Mood Board Making: Smoky & Sophisticated
We’re back with our weekly mood board and this time we tackled a serene and gender neutral bedroom full of moody grays, blues, yellows and whites. From clothing storage to display space for jewelry, books, and more, we really tried to squeeze in a ton of function without breaking the bank (affordable Ikea furnishings definitely kept the make-this-room-yours cost down). And we love how the happy doses of yellow add a bit of energy – so it might be a smidge easier to slide out of bed – while the muddy grays and blues paired with sleek white furnishings really keep the room feeling breezy and restful.
1. When it comes to the color scheme, we’d love to see dark charcoal grays, pops of lemon yellow, and a few dark wood pieces mixed with some crisp white furnishings. Painting the walls in the subtle blue-gray color (Benjamin Moore’s Silver Lake 1598) that we added as a thick stripe across the top of the mood board would add instant depth and moodiness- plus it would look amazing with crisp white trim and doors. And you might notice that the numbers in the board are a rich navy tone, which can definitely be added to the scheme if yellow, grays, and whites aren’t enough hue for your liking.
2.These geese ($25 a pop) would add energy and movement along with a sweet serene feeling to the space, especially when hung in a cluster above the white dresser(s).
3. This plate (under $8) would be a nice splash of our accent color when placed atop the dresser to display jewelry and watches in a charming and casual way.
4. This print ($21) and this print ($29) would look gorgeous hanging on the wall… or even leaning on the wall atop the bookcases that we’re about to mention.
5. Two of these bookcases ($129 each) placed directly behind the bed’s headboard will create a stylish and functional feature wall (and painting the wall behind them two shades darker than the rest of the room, Benjamin Moore’s Timber Wolf 1600, will really add posh dimension and interest). Then just load them up with books, baskets, and accessories like planters, vases, candlesticks, and other beloved collectibles in tones of gray, white, blue and yellow. A good friend of mine has two bookcases behind her bed’s headboard (kind of like this) and it really does make such an amazing impact and create a ton of storage and display space. And thanks to the bed having a built-in headboard there’s no worry that you’ll lean back into something on the shelves.
6. This bedding ($79 for a king sized duvet) works perfectly with our scheme- and the price for such a large duvet is pretty darn good.
7. Two of these striking and sophisticated yellow clip lamps can be attached to the bookcases behind the bed so they shine down for easy in-bed reading just like wall-mounted sconces (without the complicated wiring).
8. This sleek and affordable dresser (just $79.99) provides tons of budget-friendly storage – and can even be placed next to a second dresser of its kind for the look of a spacious 6-drawer piece.
9. This chic patterned rug that doesn’t break the bank (just $179 for a 6 x 8′) complements everything from the comforter to the wall color while adding some nice texture and geometric interest when it’s placed under the foot of the bed. Then hanging crisp white curtains (Ikea sells a number of affordable options) would finish things off nicely. Of course soft yellow or even gray and yellow banded curtains would work too. Or for anyone looking to add extra drama, rich velvet navy curtains along with a navy throw at the foot of the bed would add yet another hue to the room for that super luxe look.
So there you have a sophisticated and wallet friendly bedroom in a box- er, board. In fact, adding up every item in this board along with an additional $20 for paint and $20 for Ikea curtain panels brings the whole-board total to just $909. Not bad considering you can spend that much on two bookcases and a dresser alone – and we also squeezed in a rug, two lamps, tons of wall art, paint, curtains, and even a jewelry tray along with those three major furnishings. Does anyone out there have anything else they’d love to link to that would work well with this bedroom setup? Is anyone planning to snag anything in the board for their own sleeping space (send us pics please!). Is anyone already enjoying a gray, yellow, navy, and white palette in one of their rooms? Do tell.
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I’m LOVING gray and yelolow right now! We’re in the middle of a yellow, grey and tan guest room redo at the moment: http://hernandohouse.wordpress.com/2010/08/27/guest-room-glam/
This looks really good! I like the muted tones.
We have to stop our selves from painting more rooms gray… we would do it everywhere. It really makes our oak wood pop and white looks great with it!
Have you guys checked out SmartBargins.com yet? I just ordered a new comforter set from them this weekend. When it arrives I’ll know more about the quality. But your duvet cover above reminded me of it. It was $74 (marked down from $99 due to labor day sales – score! forgot about holiday sales). Queen comforter, two shams, two square pillows and a neckroll pillow.
