Introduction to the "Design Around This" thread
"Design Around This" is a series of threads on the Kitchens Forum that encourage people to improve their design knowledge and skills while exchanging ideas and having fun. Everyone is welcome to participate. You don't need any experience to start; that's what the threads are for: to build experience. I'll provide some tips for getting started later in the post.

Each thread starts with a topic to "design around." This can be a house style (e.g. Tudor), a home vintage (e.g. 1920s), a material (e.g. patterned Formica) or some other common element for posters to build a design around. I maintain a long list of ideas that various people have proposed (if I ever fall off the face of the earth you can pull it off an old thread), adding new ideas as they are suggested and taking off the ones we've already done. When a thread starts to wind down, posters to the thread start to discuss the topic for the next thread and usually reach some sort of consensus. The preference has been to mix up the different types of topics (so, don't do three different home styles in a row; break it up with a material or other theme).

Then through a process of nomination/volunteering, someone gets the task of posting the new thread. It's nice if there is an educational component to the post--information and/or pictures to give participants some information about the topic. Some topics deserve a lot of background information and others not so much, but it's nice to come away from each thread with some new knowledge.

People can participate at different levels: lurker, commenter, or posting designs. One of the goals of the threads is to move people up that ladder: lurkers become commenters, commenters start doing their own designs.

Rules, such as they are
Some people like rules, some people don't. We haven't felt a need to harp on these as people have gotten more familiar with the threads and what we're trying to do. If you prefer, think of them as guidelines. Suggestions, even. General expectations.

1. Do your homework first. If the topic is Tudor Revival and you don't know what that means, go find out before offering up a design. This is part of the learning process. Once you know, you can break all the rules you want.
2. Be unique. This is your design; don't slavishly follow someone else's.
3. Put the design in context. Your design should relate to the style of the house.
4. Use a realistic budget. Go high or low, but keep it real.
5. Use materials that are actually obtainable. Custom is fine, but pipedream isn't terribly useful to people reading the thread for ideas.
6. Show your work. Explain and rationalize your choices. Many of the threads have been enhanced by some creative writing by creative posters who spin tales of homeowners and their kitchens (Power struggles! Revenge fantasies! Adultery! Divorce! It's like a soap opera!). While not mandatory, these can be quite fun.
7. Critique others and accept criticism yourself. You spend a lot of time on your design, and you deserve some constructive feedback, good and bad. Don't make criticisms personal, and don't take criticisms personally. This isn't a finished kitchens thread so nobody has to pretend to like something they don't.

History of the Design Around This thread
The idea for the design around this threads started in this post with Marcolo posting images of a couple tiles and asking why no one on GW designed around something like them (Fri, Nov 4, 2011 at 9:12). That question prompted a mini "design around this" exchange with Palimpsest posting some great designs, leading Marcolo to ask, "I wonder if this should become an ongoing feature. Pick something unusual to base a kitchen around, and then try to make it work in 'mood boards'" (Sat, Nov 5, 11 at 12:21). Everyone on that thread seemed to agree it was a great idea. Next thing you know, Palimpsest was posting the first "official" Design Around This thread, and Bob's your uncle.

Benefits of the Design Around This threads
1. They show how to look at kitchen design holistically rather than as a series of independent or sequential choices, which is one way kitchen design can go wrong.
2. Specifically, they show how to use mood boards to plan a design. Since the threads started we've seen a lot more mood boards on other Kitchen Forum threads.
3. They provide inspiration pictures that fall outside the boundaries of current trends.
4. They provide examples of how to relate kitchen style to home style.
5. They put materials that might be unpopular or unfamiliar in the spotlight and let people see them in use in good designs.

Getting Started
1. Do not be intimidated. Most of the posters on these threads had never put together a mood board before they tried it here.
2. Do your homework, especially if the topic is a home style, era or design style.
3. Collect images of stuff you want in your kitchen.
4. Finalize your choices of what you want to put in your mood board.

At this point, you have a number of different options. You can link to individual photos in your thread (see instructions for posting pics on the Kitchen Forum FAQ). Or you can use one of a number of different software tools to create a collage showing the various elements of your kitchen.

Tools include the online tool Olioboard, something as sophisticated as Photoshop, or something as simple and ubiquitous as Microsoft Word or PowerPoint.

