A Guide to Organizing and Finding Inspiration

Inspiration board created using Canva.

If you’ve ever worked with a designer, they will often ask you to give them inspiration images. Sometimes it can be overwhelming finding images that adequately depict what you’re looking for in a space, especially if you don’t like some aspect of the image.

Here are some important tips for finding those images…

1. You don’t have to love everything about the image to save it, it could be the way the kitchen is laid out, the tile in the shower or even just the way it feels.
2. Take notes about what you do and don’t like about the image as you find them, often you’ll end up compiling hundreds of images and then not remember what it was that you liked about the photo. Here’s what you need to take note of:
   1. What do you like about the image?
   2. What do you dislike about the images?
   3. How does it make you feel and is that how you want to feel in your space?
3. If you’re using Pinterest or Houzz, don’t just re-pin, add a description making note of your likes/dislikes of the image.
4. If it’s physical images, from magazine or even printed images, take sticky notes and write down notes on each.
5. If you’re just googling images of what you’re looking for, and don’t want to use Pinterest or Houzz a simple way to digitally compile your images would be to just use PowerPoint to drag and drop images and add notes. It’s easy to manipulate and you don’t have to worry about pictures and text mixing changing layouts. If that’s too much work, try using Canva to create a mood/inspiration board.
6. It doesn’t have to be of the same type of space you’re working on, you can find inspiration anywhere, your garden, artwork, public spaces..etc.. The important thing is to make note of what it is that you like so that we can help you implement that into your new space.
7. Finally, this is probably the most important part, go back and look through the images you’ve saved a second time. Sometimes you’ll have found better images after the fact and can then narrow down your wants for your new space.