Interior Design Moodboards: Step-By-Step Process & Pro Tips

Without high quality moodboards, interior design pros fail to impress clients. 

Clients don’t feel comfortable approving products until they really get your vision.

With a great interior design moodboard, you can make it easy for your clients to envision the space you’re creating—the tones, textures, and overall feel.

Whether you want to arrange products and swatches in a beautiful moodboard, or create a full-room design, we’ve got you covered.

In this guide, we dive into the two main types of interior design moodboards and how to create them step by step.

Types of interior design moodboards

There are two main types of moodboards: classic and full-room.

Moodboards

An interior design moodboard is a visual tool or collage that encapsulates the desired aesthetic of a space or project. Designers use moodboards to convey their design concept to clients and collaborators. Typically, a moodboard includes images, color swatches, textures, materials, key products, and other design elements that help convey the intended style of the interior space. It serves as a reference point throughout the design process and does a better job of conveying atmosphere than 3D floor plans alone.

For in-person presentations, swatches are typically arranged in a moodboard-style layout and shown on a white tray.

Here’s an example of a moodboard, where elements are artfully arranged but not to scale:

When to design a moodboard:

You should create moodboards whenever you want to clarify the atmosphere and feel of a space. 3D floor plans and 3D renderings are essential for showcasing layout and placement, but they don’t do as good a job of honing in on swatches and product details. 

Full-room moodboards AKA “roomboards”

A full-room moodboard, or “roomboard” showcases what the space will look like as if the viewer was in the room. Everything is arranged according to a perspective grid to create a lifelike experience. You’ll still want to create a 3D floorplan design to clarify placement and allow your client to preview the space from all angles. But a full room moodboard lets you control your client’s first impression of the space. 

Here’s an example of a full-room moodboard (AKA roomboard):

When to design a full-room moodboard (AKA roomboard):

Roomboards can be created in place of a moodboard or accompanied by a moodboard.

Roomboards are especially useful for showing the exact products you’re recommending. When creating a 3D floor plan, 3D models aren’t available for all products, meaning you’ll have to select similar items. Your roomboard allows you to show your client the actual item you’ve chosen.

Roomboards can also be created in place of 3D floor plans for lower-cost e-design services.

How to create interior design moodboards step-by-step

Watch our tutorial for all of the details. In this video, we recreate a moodboard using best practices and make it more visually appealing:

Here’s how to develop the perfect moodboard:

1. Pick your products and materials 

The first step is to go into creative mode. You will choose your furnishings, paint swatches, window treatments, accessories, flooring, and more. To be sure that items will fit in the space (in terms of both size and style), you might need to create a 3D floor plan first. Then, you can add your final choices to your moodboard. For simple design projects, you can go straight to moodboard creation.

To make product sourcing quick and easy, use our Browser Clipper Extension. Add products to your library while you’re surfing the web (find a video tutorial here and installation instructions here).

2. Align swatches and products in classic moodboards

Now it’s time to arrange all of those details. 

You want to make it easy for your client to envision the overall feel of the space. If your moodboard is cluttered and messy, you’ll only confuse your client. 

To keep it from looking busy, line things up nice and neat in rows, like this example:

As you can see, there is one column for paint and material swatches, one column for large furniture, one column for medium-sized accessories, and one column for small accessories. 

This organization makes your moodboard easy on the eyes (and the brain).

3. Make sure swatches are the same size 

You should also have your swatches be the same size, even if one paint color will be used on a lot more space. 

Remember, your full-room moodboards and 3D renderings are where clients will see how each item will be used to scale. 

For your classic moodboards, go for size uniformity so your client can see the color in more detail, and without any shadows or perspective shifts.

4. Use image editing tools to make your own photos more true-to-color

Maybe you went to a showroom and noticed that the couch you chose looks different in person than the online photographs. Or maybe you have plans to do some custom upholstery. 

Whatever the reason, if you’re concerned that your moodboard doesn’t showcase the true-to-life color of a product, then you can either edit the photo of that product to adjust the color or add a more realistic swatch.

For example, we’ve added a fabric swatch over the two chairs in this moodboard to indicate what the exact fabric and color will look like. 

5. Resize important products to stand out larger than life

After you’ve got all of your pieces arranged, step back. Is having everything in line a little too boring? Do you need a focal point? Maybe you could take an accent chair or other element and up the size to help it stand out. 

With classic moodboards, don’t worry about scale. You have the opportunity to highlight any product or swatch. So go for it. 

Choose a lighting fixture or accessory that will have a big impact on the overall vibe of the space and resize it to make it larger than the surrounding products (even if it will be smaller in real life).

6. Remove the backgrounds of product images

With both classic and full-room moodboards, it’s essential to remove backgrounds. You want cleanly cut product images so that you’re only showing your client what you’re planning for their space—not random stuff in the brand’s photoshoot.

When designing moodboards with DesignFiles, you can use our automatic background-removal tool to handle this in an instant. 

7. Try Google Lens to find product images with white backgrounds

Automated background removal works great most of the time. But sometimes, a product will just be too close in tone to its background. When this happens, try using Google Lens to find a photo of your chosen product that already has a white background. Products are often carried on multiple websites, some of which might offer different photographs to choose from. 

To access Google Lens, just head to images.google.com and click on the multi-colored camera icon in the search bar.

8. Crop images to focus on the important details

When adding images to your moodboard, make sure to only focus in on the details that the client needs. 

For example, a cropped image of a curtain panel that showcases the pattern and transparency of the material will be more helpful to your client than a zoomed-out image of the full length of the curtain panel.

