Leveraging Interior Design Moodboards

Using Moodboards in your Interior Design presentations is not a novel idea. Every interior designer uses these visual tools to convey their vision to clients.

But, I have 3 different ways for leveraging these assets before the client presentation meeting, that help clients get super excited about working with you.

Plus, I have a hot tip that was a huge game changer in my business when working with certain vendors. 

And since sharing this hot tip with some of my coaching clients, they have told me what a difference it has made in their business as well.

Let’s dive in!

For the first half of my career, I was mainly using moodboards in the same way you probably do, as a visual collage that captures the style, mood, and direction of an interior design project.

We know that they enhance client engagement through visual storytelling, ensuring preferences are captured early to avoid costly revisions later.

But, once you’ve created and presented these beautiful design documents to sell a client on your vision, don’t leave them sitting in a client folder never to be seen again.

Interior Design Service Brochure

The first way we leverage mood boards is that we like to include them in printed and digital PDF versions of our service brochures, specifically for Full Service Custom Furnishings Projects

We either send these service brochures to clients digitally after the discovery call or have printed versions that live in our Consultation binder, which we still take to every initial client meeting.

These visuals provide the perfect opportunity to tell clients a story and share how a past project came together flawlessly.

Showing your thought process behind a design project helps clients better understand the benefits of hiring you as the professional. 

Click here for my exact step-by-step process for onboarding clients, and to learn my proven strategies on how we prepare for the initial consultation meeting.

The Client Kick-Off Meeting

The second opportunity we have to leverage mood boards is by showing examples of past projects at the kick-off meeting, once clients have signed on with us to design their home.

For example, I recently met with clients who initially hired us for our Concept-Only Design Service for their second-floor renovation project.

They continued working with us for our hourly Designer By Your Side service.

During our kick-off meeting, I showed them an example of a mood board we created for another client’s principal bedroom and ensuite bathroom.

I can’t tell you how excited they were to learn that I was going to be curating a similar deliverable for their project. The husband was so giddy, looking at his wife and me with such excitement!

And that’s the goal, right? Getting our clients excited about working with us, and gaining their trust.

If you want to see the before and after transformation of that bedroom painted the moody blue Gentleman’s Gray by Benjamin Moore, read the blog post here. 

Social Media Content

The third way we repurpose moodboards are in our blog and social media posts. 

I appreciate that sometimes you might not know what to write about for a blog post, or what type of content to share on Instagram.

If you get stuck, stop overthinking it and don’t reinvent the wheel! 

Use assets you already have by showing your audience and potential clients all the work that goes into an interior design project behind the scenes. Further explain the purpose of this visual tool – the interior design moodboard – and why it is so important for conveying your vision.

Share your process, the 3d plans, the moodboards, the before photos, and the after images. 

(Note: Before images on the left, after images on the right)

Don’t assume people know what you do. 

Most people simply see the pretty pictures on Instagram but have no idea of all the thought, details, and hard work that goes into getting an interior design or decorating project to the finish line.

My Two Time-Saving Tips

And finally, the hot tip I promised you at the start of the video… well, I’ve actually got two for you. 

Are you ready?

1. While redesigning this $120k ensuite bathroom, I sourced plumbing fixtures from a local showroom.

After making my selections, the sales rep said she’d follow up with a pricing list. To my surprise and delight, her email included 2 different mood boards that she took the time to create, including this one here for me.

She saved me the time and hassle of doing it myself. Ever since then, I always ask if others can do the same. I figure, hey, it never hurts to ask.

AI Generated Moodboard

2. My second bonus tip is this: If you are a new designer and have yet to do a real client project or want to create mood boards quickly for inspiration, take a look at what I made in minutes with an AI app.

Below is the exact prompt I used to ask AI to create this AI interior design moodboard:

Prompt: Create a mood board for an interior design living room project that includes soft floral and striped fabric sample, a 2 seater sofa, a round walnut wooden coffee table, an accent chair, area rug and floor lamp. I want the style be modern farmhouse, and the colour scheme using paint dots colours of Benjamin Moore’s Tate Olive HC 112, Etruscan AF 355 and White Dove OC 17

Did my mention of our Client Kick-off meeting earlier peak your curiosity on what this actually is and what we bring to build more trust and manage our client’s expectations?

Stay tuned for my next blog post with video as I unpack what’s inside my bag.

I’m Claire Jefford, Interior Design Business Coach. I’ll see you soon. Cheers!

If you need further Claire-ity on improving your systems and strategies specific to your interior design business, you can always book a 1-on-1 Coaching with me.