As much as I love Pinterest, there will forever be something wonderful about finding inspiration offline. I don’t think anything jogs my creative brain better than flipping through a magazine, browsing the paint swatch section, or holding a good fabric. That’s why learning how to make an inspiration board is a must project for anyone looking to flex their creative muscles!
I was looking for a project that would help me unplug while adding color to my office space and this DIY Inspiration Board was the perfect solution!
You might know this project as a mood board, but the idea is the same. It’s a collection of images and items that not only work together, but serve as the inspiration for another project. I always tend to make one if I’m working on a project around the house, but they can even be as small as inspiring what you want to wear tomorrow.
If you need something to help you unwind and recharge your creativity, absolutely give this DIY a try. Here’s how I made my inspiration board:
I shared a quick video (under 5 minutes) for this project on my YouTube channel! Click above to watch or keep scrolling for the photo tutorial.
Why Make an Inspiration Board?
- A great creative exercise if you’re feeling burnt out
- Unplug and find inspiration offline
- Capture what you want from a magazine before recycling
- They make instant wall art for your office
What to Use to Make an Inspiration Board
– Canvas (I used 24″ x 30″)
– Scissors
– Thumbtacks
– Magazine, paint swatches, wallpaper samples, etc
Don’t limit yourself to just paper! Anything that can be pinned can be used to make a mood board. Think of textures (maybe fabric samples, tassels, brass, and more).
This project is especially great if you have a hard time letting go of pretty magazines. I’ve had some of the ones that I used for this project since 2018. If you’re trying to downsize or get rid of clutter, I suggest clipping out all your favorite images + articles.
You can add the photos to your inspiration board right away or place them in a folder so you can go back to them later when you want to change things up. Either way, the images will take up less space and you can recycle the remainder of the magazine after.
How to Make an Inspiration Board
1. Gather everything you’d like to use. I had magazines, store catalogs, paint swatches, fabric swatches (you might remember them from my first book Hello Color), and post cards. Catalogs tend to be made of nicer/thicker paper, so definitely save any that you get in the mail.
2. Start by flipping through your magazines and catalogs. Tear our any pages that are of any interest to you. Don’t worry about having to choose the perfect pages right from the start. Anything that grabs your attention– take it out until you have a sizable pile of images.
3. Trim your pages to remove rough edges or unwanted text. Some text is fine because you can cover it with a paint or fabric swatch later on.
4. Separate your pages by color, matching with any additional items you’re adding to your board (i.e. paint or fabric swatches). This way you know how many of each color you have.
5. Play around with placement! Lay everything you want to use out on your canvas and play around with the images. You may have to edit based on the amount of items you clipped/how large your canvas is. But that’s okay! Test out color combos or groupings based on what you have and it will come together.
I decided to group my inspiration board by color order, so I sorted through all my images by ROYGBIV.
6. Once you have the layout you want, secure in place with thumbtacks. For an added color detail, I used thumbtacks that matched the color of what I was pinning. You obviously don’t have to do this, it just helped me tie in my color theme better.
And that’s the project!
The main advice that I can give is to start by choosing what’s interesting to you before you decided on any theme. Try to build your board while clipping from a magazine is almost too much pressure. Instead of working one image at a time, view it as a whole. Your board will come together when you’re able to see everything in front of you.
Related: If you’re looking to add even more color to your space, check out these DIY Colorful Canvas Pin Boards that I made!