Two Great Tips For Putting Together Room Inspiration Boards

{one of my three finished inspiration boards}

I finished three inspiration boards, one for myself, and two other inspiration boards for the homes of my Sister S and Sister-In-Law C. I have two tips to share...

{a little color first...}

 TIP #1: Start By Painting The Board Your Wall Color

I used Benjamin Moore's Yarmouth Blue, and painted the center of a standard 22" x 28" poster board with the paint color. (I left white around all of the edges, with a bit more white at the top for the "ceiling")

{Benjamin Moore Yarmouth Blue HC-150}

I've used this color in the living room of our older house and loved it.  It was a subtle, shifting color - a soft pale blue/green in the daylight, and a deeper sophisticated blue/grey at night... It's one of Benjamin Moore's historic shades.

{three piles}

I grabbed old catalogs and magazines and started cutting. There were three very different moods I wanted for each very different home, mine in New York, my sister's in Oregon and my brother's in Pennsylvania. I was surprised how many items I clipped could have fit nicely in more than one board.

{Elmer's Repostionable Picture and Poster Stick}

TIP #2: Use A Repositionable Picture and Poster Glue Stick

This made it so easy to move the images around on the page. It was as if each clipping became it's own Post-It note! Cool!

{Rosie at work}

 Pull out a glue stick and kids come instantly running... Here is Rosie working on Aunt C's board. You can see Benjamin Moore's Brushed Aluminum paint brushed on the center of the poster board. This soft shade would look great in her new home.

{inspired by cars, and using his own purple glue stick!}

...and Son H had to come running to make his own version.

{my interior window seat sketch}

My house has a very open floor plan, with an open living/dining room and kitchen, and our newly built and not-yet-painted windowseat addition. (Right now our walls in our open areas are the color they were when we moved in three years ago, a tan shade and I am ready for a change. You can see the new color scheme I am dreaming of in this earlier post.)

{putting it together}

I had such a great time sticking and re-sticking down these pictures. Say what you will, but I don't think I'd have as much fun working this out with pixels on the computer!

{"Elle" Craftmade ceiling fan}

The board is truly for inspiration, all mood and color. I don't plan on buying anything exactly like in the photos - but for the ceiling fan! It's already picked out and at the top of the board.

 ...and I had already been given the Snake Plant, and placed it in a modern planter just like the one I pasted below the plant picture!

{like adding mascara - black on the windows BM Wrought Iron 2124-10}

 I'll paint the windowseat windows Benjamin Moore's Wrought Iron. I fell in love with black doors and windows in a place featured in House Beautiful Magazine years ago... I wish I could remember the name of the designer of that home. (Grant Gibson recently blogged about his black doors here.)

{blues and greens}

 I'm looking for eco-friendly thrift shop finds to paint black or white, and old wood pieces to harmonize with our antique piano. I want to make this renovation as Earth-friendly as possible.

...and ART! I can't wait to finally hang pictures on the walls. These black and white photographs are gorgeous. I printed many of my own photographs recently, and they are ready to go.

I'll share all three finished inspiration boards in my next post! If you try my tips if you make your own, let me know how it comes out!

Loretta