We had a grand old time whipping up this nature-inspired mood board for anyone who’s looking to add some kick to their living or family room. We sadly can’t find the time to create custom mood boards anymore (it took a good 6+ hours to make one client commissioned board since we’d have to familiarize ourselves with the space, note the items that they want to keep/lose, brainstorm a new floor plan, etc). And because we don’t want to shortchange clients by tossing sub-par mood boards together (or watch mood boards disappear permanently from our site) we’ve come up with what we like to believe is a nice compromise…
We’ll be whipping up general mood boards that anyone can adapt for their own home and sharing them on the regular! Happily, we can whip up mood boards a lot faster when we get free rein to build a room entirely from our imagination instead of working with existing parameters & furnishings. In fact, they can now be completed between Clara feedings (which is totally part of our criteria when it comes to evaluating what we can and can’t do these days). So without further ado, our nature-inspired mood board full of punchy hues, branchy textures, and even a few nocturnal creatures. Man it feels good to be back.
1. We love the handsome yet playful combination of dark chocolates, deep teals, sandy wheats, cheerful yellows, and crisp splashes of white. And speaking of white, when it comes to paint for this space, we’d love to see glossy white trim along with clean white walls (Benjamin Moore’s Decorators White works for both surfaces) so the punchy art and accessories really pop. Of course a soft cream, tan, or even a subtle teal or yellow would work too if you’re not the white wall type.
2. This graphic geometric pillow paired with this saturated teal beauty will add interest and color to amp up the sandy tan tones in the sofa, coffee table, and the rug.
3. This glittering $69 chandelier introduces ambiance and softness, plus we love how the round disks (and the round shape of the fixture) will echo the curves in the round coffee table that will sit beneath it.
4. This amazingly affordable clean-lined sofa (on sale for $699) is perfect for the masculine meets feminine vibe that we have going on in the room.
5. These punchy yellow accessories will add a splash of sunny hue to any media stand, console table, or fireplace mantel.
6. This abstract yellow and amber toned art (for just $24.99!) has us so smitten that we wouldn’t object to ordering two identical prints and hanging them in thin wood frames with large white mats above the sofa.
7. & 8. & 9. The juxtaposition of the patterned twiggy rug (just $299 for an 8 x 10!) and these sleek & modern teal side tables gets us all hot and bothered. We’d love to see one on each side of the sofa with playful matching owl lamps on them (just $39.99). It’s such a fun eclectic pairing.
10. This round light wood coffee table will subtly blend in with the area rug and ground the entire sitting area. And the wood grain is such a playful pairing with the branchy rug that will rest beneath it.
11. This $159 slipper chair in faux alligator leather is not only outrageously easy to care for (so wipeable and beverage/pet/kid friendly!) but the price is pretty nice too. We imagine two of them flanking a fireplace with the sofa facing them for a nice luxe and balanced effect, but other floor plans would work too – slipper chairs are amazingly flexible.
So that’s our twiggy, owl-riddled, nature-inspired mood board for anyone who’d like to adapt it in their space. Got any favorite items among the roundup? Or any additional pieces that you’d love to suggest for those who may bring this dream room to life? Anyone out there who may be implementing a few ideas from this mood board? We’d love to see your after photos! Happy decorating…
So glad you guys are doing these again! We are actually looking at getting the Ikea Hovas sofa in white. It would be AWESOME to get some ideas for how to make that work in a YHL kind of way!
Love the colors yall! Just curious as to where you’d go with window treatments. One of the colors or more of a neutral?
Hey Candice,
I think we’d lean towards crisp and breezy white curtains, but adding a 24″ band of bold golden orange at the bottom of each panel would really make them pop!
xo,
s
LOVE the mood board. The Faux Alligater Leather chair is also available at Overstock (Item#: 12920036) for $10 less… I know we all love saving money and getting something for the best price ;)
Sweet! Thanks so much for sharing that tip Julie!
xo,
s
I was just thinking about your mood boards the other day and wondering if you would be posting about them again anytime soon. Lo and behold they are back…Yay! This one is great, I love the rug and the bright yellow vessels.
I am so so so sad that you guys won’t be tackling custom mood boards anymore – I really looked forward to those (along with the after pictures, of course)! But I completely understand that your new little bundle requires your attention first and foremost!
Hey Holly,
No to worry about those after pics! We have a plan in the works that will still allow us to share before & afters that we help to create in other people’s homes. Stay tuned…
xo,
s
I love the blog and am currently redoing a house VERY similar to yours! We recently received a couch the same color as the one in this mood board, but we wanted to go in more of the red route…any suggestions for a rug, accessories or paint color? We already decided to do the white curtain/bamboo look and don’t want to get stuck in neutral central!
Hey Carly,
Just click this link to peruse over 100 mood boards (many of which have red and tan tones together). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Hi there,
I absolutely LOVE your mood boards! Is there anyway to see where the items are from in the older mood boards posted on your flickr account? Specifically i LOVE the “cool, funky family room!!
Hey Taylor,
If you click on the mood board you like (for example, the “cool funky family room” one) and then scroll down below it you’ll see a link to the old post that we wrote about it (complete with links to each source). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Mood boards were always my favorite part of your blog. It’s what set you apart from all the other decor and DIY blogs. I’ve been thinking of taking your blog out of my daily rotation because you haven’t had mood boards in FOREVER. So glad they’re back.
Love it! I can’t wait until you do a master bedroom mood board~I need some inspiration badly!! :)
I’ve really missed mood boards. Definitely one of my favourite features!
I just LOVE your mood boards and sooo aspire to create my own for a beach rental. What software do you use? I checked out some of the free stuff but it’s not very user friendly. Any suggestions on items for a beach rental?? Thank you for inspiring me!!!!
We use Adobe Photoshop but have heard good things about polyvore.com (it’s free!). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Hi guys! I’ve been reading the blog for awhile now, but this is my first time commenting. I just wanted to say THANK YOU for providing this mood board – I am currently working on transforming our living room based off of this. We are renters in NYC, and we’re currently living with yellow living room walls (about the same shade as what’s in your mood board). I’m tired of it, but we wanted to try work with it, rather than trying to repaint since we’re not sure how much longer we’ll be there. Thanks to this, I’ve gone out and gotten a new rug, sofa cover and a few accessories – focusing on a lot of neutrals, with pops of teal (love, love the contrast! never would have thought to balance out yellow with that). I’ll definitely send pictures – thanks again for the inspiration! I feel like I’ll be happier with the space as a result, and it didn’t require anything major :)
Awesome! We’d love to see after pics! Happy decorating!
xo,
s
Mallory R.,
We just unpacked the Dolce Lounge Chairs last night. They absolutely smell like BBQ or beef jerky. John and Sherry, do you remember this smell and how long it took to subside?
Thanks
That’s so funny! Maybe they’re using a different manufacturer or material? We got ours over three years ago and they didn’t smell at all! Maybe try sitting them out in the sun on a breezy but dry day (the heat of the sun can speed up off-gassing so hopefully the smell will subside faster). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Hi guys,
You do amazing things! I love your blog.
I find this chandelier: wow! But World Market doesn’t sell it anymore. Do you know something simular and also afforable?
Thnx!
Hey Mirjam,
Hmm, we just saw one like it at our local store. Maybe it’s just not online anymore? Perhaps calling the store or going in will help you hunt one down? If not try ebay or amazon.com! Good luck.
xo,
s
I love this mood board and am going to try to use it to decorate my living room in my new house. I did notice, however, that certain items are no longer available:( Is there anyway you can update them with replacements? I think the geometric print pillow, teal side tables, and yellow ceramics are all no longer available.
Thanks so much, for all the great work you both do!!
Carrie
So sorry, we have hundreds of old mood boards so we just can’t find the time to update them. We do recommend using sold out stuff as a guide though (and checking out places like eBay, HomeGoods, Overstock, TJ Maxx, Target, Pier1, Marshall’s and JC Penney – among any other place like nextag.com – for something similar. Good luck!
xo,
s
HAPPY DANCE!!!!! Your mood boards are what I miss the most. I’m so excited that you’re bringing them back!!! Thank you!