Now that you have your polyvore account and clipper tool set up, let’s get clipping. If you’re having trouble deciding on a space to create a mood board for, I suggest keeping it simple – like a small bathroom or entry – for starters. The goal here isn’t to design the perfect room but to become familiar with the process of making a mood board. In fact, for my sample mood board I’m simply helping my sister choose some new bedding so I won’t be furnishing an entire room.

Sign in to your account and find the ‘create’ tab. If you hover over the small triangle next to the ‘create’ link, you’ll find options to create a set, collection or template. For our purposes, we’ll be creating a set. The ‘collection’ option is geared more towards fashion; I’ve never used it. The ‘template’ option allows you to create your own templates with placeholders that can be filled later. There are also ready made templates that you can fill with items. I’ve never used the template option either as, again, it’s geared towards fashion.

After clicking ‘create’ you’ll be directed to a page that has a square mood board space with ‘create a collage’ in it. To the right of the collage space are all the items, sets, templates and embellishments you have to work with.

When I first begin a new board, I always search under the ‘all items’ tab for items I may want to use in my mood board. My sister has already purchased a West Elm duvet cover, so I searched under ‘all items’ for ‘west elm bedding’ and, lo and behold, someone else has clipped it to polyvore so there’s no need for me to clip it again.

If you find an item already clipped that you want to use, click on it and a box will appear. There will be a description of the item, the cost {if applicable} and a link to the site from which it was clipped. You have the option to ‘add to set’ {this adds the image to your current board}, ‘view details’ {this gives you pertinent info about the item} or ‘save to my items’ {this allows you to save the item under the ‘my items’ tab for later use}. Not wanting to start my board right away, I save the image to my items for later use while I gather more items for my board.

What happens when you want to use an image that isn’t clipped to polyvore already? You clip it yourself.

Here’s a good place to review which images work best and which images polyvore prohibits. In general, large images from public websites work best. The simpler the background the better. Polyvore will automatically try to crop out the background so the image will work in a mood board, but it doesn’t always work. Many times you will end up with a distorted image. You either have to use the background that comes with the image, find a simpler image with little/no background OR custom crop the image yourself {I’ll get to that later}. Polyvore won’t allow you to clip images from photo-sharing sites {i.e. flickr, photobook, etc.} or google. You can clip from images from pinterest as long as they’re large and don’t infringe upon copyright laws. Clipping images directly from their source is always best.

If I find an image that won’t work on polyvore then I’ll usually try to find a similar image/item that will work but keep the original item in mind. I can still get a good feel for what will or won’t work in a room by using a similar item in a mood board. If there’s an image from my own life that I want to incorporate {say, a photo I personally took of my bedroom} I have the capability via House*Tweaking to make a draft page within wordpress that includes the photo. I can clip the photo to polyvore from my draft page. Not everyone has a blog though, so in that instance I would suggest finding a similar usable image online. For example, if you have an antique headboard that you want to use in a bedroom mood board but have no way of clipping a real life photo of it to polyvore, then search google images for ‘antique headboard’ and see if you can’t find a similar image that way.

Restricted images are a downfall of polyvore but they haven’t become that big of a nuisance to me yet to justify the cost of photoshop. There’s probably a better way than my way but this is what I do and you asked. Okay, well, maybe not you but someone asked. Ha! Honestly, figuring out ways to include certain images or searching for the best images has kind of become a fun game for me. Hi, I’m Dana and I like a challenge and I’m a polyvore dork. The majority of the time I’m able to add images without problem.

So, on to clipping…

My sister mentioned some patterned sheets she saw at Target and I was able to find them online.

With no background, the image was prime for clipping. I clicked on the ‘clip to polyvore’ clipper tool in my toolbar which brought up a box prompting me to save items to my polyvore account.

The box includes any images that are able to be clipped along with a description of small or large. Remember, large images work best so always choose those when possible. The ‘title’ field will automatically populate but if you want to change the title to something else, you have to do that manually. I almost always leave it the way it is. Sometimes I fill in the ‘tags’ field, sometimes I don’t. The ‘price’ field automatically populates as well but it doesn’t always choose the correct price. If accuracy is important to you, you may have to change the price. Once everything reads the way you like, simply click ‘save.’

Congrats! You just clipped your first polyvore item! After each clip, you’ll be given the option of redirecting to polyvore to play with your item or you can click ‘done’ and go back to the page from which your item was clipped. Typically, I like to go hunting for a bunch of possible items that I’m thinking of for a mood board so I’ll click ‘done’ and keep clipping away. Less frequently, I’ve got an almost complete mood board but need that one item to finish the look. That’s when I’ll go to polyvore after clipping an item – to see how it works with the rest of my mood board.