Amazing deal! Thanks for the heads up. We’ll have to check it out!
xo,
s
The blue/gray tones make for such a serene bedroom – I love it!
Here is a related color/bedroom question. I am struggling to figure out what color curtains to get for our bedroom. We have two options for our bedding – either a purple set, or a blue/green set. The furniture in the room is all dark wood, and the lamps on our nightstands have beige linen shades with a silver-ish base. The walls are currently off-white, but that can be modified. So it seems to me that the color in the room so far is limited to the bedding, but when we tried getting purple curtains, the room just looked depressing and dark (it’s a tiny 10′x10′). Any advice would be much appreciated!
You could do white, cream, soft tan, mocha, soft gray, etc. You’d be amazed how light neutrals like that can keep things airy and open. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
This is similar to our master bedroom. We have Behr’s ‘Russian Blue’ on the walls with dark wood furniture and a crisp white duvet with navy banding on the bed. White floor length curtains too. I love the color combo, but interjecting a little yellow pop is an idea! We have personal artwork on the walls – wedding photos, a honeymoon shadowbox collage, and our framed custom wedding invitation. :)
These are silly. What made the mood boards useful and interesting before was seeing how you creatively worked within the space, budget, “I already own”, “this room must dually function as _____ and ______” constraints. I feel that anyone can create a mood board when there’s an open slate. I’m sorry, but I don’t come to your blog for “starting from scratch” ideas. I come for the how to repurpose and work with what you’ve got ideas…the how So and So solved this. I know you’ve got a new, lovely and dear little darling, and she takes priority. But there are two of you full time on this project, so I thought things would only improve. Instead, much of what I love is disappearing! (Although, I think the word count on posts has increased and, of course, Clara makes any pic better.) I’m sorry, but I think I’ll be checking in a lot less than my current at-least-once-daily basis.
Hey JillyG,
We’re sorry to hear that but we know that we can’t make everyone love our blog. We’re at peace with the fact that the people who enjoy it will read it and those who don’t won’t. Our blog has changed and evolved a ton over the past three years and it’s safe to say that it will continue to change and evolve in the future (perhaps with client-based mood boards coming back when we can tackle them again)! We know that new readers find us every day and we’d be silly not to think that old readers drop off if they no longer like what we’re posting here on YHL. We actually used to make mood boards pulled from our imagination a few years ago and once posted three or more client-based mood boards each week… and in both of those instances some people wanted more while others wanted less! And so the lesson that we can’t please 100% of the people 100% of the time was learned.
We’re thankful that it seems as though the majority of our readers are happy to peruse these mood boards (we were so excited that our first mood board back last week was met with amazing support and enthusiasm) and we plan to continue making them for as long as we’re able. One of the biggest misconceptions is that with John on full time there should be a ton more going on. He quit his job to work for YHL so that we wouldn’t have to shut down the blog (since caring for Clara is a full time job). So one of us is on baby duty while one lone wolf answers comment questions, coordinates giveaways, writes posts, tackles projects, uploads photos, etc). In fact it’s a lot hairier around here with two adults and a baby than it ever was when it was just me working from home by my lonesome. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
This looks great. I love that rug, too! We have the same floral print in our bathroom:
http://ourhumbleabowed.wordpress.com/category/our-house/our-main-bathroom/
I’m confused about the bookshelves behind the headboard. Do you mean directly behind? I can’t picture this. Wouldn’t the headboard hide some of the shelves? Is there a picture of this somewhere?
Hey Amanda & ALittleBite,
Yup, it would hide some shelves, but my friend who has this set up uses those hidden shelves to store things out of sight so they’re totally functional. Here’s a link to help you picture something similar: http://vi.sualize.us/view/ryegirl/14d445a6724f1f935e85819e6f59ccf7/
Hope it helps!
xo,
s
thank you thank you thank you! ive been playing around with these exact colors for my bedroom re-do!
Well, the point of flossing is to get food bits out of your mouth. Brushing alone doesn’t get those bits out of my teeth. Maybe your teeth are spaced further apart than mine? Anyway, sorry – wasn’t trying to be rude – I just think it is ick-tastic to floss anywhere but the bathroom, but that is just me and my OCD talking. I get skeeved out when my husband picks his teeth with a toothpick in the car on the way home from a restaurant, so any kind of manhandling of teeth worries me when it isn’t in a bathroom setting. LOL
We have our bedroom in gray, turquoise and yellow/tan (light jute rug and accesories) and I love it! We get compliments on it every time. So this mood board has given me more ideas.