9. Use tracing and cutting tools to pull out the right details

You can also use layering to pull out the right details that you want from a certain product shot. For example, you might to showcase the headboard and footboard of a bed, but not the bedding. Or the reverse might be true, and you want to add the bedding from one image to the bed that you’ve chosen. 

Do this with automated tracing and use two to three image layers to get it just right. 

10. Give credit where credit’s due

When designing a moodboard, make sure to give credit to any designer or photographer whose work you’re using. If you’re only including product images, don’t worry. You don’t need to credit the brands and manufacturers. But if you add a photo of a plant, for example, make sure to credit that photographer. 

11. Make sure the finished moodboard is in line with your brand

Your interior design moodboards should always be on brand. This is in terms of design style and color, as well as your company branding. You might want to add your logo and a branded project title to every design. 

You might also want some uniformity in terms of how you present your designs, like this example where the swatches are presented on the side of the full-room moodboard. 

Inside of DesignFiles, you can create moodboard templates to make it easy to generate on-brand designs every time. 

How to create roomboards step-by-step

To learn how to create a full-room moodboard, check out this tutorial:

Here’s an overview of the process described in the tutorial:

1. Start with an accurate empty room image for your background 

The first step is to create the background for your design. This will give you a clean starting point. 

You can:

1. Use a photo of your clients space as a backdrop for your design. 
2. You could use a 3D floor plan software (like DesignFiles) to create an empty rendering of your clients space that you can save as a jpg and use as the backdrop for your moodboard design.

2. Add a perspective grid 

The next step is to add a perspective grid that will make it easy to line up furniture, adjust flooring, and tweak curtains. Using a perspective grid will give your finished moodboard a more realistic look. (You can later hide or remove the perspective grid before submitting your design.)

3. Add your wall paint, paneling, baseboards, and flooring 

Now it’s time to customize the room. Add paint and flooring, and any crown molding that you’ll be using. Because you’ve already added a perspective grid, it’s easy to know how to line everything up.

4. Bring in the main furniture 

The next step is to bring in your big furniture items like sofas, chairs, coffee tables, dining tables, TV consoles, ottomans, lighting fixtures, etc.

5. Add the decor and finishing touches 

And lastly, pull in your accessories. Stylize bookshelves and other flat surfaces. Add in plants and artwork. 

Tutorials for creating moodboards using popular design platforms

Looking for easy instructions?

We’ve got you covered with the step-by-step process for designing moodboards using popular online tools.

How to make an interior design moodboard with DesignFiles

DesignFiles’s moodboard software comes fully equipped with a product library featuring 750,000+ items to make it super easy to source great products for your designs.

With DesignFiles, you also get an easy-to-use 3D floor planner and client management tools to complete your entire design workflow from start to finish. 

Here’s how to create a moodboard with DesignFiles:

1. Login and head to your DesignFiles dashboard.
2. Click on Designs then Add Design.
3. Select Moodboard / Roomboard.
4. If creating a roomboard upload an image or select one from the Empty Room Library, otherwise use the blank canvas.
5. Search for vendors and products to use in the Product Library. 
6. Drag and drop products where you want them, using the automatic background removal tool as needed.
7. Add paint swatches from the Paint Color Library.
8. Rearrange and organize your moodboard until it’s perfect.

How to make an interior design moodboard with Canva

Canva is a free graphic design tool that can be used to create just about anything. While it’s not designed specifically for interiors, you can use it to create a moodboard. Because it doesn’t have a product library built in, you’ll need to download images from vendors and upload them into Canva.

Here’s how to create a moodboard with Canva:

1. Login and head over to your Canva dashboard.
2. Click on Create a design in the top right-hand corner.
3. Choose Custom size and enter the width and height (we recommend 900 x 700 pixels)
4. Source products online and save the images.
5. Click on Uploads to add the photos of the products you want to use.
6. Source paint swatches online and save the images.
7. Click on Uploads to add your paint and material swatches.
8. Rearrange and organize your moodboard until it’s perfect.

How to make an interior design moodboard with Spoak

Spoak offers a moodboard creator inside of its interior design platform. The software also includes features to help new designers source inspiration and set up an online portfolio.

Here’s how to create a moodboard with Spoak:

1. Login and head over to your Spoak dashboard.
2. Click Design and then Moodboard.
3. Click Config then Add gridlines and upload a background image or alter the background canvas as desired.
4. Click Product to source items.
5. Rearrange and organize your moodboard until it’s perfect.

5 examples of great interior design moodboards

Looking for inspiration?

Check out these examples of beautiful interior design moodboards. 

1. Mid-century modern moodboard with gold accents

This classic moodboard makes it easy to hone in on the details of the recommended furniture items and accents. It features a velvet sofa, a mid-century modern entertainment console, and vibrant gold accents for a classy, boho look. 

2. City living, open concept moodboard

This full-room moodboard makes it easy to envision what the finished space will look like. With the open living and dining concept, it’s important for the client to be able to visualize how all of the design elements will fit together. This moodboard features a curved floor lamp, luxe hexagon-patterned rug, and an 8-seater dining table.

3. Cozy coastal moodboard

This classic moodboard offers a crisp but cozy coastal design. You can easily see how the colors and tones of the furniture will play well together, and the designer has also included paint swatches to show the main colors of the room. 

4. Earthy library moodboard

This full-room design offers the perfect balance between feminine and masculine. The room feels very grounded yet soft and cozy. A custom fireplace and built-in shelves add a luxe feel to the space.

5. Scandinavian moodboard with walnut furniture and clean lines

Perfect for the minimalist client, this moodboard showcases a sturdy cream sofa and a walnut coffee table and console. There are just a few choice accent pieces, like mix-matched lamps and planters.

Ready to start creating professional moodboards the easy way? Learn more about DesignFiles and sign up for a free trial.