When clipping items, I like to start with the obvious, basic pieces. Usually furniture. Then I’ll fill in with paint colors and accessories. However, if I come across a really great light or pillow I’ll clip it for future reference. Every mood board evolves a little differently.

Your homework for today is to clip, clip, clip and add items to your ‘my items’ tab. Don’t worry too much about finding the perfect items and overthinking your choices. Just clip away! I’ll take questions regarding clipping in the comments section below. Tomorrow we’ll tackle the task of adding your items to a mood board.

Happy clipping!

To start back at square one, see The Making of a Mood Board (Part I).

images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

One of the most frequently asked questions I get is ‘how do you make your mood boards?’ The short and easy answer is polyvore but I have a feeling that most people who ask want the longer, more detailed answer, so that’s what I’m attempting to give in a series of posts this week. I thought it would be really fun to put together a little polyvore tutorial complete with homework. Don’t worry. You won’t be graded. Or degraded. This is purely for fun. A learning experience. I find that it’s easier for me to grasp new tech-y stuff when I break it down into smaller, more manageable steps. That’s what I’m trying to do for you here. If you’re already familiar with polyvore, feel free to chime in with tips. If you have no desire to create mood boards, feel free to take a nap. Let’s do this.

For me, mood boards are a great way to brainstorm a room or space. It helps me to see everything {furniture, paint colors, accessories, fabrics, lighting, flooring, finishes, etc.} all together before I make any purchases or paint any walls. I’m able to get a pretty good glimpse at what the end result might be before I start. Sometimes it’s very obvious that the rug I’d been drooling over online won’t work in reality and I need to keep looking. Other times, a mood board will confirm my decor choices and give me the confidence needed to go ahead and start a project.

When I first set out to make mood boards for personal use, I was intimidated by all the different programs available. I needed something user-friendly and inexpensive. Photoshop was too expensive and I didn’t like the cartoon-y look that some of the other online programs gave boards/rooms. It was through an online blogging class that I was introduced to polyvore and it was a good fit.

Polyvore is user-friendly, free, readily available and flexible enough for different genres. It’s not just for the interior design world! It’s the only program I’ve ever used so I can’t compare it to similar ones. It’s easy enough for a beginner but broad enough for a seasoned user who wants extras like text and overlays. I definitely haven’t tapped into all the resources offered by polyvore. I keep finding new effects to try. I like that I can use it for interior design mood boards, fashion posts and product round-ups. Sort of a one stop shop if you ask me. And if you happen to have blog, it’s easy to post your boards to your blog. Like social media sites, you can follow fellow users and their mood boards and/or publish your boards to share with everyone else on polyvore. I have to say, I don’t use the social aspect of polyvore all that much. I do publish my boards but that’s just so I’m able to post them to House*Tweaking. But if you like the idea of browsing other people’s works of art, it is possible.

Does polyvore sound like something you’d like to try? Great! I’m going to walk you through, step by step {oh baby, gonna get to you girrrrrrl…sorry, I had a total NKOTB moment} this week. *I apologize in advance if you’re offended by my tedious steps. I don’t mean to talk down to you. It’s just that there was a time when I had no idea what a browser or toolbar was and I wish someone had spelled it out for me.* Hopefully, by the end of the week you will have a mood board you created yourself and can share it via a link in the comments section. I can’t wait to see what you create!

To get started, you will need to register – for free. Go here then click ‘register’ in the upper right hand corner. You will be prompted to enter an email address and password. {I’ve never received any mail from polyvore so don’t worry about your inbox filling with spam.} If you are already registered on polyvore then click ‘sign in’ in the upper right hand corner of the home page to enter your email and password.

Once you have an account set up, you need to install the ‘clipper’ into your bookmarks toolbar. The clipper is the tool that will allow you to clip images from the web for your mood boards. It’s much like pinning things to pinterest. Go here to install the clipper.

Drag the ‘clip to polyvore’ link in blue to your toolbar. Your toolbar is a bar of buttons or icons that runs horizontally or vertically – usually across the top of your browser. The buttons within act as quick access links or have specific functions. The ‘clip to polyvore’ button will be what you click on whenever you find an image you want to save onto your polyvore account for use in a mood board.

Okay, now that you’re all set up with your polyvore account and clipper tool, your homework is to think of a space that you want to create a mood board for. It can be a real room in your home that you’re wanting to decorate or it can be a made up, dream space in your mind. Once you have a space of interest for your mood board, share it in the comments section below. To keep me honest, I’ll be building a mood board from scratch with you. I’ll leave my topic of mood board interest in the comments section as well.

Then we’ll meet back here tomorrow and discuss the actual clipping of images and how to place them in a mood board.

Happy brainstorming!

images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking