A Swedish-inspired painted sideboard - Part 1 - Creating a moodboard

A Swedish-Inspired Painted Sideboard - Part 1 - Creating a Moodboard

I'm now going to be showing you how I approach painting a large piece of furniture. The piece I'll be demonstrating on is an antique sideboard, and I want my decorative painting to celebrate the shape and structure of the piece.

Creating a Mood Board

When working on a large creative piece, it's a good idea to collate all of your inspirational references into a mood board. It helps you to consolidate your ideas, as well as try out colour combinations before working on your mock-up.

A mood board could include:

• Images of patterns and motifs you want to use
• Fabrics that are also being used within the same room
• Other textiles that can act as palette references
• Tiles with interesting colours or motifs
• Pottery that uses techniques you're inspired by
• Paint swatches you want to include in your palette
• Natural shapes and textures you want to replicate

Colour Palette

Allow your mood board to guide the creation of your colour palette. Think about what you want to be the hero colour and the tonal quality of each shade.

Below are the colours I am including in my palette, all by Edward Bulmer.

• London Brown
• Red Ochre
• Malahide
• Navy Blue
• Trumpington
• White Lead

Sourcebook

Trematonia Jacquard fabric in Ecru, House of Hackney

Moorish Maze fabric in Pale Celadon, Rapture & Wright