During my experience as an interior designer, I cannot count the times I have been asked these two questions about mood boards. Many clients have never used them before and struggle to understand their importance during the creative process. This is where this blog post comes in, hoping to bring a bit of clarity! :)

So what are mood boards? In the realm of interior design, we can define them as:

• A wishy-washy board with confusing pictures of interiors.

Just joking, that’s what an engineer might define it as :) The real definition for us is:

• A tool used to convey a design concept through a collage, which can include fabrics / textiles, images of proposed furniture and fittings, color palettes and inspiring images of interior spaces that help portray the desired atmosphere.

"Ok, but so what?"

Mood boards are a designer’s way to express, cultivate and share the power of imagination with our clients.

They help us envisage the main feeling of a new space, bringing visual plans and representations to life. By complementing the technical design plans with mood boards, we are now able to imagine ourselves in our new space and understand the ‘mood’ (hence the name :) !) that the room makes us feel. For us at Tankó Lili Design this is fundamental as we believe that we ‘live’ a room, rather than simply admiring how efficiently it was put together. Through this process, we can also ensure the designs reflect you and your personal style!

Mood boards also allow us to make sure that the interior designer and the client are on the same page early on in the redesigning process, when there is plenty of time to flush out uncertainties around color, style and ambience. Because of this, we build mood boards by listening to our client, presenting our draft interpretations to them and then editing the final versions according to their feedback.

All in all, these often-underestimated creative boards allow us to co-imagine a dream property built around you and then guide us when making it reality!