Concept Boards

I love creating concept boards!  Even before I knew what an interior designer or an event planner was, I was always ripping pages out of magazines and creating - what I called at that time - "picture collages" for those photos for a room.  After I got into design school, I loved creating them, by their correct name, even more.  I think it had something to do with being able to see everyone elses interpretation of a concept - especially if you somehow ended up with the same concept.  No two interpretations are ever the same.  I also liked the critiques, although some of them could be rather brutal.  But in this business, you have to have a tough skin and difficult critiques were all the better to help me get to the point that I wanted to be as a designer.  Not to mention that that was the whole point of the critique in the first place. 

Now that I am out of design school, I always start off a project with a concept board - a lot of times the board goes through 2 to 5 changes before I consider it ready to show a client.  If you are stuck on a particular look for a room in your home, try pulling out a magazine page of a pattern, piece of furniture, or even something as simple as a flower or a piece of artwork and use that as your guide to create a space.  For instance take a look at these really quick concept boards that I created for clients and see if you can tell where the inspiration photo was drawn into the suggested design elements:

I created this concept board for a client that wanted a Parisian inspired bedroom.  The photo of the Eiffel tower was what my client gave me to guide my inspiration.  The furniture, lighting, and fabrics repeated the night theme of Paris - but even though it may be night anything Parisian calls for light and reflection - which I brought in by incorporating shimmering lights and mirrors.

I created this concept board for a client that wanted a living room inspired by the peacock.  The teal of the sofa, the lime of the Pantone chair, and even the lighting were selected to evoke the beautiful peacock theme into the furnishings of the living room.   

These following photos are courtesy of jsinteriordes.onsugar.com, see if you can figure out where the inspiration came from in these beautiful examples!

Next up, the photos below are courtesy of roomdesignonline.com, again, can you can figure out where the inspiration came from here? 

Concept boards help you to see your vision and even allow you to dream a little bit.  For instance, do you think that you can live like a multi-millionaire?  Well, maybe not on some levels - smile - but when it comes to your home - with a little creativity, trust me, you can get pretty close.  Try creating a concept board - it doesn't have to be as elaborate as these.  All you need is one photo to start you off and then - see where inspiration takes you .....