Like Amanda, I can’t really imagine the bookshelves-behind-headboard thing, though… any pictures we could see?
ILOVE these colors. Definitely a mood I would live in…but could you suggest a floor covering? I’m sooo bad at coordinating. I was awesome at doing Color-by-numbers paintings…
Just check out the mood board for a rug that we’d love to see in the room!
xo,
s
Okay JillyG’s comment almost made me cry…maybe it’s my still-relatively-new-mommy hormones!
But I will say that I really miss your custom mood boards and can’t wait until you have time for those again, and those mini ones we’ve talked about, those would be awesome too.
Lastly can I just remind everyone (that might think that things aren’t the same around here) that you just stenciled the floor of your sunroom, that was sooo impressive!
Sorry if I’m being defensive I just have a six month old and sometimes my biggest accomplishment is putting on pants!
Aw thanks Yulia! It’s so true isn’t it? It’s a good day if we get a shower in and don’t have spit up in our hair! Not to worry, we’ll keep plugging away and writing posts and taking on projects as fast as we’re able!
xo,
s
I’m in the process of making a yellow, navy, white office. Right now, it’s a big mess! I love yellow and gray together though so might have to find a nice gray to paint the walls.
I can’t visualize how the bookcases would look behind the headboard. Any photos?
Hey Christine,
There’s actually a link in the post and in the comments since a few people asked for it to be added. Here ya go: http://vi.sualize.us/view/ryegirl/14d445a6724f1f935e85819e6f59ccf7/
Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Very nice! I have been hoping you would do a bedroom mood board~we need a renovation in ours and this is very helpful!!
Love this one! For some reason I am into grays right now.
If you spray paint the ducks yellow, it would be like what Antonio did last year on Design Star (his were fuschia). :)
Oh! I’ve been loving grey and yellow lately too. I am toying with the idea of using this colour palate in our dining room but we have oak table and chairs with dark brown leather. I wonder if it would still work…
The colors are very nice! I LOVE the wall color and the mix of yellows and grays. I guess I am just not very fond of the ceramic white animals you seem to have a preference for. Hey, to each his own! Everyone has their own thing. I guess that is just not MY thing. I do love pops of white, though, so I guess I just need to imagine something a little different taking the place of those animals. (Sorry, they just remind me of something in a grandma’s house!)
I think it is awesome that you guys are able to come up with these mood boards! You really do a terrific job!!
Thanks Kate! We appreciate the kind words! And we totally understand that white ceramic ducks aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. Not even close, hehe. Instead, hanging a nice round mirror above the dresser (perhaps painted white?) would definitely add some interest and bounce a ton of light around. Plus you can grab one at HomeGoods or Marshall’s or TJ Maxx on the cheap. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Love the grey and yellow together! I’ve been reading your blog for awhile now and have read all of the archives too – love your house and decorating style even though it is vastly different from mine! My home is filled with warm colors (pumpkin, brown, black, deep red, evergreen, gold) and traditional furnishings. Any chance you could do a warm/traditional bedroom (and/or any other rooms) mood board someday?
Hey Dee,
Absolutely! And you might want to check out this link to see a ton of mood boards with those warm golds and red and pumpkin tones in them in the meantime! Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Were you guys in my head last night?!? ;) I was laying in bed brainstorming over what color to paint my boys’ room (they’re 11 & 9 and it’s time to give them a more “mature” look in their room) and gray seemed to be the perfect answer. I can add pops of color in accessories that can be easily/cheaply switched w/ their tastes/likes. The only difference is, I’d go w/ predominantly black furniture instead of white…boys are grubby ;) Now, I just need some $$$ to make it all happen!
Thanks again! You guys are always an inspiration!
I really love those colors!
First off, you floss on your couch? EWWW! lol. Hey, I give you credit for at least admitting to that! Cuz grodey, food bits everywhere? *shudders*
Anyway, aside from that, I totally like how you switched up the side table. I recently cleaned up my husband’s desk in a similar way. Got some of those Ikea Cassette boxes (or whatever they are called) and put one on his desk for him to put all his odds and ends so they are out of sight, out of mind! Cleared things up a lot!!
Am I the only one who doesn’t have food particles flying out of my mouth when I floss? I’ve usually have already brushed my teeth when I settle down on the couch to unwind so it’s not like chunks of dinner are sailing through the air! Just wanted to clarify…
xo,
s
no worries – i don’t have food particles flying out of my mouth either when i floss at night ….on the couch….after i’ve already brushed my teeth…
i’m not as fond of the ceramic animals that you all are but i can’t get enough of those Buddha’s they sell at HomeGoods…love them!
