Get Your Hands Dirty

As blogger's we're on the computer ALOT (or at least I know I am). I feel like most of my inspiration these days has come from the computer; blogs, pinterest, online design magazines.

I even use the computer to design blogs, render floorplans and create design boards....I'm not going to lie Photoshop is one amazing tool and today I would be lost without it. Nor am I saying I don't love it, I do!

However, this weekend showed me that sometimes it is still fun to pull out the paper magazines (which I still prefer to online magazines) and glue and get my hand's dirty.

I am in the process of taking a blogging course by Holly Becker (Decor8) and Leslie Shewrig (a creative mint) it started this past week, and so far it is ah-mazing!

One of the assignments was to create a moodboard for your blog, going back to the basics, no digital work.

I learned a lot about my style through my moodboard and thought I would share it with you.

What stands out to you in this moodboard? How would you define my style?

This is what I think it says about me...

For the most part, I know my style and am comfortable with it. I like to experiment with new trends, but at the end of the day...I prefer traditional/classic designs with a touch of masculine. I build my designs starting with a neutral palette and finish them with a pop of the unexpected.

When I look through my pinterest account, or my blog posts I see this trend over and over, but putting it down on paper using my own two hands (taking the time to pull out magazine photos, cut them up and eliminate the ones that didn't fit) really tied it all together for me.

It was a fun exercise that I think would benefit anyone trying to define their style. I would love to have my e-design clients or blog design clients do this exercise when they order a design and email me it to me, I think it greatly ehances the design process.

I took this project to the next level and pulled out the colors from this moodboard to create a palette for the new Mustard Ceiling blog design and website I am working on...

What colors do you see in this moodboard at first glance?

The deep, rich neutrals; black, charcoal, warm browns and of course mustard stood out to me.

But when I really took the time to pull out the colors, I found a gorgeous range of neutrals in all values.

Did you see all of these colors at first glance?

I have quite a range to work with in my new design. I will narrow it down to 3-5 colors when I apply it to my design, but what a great exercise in experimenting with your style and color palette's.

I highly recommend taking the time step away from the computer and get your hand's a little dirty.

Creating a moodboard is easy!

Simply find items that inspire you, that you love, and that you feel fits your style and put them together. I used an old cork board, spray painted the trim black (to make it fancy). I then laid out my images on the cork board, styling them in a way that looked best to me, and glued them down.

It really is as simple as that!

I would like to do this exercise about every three months as I am sure my style will change a little and I feel that the warm, rich neutrals are somewhat reflective with the season. I am in "nesting" mode with winter coming on and wanted to create a moodboard that was rich and warm.

Wow, this turned out to be a long, lengthy post with a lot of talking and not many photos. Thank you for bearing with me if you made it this far :).

Have a fabulous week!