How to create a swatch board
A swatch board is literally a board on which you paste samples colours, products and
fabrics you are going to use. You may have collected ideas online and digitally pinned examples
of rooms or colours you like, maybe even compiled an actual scrapbook, but the swatch board
condenses those ideas in a very physical way.
Few of us get the chance to paint and furnish our entire house in one go. It’s often a
progressive project lasting a couple of years. The swatch board acts as permanent reminder of
your original vision, that you can reference to make sure you don’t wander off track. You can add
new products, and make sure that even if your tastes change somewhat over time, the bedroom
you’re planning this year doesn’t end up jarring with the living areas you did a couple of years
ago.
Here’s how to do it:
1) Start with an inspiration point. It might be something natural like a shell or flower, or a
photograph of a view or a setting, or a piece of fabric or an artwork.
Nature is often a good starting point as colours used in nature always work well together. They’re
never simple, however.
Take a beach scene for example, where the sea will range from moody green-grey to translucent
aqua and the sand from grey-white to metallic grey. Then there is the cream of the toi toi flowers
and sea foam, the chalky black of dried seaweed, the soft green of dune grasses and the myriad
rusts, pinks and whites of sea shells.
Forget your assumptions and look hard at the object or scene you have found, to identify the
various colours.
2) Match those colours to corresponding shades. You won’t actually use all of these paints as
some will represent accent colours for upholstery or cushions, but this will give you a colour
palette to keep referring back to.
Get the various testpots from your local ColorShop and paint them onto A4 sheets of card. Then
put them in order of the amount of space they will be in the room – use the whole A4 sheet for
the colour/s you will use for the walls, then place smaller strips of the other colours on top, ie
those that represent the curtains, sofa coverings, kitchen cabinetry, cushions etc. This scheme
gives you an overall idea of colour direction.
You may need to modify it slightly depending on the less flexible and more expensive components
of your scheme, ie the flooring, a kitchen benchtop or a fabric you have fallen in love with.
3) Choose your flooring and any other less flexible items – remember that there are so many
paint colours available but often fewer choices of oak flooring or carpet, for example, so your
paint colour choices can be modified to match.
The floor, especially, is the greatest expense and surface in a home and the one you’re least
likely to change in a hurry. It’s the most important aspect to get right. Also remember to include
the colour of your window joinery if it’s to be aluminium (as opposed to timber which can be
painted).
4) The final component of your board is the fabrics, for curtains and blinds, upholstery and
cushions. This can be the most confusing part, with the plethora of fabrics on the market.
Suppliers often have fabric collections that include upholstery and curtaining fabrics and which
may have a variety of patterns but which have common colours or styles. You might choose plain
neutral fabrics as, say, the main window and sofa coverings, then use more interesting patterned
fabrics for cushions and chairs.
5) Now check that your original paint colour choices work with the other components and adjust
if necessary.
Present A Swatch Board to Your Interior
Design Client
A design schematic is not the same thing as a mood board. Let’s start there. A mood board
is an arrangement of images, materials, textures, fonts, and colors that evokes the style of a
project or concept. For many, a mood board is the springboard for design creativity. The mood
board you create should be an organized display of your thoughts and ideas, and as an end result,
a board should then be a useful tool you can use to effectively communicate your design ideas to
your client. A mood board is what you’ll typically receive from a decorator, stylist, or e -design
website (Except for our Design Bar. We provide design schematics, which we’ll explain in detail
next).
A design schematic is a complete room design similar to a mood board, but it includes a
floor plan with furniture and decor laid out to scale. This is important to have for clients who aren’t
just looking to update their home with some new wallpaper. With a design schematic, you can
show your clients the exact location and dimensions of every piece in their home in addition to
architectural details and appliances. A design schematic provides clients with trust, and it’s what
you’ll receive from us here at the KKH Design Bar or at another professional interior d esign firm.
Mood boards are an ideal tool for editing down your design. You are able to mix and match
design elements and remove and add ideas with ease. The design schematic is then the next step in
which you can lay out your design in a comprehensible way. It also serves as a method for
brainstorming or collaborating with clients and other architects and designers if need be. One of the
most difficult parts of interior design, especially for your client, is envisioning what a space is going to
look like at the end. The design schematic is a great solution for this problem.
Step #1 – Getting Started
We like to start with a color that inspires us, a piece of fabric we’re fawning over, or even
a photograph of our travels. But really, the opportunities are endless. Start with whatever it is that
inspires you, be it a work of art or an outfit you find on a fashion blog. Where does our inspiration
come from? Everywhere! But we curate all of our favorite pieces all on our site in seven unique
collections: French Country, Industrial Loft, Modern Classic, Coastal Beach, Hollywood Regency,
Rustic Lodge, and Global Bazaar. Another strategy is to use Pinterest to gather ideas for
inspiration. Head over to our Pinterest page for plenty of design inspiration!
Step #2 – Lay Out Your Room
In our opinion, it is important for a board to include the layout of the room. A layout provides
the container for your creativity and allows for accurate furniture placement and scaling. Creating
your room layout can be completed in several ways, and your method should be dictated by your
own preferences and skills. Our friend Philip Mitchell does FREAKING AMAZING hand sketches
of his spaces. However, if sketching isn’t your forte and you want everything to scale, many
designers put together a comp in AutoCAD or Rhinoceros 3D. These are computer programs used
by many designers to map out rooms and accurately place furniture. We always encourage our
readers to learn more and take classes in programs like AutoCAD; however AutoCAD is very
technical and difficult to use without some proper training. If interior design school isn’t for you,
we highly recommend the tutorials and lessons on Lynda.com. Or, just reach out to us at the
Design Bar at hello@designbar.com, and we can create a to-scale design schematic for you!
Step #3 – Highlight Fabrics, Colors, and Materials
Go through fabric and color swatches and pin them to your board. Form an idea of which
fabrics and materials are going to go with which piece. As designers, we frequently get que stions
like: What color should I use? What will this color look like in the room? Boards are the perfect
solution for showing your client color in relation with other items they like. You should also include
any floor tile, rug or upholstery material, or pattern that you want to highlight. Just call our office,
and you can request fabric swatches and wood and upholstery samples from Kathy Kuo Home to
help you decide on what’s best for your design.
Pro Tip: Some designers like to build a hierarchy into their boards. For instance, if you
really want a piece of tile you adore to be the standout aspect of the room, attach it to a piece of
foam board and place it on the board so that it stands in the forefront and more prominently than
your other design elements. Other designers, such as our own Kathy Kuo, like to actually create
separate boards for plans, fabrics, products, etc.
Step #4 – Add Product!
The last step is to add personality to your board with standout furniture pieces or accessory
items. Our advice? Don’t feel the need to put every last piece of product on the board. Just place
the furniture and accessories that define the design aesthetic (unless you’re doing a full mockup).
