine Tote $69.00 (beachy thick basketweave adds punch)
12. West Elm jute boucle rug in platinum 8x10 $229 (rug will contrast the sunny yellows with a cool gray blue hue and will ground the seating area)
13. JC Penny Water Dinner Collection Serving Bowl $28.99
14. CB2 Chirp Pillow $29.95
    

Check out Sherry's Mood Board Breakdown. Hers incorporates the client's favorite color (blue) and will transition to the other rooms in the apartment. She also found an awesome woven ottoman for only $44 from Target! Now I can really appreciate the work that goes into these. Wow Sherry and John, you guys work hard to get those mood boards looking so effortless!