3 Ways to Launch Your Design Mood Board

You’re ready for a change in your home—or maybe you’re building a new one from scratch. The excitement is real… but so is the overwhelm. Where do you even start to find your interior design inspiration?

Everyone loves a good Pinterest board (guilty), but before you start wildly pinning every pretty thing you see and end up with a jumble of ideas that don’t actually work together, let’s be strategic.

The goal is to create a mood board that tells a story, flows from room to room, and actually leads you somewhere—not just a digital scrapbook of random images. Here are three starting points that will help you launch your home design mood board with purpose.

1. Start with a Style or Trend You Love

Ask yourself—what’s a style or trend you truly gravitate toward? Maybe it’s modern farmhouse, moody maximalism, Japandi minimalism, or coastal chic. Whatever it is, if it genuinely sparks excitement, use it as your anchor.

From there, search that style or trend specifically—Google it, explore hashtags on Instagram, or dive into curated Pinterest boards. Limiting yourself to one style or one to two trends keeps you focused and prevents the “Pinterest black hole” of mismatched ideas that don’t work together.

When you narrow your scope, something magical happens—you start seeing patterns in what you like. That’s when your design begins to feel cohesive instead of chaotic.

2. Use Color as Your Starting Point

Sometimes, it’s not about the style—it’s about the color palette. Maybe you’ve always loved the soft elegance of sage green, the drama of deep navy, or the warmth of camel tones.

Pick your color and let it guide your search. This doesn’t mean everything in your home will be that color (please, no all-navy-everything unless that’s truly your dream). Instead, focus on finding inspiration images that feature that color in different ways.

Notice how it pairs with complementary shades, how it looks in different lighting, and how it feels in large versus small doses. This will help you decide—do you want this color to be a subtle accent or the star of the show?

3. Build Around an Inspiration Piece

Sometimes, inspiration strikes when you find the piece—a rug you can’t stop thinking about, a fabric that makes your heart skip, or a piece of art that feels like it was made for you.

When that happens, you’ve got your north star. Let that one piece guide your entire mood board. Pull its colors, patterns, and style cues into your other choices. You can design your whole space so that piece is the centerpiece, or you can let it quietly influence everything around it.

The beauty of starting with an inspiration piece is that it keeps you grounded—you always have a reference point to check against. Ask yourself: Does this choice connect back to my inspiration piece? If yes, it stays. If no, it’s out.

So… Which One Will You Try?

Whether you’re starting with a style, a color, or that one perfect piece, the key is focus. A design mood board is more than just a collage of pretty pictures—it’s the blueprint for how your space will feel and function.

So go ahead, open up Pinterest or Instagram. But this time, instead of aimlessly scrolling, start with one of these three methods—and watch your ideas come together like magic.

Ready to take your mood board from dream to reality? At Hamilton Park Interiors, we help you bring your vision to life—whether you’re refreshing a single room or designing your entire home. Let’s create a space that feels just as good as it looks.

Contact us today to start your design journey—and see how your ideas can become a beautifully finished home. Don't forget to check out our Instagram page @hamiltonparkinteriors!