Anna Ryder Richardson is back with another fantastic blog post for us, this time on the benefits of creating mood boards before starting to design your kitchen. Read on to discover how they could help you…
“I find mood boards ridiculously liberating. They are where fantasy can turn into reality, with no constraints and no budget limitations. Reach for the moon, the stars and beyond!
“New kitchen combinations are endless it can be a little overwhelming and in my experience some people find it hard to visualise schemes – knowing what you like and don’t like is a great place to start.
“You really should enjoy the design journey – with the guidance of experts at every stage, there’s no need to push your design dream aside and settle for a safe option. You could learn a lot about yourself.
“Mood boards and scrapbooks are designers’ number one reference tools as they keep ideas focused. There is a whole world full of jaw dropping, beautifully designed products and bespoke design available on the high street and online, all out there trying to tempt you.
“Unfortunately not all of them will fit in one kitchen and few of us have endless budgets. This is where your mood board will help you to concentrate on your scheme. However, there’s nothing to say we can’t appreciate, admire and take inspiration from our design desires.
“Your memory can play all sorts of tricks on you when you’re not actually in the room – not just the size, layout, location of doors, windows and kitchen units but also your style and colour scheme. Accent colours can easily become blurred and before you know it you’re knee deep in the wrong scheme. It’s important to get all measurements and room plans accurate in the first instance before planning any design elements.
“I have been on Magnet’s Kitchen Scrapbook all week, with four pages (and growing) in my scrapbook. Technology has given us access to design inspiration from across the globe – some of us used to rely on tearing out of magazines (which is a rather annoying habit I still have) but now you can go online, collect images and upload directly into your scrapbook, giving you endless pages of reference.
“As with wish lists you need to go through and tailor the design – just because you love it doesn’t necessarily mean it will work for you. Also, some combinations aren’t obvious, only when they are visually within a scheme do they become glaringly gorgeous must-haves.
If you do one thing before undertaking a new kitchen or any room of the house, please, indulge yourself in a scrapbook and mood board.
Oh and have fun!
