Lucy Gough knows good design. The Australian interior stylist, who has spent the past 12 years working in London, has been designing rooms since she was first given free rein of her bedroom at 14.
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She has built a career styling for magazines such as House Beautiful and Country Homes, as well as for companies including John Lewis, M&S and Dulux. Now Gough has turned her attention to the average home, launching online workshops and a book to help everyone get the room of their dream.
The following is an extract from The Home Style Handbook, by Lucy Gough.
Creating a mood board
Let's start at the very beginning ... mood boards are the origin of all well-styled spaces. Ask any interior designer or stylist, and they will tell you that every project begins with a mood board. Little bits of fabric and wallpaper glued onto a piece of A3 cardboard may seem like a waste of time, but trust me, it is a very important step!
If you're like me and you have a very busy, creative mind, you'll need to concentrate all your creative thoughts in one place, so they start to form a cohesive idea. I would argue that most people own a hotchpotch collection of things at home, consisting of hand-me-downs, heirlooms, eBay finds, IKEA pieces, with some expensive items thrown in too. But when it comes to styling a dream space, you need to consider which items to keep and which to give away or replace.
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If you create a mood board, then it will give you a basic understanding of your colour palette and favourite textures, as well as an overall feel for the room, so you can start your new space afresh. Fill your mood board with a variety of colours, textures, patterns and found objects, as well as printed images of furniture, fabrics, wallpapers, paints, surfaces, fixtures and accessories. With a mood board, you are creating a micro-world that can be enlarged and exploded in a room or even your whole house - depending on the size of your project. Ideally, this planning stage will be fairly detailed. The more thorough you are with the planning, the fewer mistakes you will make and the less money you'll end up spending on the wrong things!
1. Build it up
Build up your mood board, starting with the largest pieces at the bottom and working your way up to create a beautifully tonal palette.
Top tip
Create more than one mood board when you start your research, as you might find that you prefer multiple aesthetics. Then narrow it down to your favourite after that.
The best mood board will feature a mixture of the following:
- Paint (use a tester pot on some paper or a paint swatch) and include a maximum of five colours
- Wallpaper sample(s)
- Fabric sample(s)
- One or more curvy, shapely object
- Some foliage or a flower, even it is just a single stem or leaf - always try to reflect nature in your home
- Something textural
- A few of the trinkets that you love
2. Collect things
Collect various items from around your home. Find things that you love in one colour palette (for example, the mood board above is multiple shades of green, brick, pale woods and pale pink), which will fit on an A3 piece of paper.
3. Organise items
Organise the items on your mood board in an orderly fashion. Don't overcrowd the items, giving them space to breathe and keeping things neat and tidy. Overlap items on your mood board and think about ratios: the more you see of one item, the more you would represent that in your room scheme. Always use at least one organic item - perhaps a leaf, a flower stem or some foliage - and remember to stick to your chosen colour palette.
4. Enjoy it!
Make sure you don't take the process too seriously - a mood board is all about enjoying your first step into a scheme that feels unique and entirely you. You could go "shopping" for the items listed here.
Online is a good place to start. Here are some example terms that you can explore using Pinterest, hashtags, search engines and online shop search functions:
- earthenware
- birch plywood
- concrete
- monochrome
- rustic timber
- dried flowers
- chalky grey
- ditsy floral
- arts and crafts
- patterns
- dark brown
- muted silver tones
- abstract art
- pale timbers
- off-white marble
- stone
- bentwood
5. Break it down
Now, you might be thinking, "How can I translate my mood board into my home? It's just a bunch of stuff!" Well, let's break this down to make things easier. Take a look at the image below.
The soft blue paint could be used as paint in the space, but it could also become the colour of your fabric sofa, the kitchen cabinets or the rubber flooring in your bathroom.
The white string could translate into textured tiles for a splashback.
The pipe could become plaster corbels around the walls of your home or inspire some shabby chic furniture.
The pretty safety pin card could be used as inspiration for artwork or wallpaper in your bedroom or perhaps a set of Delft pottery tableware stored on open shelves in the kitchen.
The lacy fabric could become a tablecloth, bedding, curtains or cushions. See where I am going with this? Your mood board is the start of a million possibilities. No single idea is best - it is simply one of the choices you could make. But rest assured that if everything you source and buy sits within the parameters of this scheme, it will feel like a very well-thought-out and beautifully designed home.
- The Home Style Handbook, by Lucy Gough. Hachette Australia. $55.
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