I’m so loving this mood board! I’m head over heels in love with gray right now…in fact I’ve been studying color decks to try and choose the right tones for our bedroom and kitchen! So needless to say this board finds me at the perfect moment! I love the bookshelf idea…wish I would have seen this before buying two new nightstands/lamps/baskets etc. =) But maybe on another wall…. =) Thanks for all you two do, it really it admiring and inspiring. xoxo
Aw thanks Stacy! We’d love to see how your room turns out. Definitely send us pics!
xo,
s
Dear Petersiks,
I love you guys but I’m afraid everyone is going to buy out my duvet now before I convince hubby it’s a must-have! Last week he didn’t eliminate from our choices, so that’s good. ;D
Oh no! Maybe you can sweet talk him tonight. Fingers crossed for you!
xo,
s
Keep up the GREAT work! I am a newER reader, however I believe I have read every post to date! Just a student bored at work and SO lucky to find your blog!!!
Love this one!!
I need to upload pics from our guestroom. It has been through some major changes. The previous owners had the room painted like a football field, complete with field-colored green walls on the lower half, sky-blue on the upper half, a scoreboard and goal posts. It was for their seven year old son. :D It was fun to change the room and make it our own…with similar colors from your mood board!
Wahoo- thanks so much for all the kind words everyone! So glad you’re digging our latest mood board. It makes us so excited to tackle next week’s!
xo,
s
whoops, I see it…number 9. Of course! Thank you!!
loving the gray and yellow! we just recently purchased new bedding for our master in a gray and yellow color scheme! I also like the pop of blue you added to this combo!
This is great. Did you come across any other yellow lamps when you were doing this? I’m searching for an affordable yellow table lamp for our living room – there’s nowhere to clip the lamps from the mood board in the spot where we need light. Thanks!
Hey Stef,
We saw some amazing yellow lamps at HomeGoods the last time we were there so you might want to check them out. We also have seen things at thrift stores that could be spray painted bright yellow for the same effect on a serious budget. You could even find two mismatched ones and tie them together with the yellow spray paint. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
HORSE PRINT: I saw the same one at marshall’s for $15 framed. oh how i wish i had more rooms in my house!!!
Amazing! Thanks so much for the tip Bria!
xo,
s
I just lurve this color scheme!
When I first saw that the bookshelves would be behind the bed all I could think of was “that’s not going to be good in an earthquake!” I grew up on the pacific ring of fire so it’s just something that’s always in the back of mind mind I guess! It’s probably not necessary to even mention because people in earthquake zones would already be cognizant of such things and people that aren’t don’t need to be! But I did think it was funny that it was the first thing that popped into my head! LOL.
True true! Safety first!
xo,
s
I love these “generic” (i.e. not for a specific client) mood boards. I’m not currently looking to re-design any rooms in my house right now, but I love looking at these boards and making mental notes about color schemes, types of prints, etc. that look good together for when I do decide to re-design a room. Keep up the creativity-inspiring work!
I was SO excited to see this mood board when I logged on today to read your post! We just bought a fixer-upper and are almost done with the living room, where we used this color scheme! However, I have been missing that one color to make things “pop” and brighten things up – and I see now that the yellow is it! I’ll be buying some yellow throw pillows this weekend! Here’s my post about our living room:
http://www.melissa-blogs.com/2010/09/weekend-happenings.html
Keep up the good work, love your site! :)
I adore the color scheme and totally appreciate this budget version. The rug, especially, is awesome, though I wish they sold it in a larger size. :(
I’m sure you’ve already seen it, but just in case, here’s a link to an equally inspiring bedroom with a similar color scheme from Secrets from a Stylist on HGTV: http://thebrasspetal.blogspot.com/2010/08/more-info-keep-questions-coming.html (You have to scroll down a bit for the bedroom pics.)
And like most of your readers, I continue to think you’re doing an awesome job here. I did love the mood boards for readers, but I actually think it’s more likely that I’ll see something I want to emulate when you’re NOT designing for someone else… Just my 2 cents.
Love that link Catherine! We adored that show and we’re glad to see pics online!
xo,
s
<3 this gray and yellow combination
XOXO,
http://outfitidentifier.com/
Love this color combo – and adding in Navy – I think that would be even more sophisticated. Love.
Personally, I think they help me MORE because it’s easier to visualize in my own space when I’m not distracted with OP’s stuff. My 2 cents.
