Home makeovers can be hard. Incredibly rewarding, yes, when just a few cosmetic updates can give a breath of fresh air to tired interiors, but if you don’t prepare and plan, things can go wrong.
So, what is the first thing you should do when starting a home makeover? According to London-based interior stylist Lucy Gough, it is to create a mood board.
“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!” says Lucy.
How to create a moodboard for a home makeover
Creating a mood board 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. You can also include fabrics, wallpapers, paints, surfaces, fixtures, accessories and printed images of furniture.
A dream interior surrounds you with colours that make you smile. However, too many colours can feel overwhelming and visually confusing. For example, homeowners India and Tom, who worked with Lucy, have used a dream palette of six main colours and textures throughout their family home.
India’s colours are: Pale brick, dusty pink, verdant green, white marble, brass and golden brown materials like rattan and oak.
The palette has been used throughout India and Tom’s home, so every room feels connected. The colours feature in different quantities, which means each room has its own personality – all the while sticking to a single mood board. Soft pink floods the kitchen and dining with light, while in the bathroom green creates a cosy feel. Marble ties it all together.
Lucy’s top tip? You can paint a cast iron bath to match the colour scheme in your bathroom.
This is an edited extract from The Home Style Handbook by Lucy Gough, Hachette, available now.