Thanks everyone! We’re so glad our boards are coming in handy! They’re so fun to brainstorm and we love the idea of you guys borrowing ideas for your home! Send us pics!
xo,
s
I’ve been super impressed and inspired by the newly-added weekly mood boards. Since moving into a new house 2 months ago (in need of an almost complete overhaul), my biggest concern has been “WHERE do I start?!” Thanks to you guys, it seems so much more manageable with your amazing mood boards! Just the creative kick in the behind I needed! :)
And while I’m a little saddened at the one negative comment you guys received earlier today- I’m so glad you guys are doing what is best for you and your house and your vision! After all, that is what made everyone love YHL in the first place!
Thanks again!!
Love this mood board guys! Kind of makes me want to run into Crate & Barrel and pick up that leaf plate. What a great idea! I think it might look cool on my coffee table with some fall type things displayed on it. Thanks for the ideas!
I love this color combo!!! We are doing our nursery in these colors!! It has been a challenge to find accessories in the fabulous lemon color.
I love this mood board. As a tried and true Iowa Hawkeye fan, anything black and gold is alright with me!
I think it’s amazing that you two are able to answer nearly every reader question on the blog, facebook, twitter, etc. I mean, it overwhelms me just to think of all the hundreds of questions that get tossed your way! I really appreciate how even though you’ve grown to tens of thousands of readers a day, you’re still able to maintain that personal we’re-all-friends feel. Love it!
I was so stoked when I saw that you’d be doing generic mood boards. What on earth do I care if someone has a fireplace in the middle of their bedroom or a chair they just can’t part with? Generic means that I can use it, instead of just being jealous that someone else got some inspiration!
Question for you about how you find items for mood boards. I’ve got a bedroom with light gray walls, white bedspread and a bright yellow and white accent pillow from Target so I was excited to see your bedroom color scheme. I’m looking for more bright yellow accents, but don’t need a lamp or jewelry tray like you showed. I could actually use some wall art with yellow in it and and maybe one other item with yellow. How do you go about finding items in the colors you want for the mood board? Do you just look at certain store websites you love or do you have a more targeted way to find items in certain accent colors? Thanks! I’m really enjoying the mood boards. I’d love to vote for one for a screened porch redesign :)
Hey Jill,
We don’t have much of a system, we just visit sites that we like and poke around. A board usually starts with an inspiration piece (this one started with those yellow clip lamps which led us to the bookcase idea and then we found the rug). It’s a pretty hit or miss process but we just pop around online, swapping things in and out of the board until we love what we see. Oh and we love searching by color on allposters.com for art, so that’s an idea for you. Places like HomeGoods and TJ Maxx and Marshall’s also have great affordable already-framed art so that’s another idea. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
This board is amazing! I want to try to incorporate it into my bedroom… except my fiance has decided that he wanted black and red in our bedroom. ICK! I’ve been trying to work with it, without it looking like a cheap brothel, but I’m failing. Any ideas, fellow Youngster-admirers?
Hey Kate,
Black and red can look harsh on their own so we’d suggest warming them up by adding amber and mocha hues. You also might be able to get your hubby to go for dark wood furnishings instead of black for more of that wood-grain-ish layered interest. That’s just one idea though. Anyone else have sone tips for Kate?
xo,
s
Great minds think alike! We just bought that Ikea rug over the weekend and I can tell you it is fab.
This is lovely! My bedroom is similar — the gray on my walls is more purple and my dresser and side table are black, but I have the same pops of yellow (a rug, a chest and re-purposed cabinet doors that hold my necklaces). I also added in a few more pops of color through a multi-colored plate wall opposite the bed. My drapes are black and I made sheers to hang behind them that are white with a black and gray pattern. White bed linens with a black and white pillow. Oh, I pulled an old idea of y’alls and replaced the yucky globe on my ceiling fan (a necessity in South Louisiana) with a black lampshade. Since the fan and ceiling are both bright white, the lampshade looks more like a drum light than a fan.
My only concern about this mood board is that in person, the duvet cover has some green in it, compared the other bright yellow pieces on this board.
Good tip about seeing that duvet in person. The cool thing about the bedding is that it has so many of the colors in the palette that a bit of green won’t make it any less workable in the space. In fact it might inspire you to add a few fresh leafy plants to the bookcases or the dresser which would create an even more cohesive and layered effect. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
This is totally my room color scheme- love the bedding. it’d be perfect!