Here's how I do it in Word (2007) (I expect to see some additional posts from others who use different tools, choose the one that works best for you):

1. Starting with a blank document, choose Insert Pictures, and select the desired image files from wherever you have them saved.
2. Format each image using Format-Position-More Layout Options-In Front of Text. This will let you drag your picture around wherever you want it.
3. Resize images as desired. Duplicate images as desired. Drag them around where you want them. Use "bring to front" and "send to back" to get them in the right order front to back.
4. You can "paint" cabinets any color you want by starting with white cabinets then inserting a rectangular shape over the top of it, increasing the transparency of the rectangle to 25-40%, and then formatting the rectangle to the desired color. The transparency lets the contours of the cabinet show through, but the color of the rectangle will dominate. It will look like the cabinets are colored. You can color other things this way, too.
5. When it looks the way you want, save it as a PDF. Then save the PDF as a JPEG. I think you need Acrobat Standard (not just Reader) to make this work. Alternatively, you can take a screen shot (prnt scrn) and paste the image in Paint, crop the frame, and save it as an image file. Someone also suggested this site as an option for converting to an image. There's additional information, including how to do a screen capture on a Mac, here.
6. Once you have your board as an image file, it's like posting any other picture. Upload it to a photo hosting site on the Web, then link to it in your post.

Testimonial
I had never done a mood board before the Colonial Revived thread (Design Around This #2). Heck, I'd never really figured out how to post pictures. But I figured it out for that thread, and posted a design (posting links to individual elements rather than doing a collage).
I found doing a mood board to be addictive, so I kept participating. I posted a few designs on the 1920s thread, and never looked back.

I like to think my designs have improved, and my skills putting together a mood board certainly have.

Important reminder to everyone: If you are really interested in a particular thread, save it to your computer. I'm on a Mac, so I can just pick "Save as" from my browser and save it as a web archive. Otherwise, the links tend to break and the images disappear.

BTW PowerPoint can also be used to create boards in a very similar way to Word.

Not to lessen Marcolo's input into the DAT process, but Palimpsest clearly, imo, started/suggested the idea with his posts on that thread made on (Thu, Nov 3, 11 at 18:53) and again (Thu, Nov 3, 11 at 21:29).

So, the statement "That question prompted a mini "design around this" exchange with Palimpsest" appears to be incorrect. It did give another push toward the next level (DAT threads) but Pal had already started mini design around with his first of two posts/dates above.

And lastly, please do not take this post the wrong way. I'm not looking to get my head bitten off or stir a pot. I just like to see credit given when credit is due, and imo, Pal deserves way more credit than he was given.

I look forward to seeing more DAT posts and hope to be able to participate in the future.

I also hadn't used a mood board or compiled an inspiration board before. I'd like to underline that it really is fun (and quite addictive).

I learned to use Olioboard in order to post moodboards. Olioboard is a free online tool to create visual moodboards. It took me a couple of hours to figure it out, and I know I'm not using it fully yet. Essentially you find a photo on the web and click on a "Add to Olioboard". You can add facts/details about the item and you save it to your "Items" on Olioboard. Once you have pulled together various "items" you "create an Olioboard". Just drag the images from your "Items" folder onto your mood board. Very simple. Save your board periodically. To share on Gardenweb I save the picture of the board as a jpeg, upload it to my Flickr account, and then share on Gardenweb.

I don't yet know how to colour items - i.e. if I find an appropriate cabinet, how to I make it pink? Perhaps others using Olioboard could help here.

At first I saved all the individual pictures (Items) to Flickr, but now I usually just save the whole board in order to conserve room on DH's Flickr account.

Because I've gotten better at framing my search terms for images due to the DAT threads, I'm more likely to respond with images in a Forum thread that will illustrate my point visually. A lot of people will nod their heads and say, "hmmm," when you suggest using a celery green glass backsplash, but the light bulb really goes off when pics of the suggestion are embedded in the answer. Participating in the DAT threads has improved my communication skills not only with other Forum participants, but also with clients.

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away......OK, well, in college--I learned how to do design boards for projects. In the olden days, these were all physical samples as well as a floor plan and renderings. I still use those real life physical product examples, and had rarely done anything "virtual" other than emailing pics to clients back and forth. I did "mini" mood boards to show how a chosen cabinetry would look with a possible counter choice, etc, but I never really did the entire look virtually with snagged photo samples. It usually came together in a rendering. Participating in the DAT threads has made me more likely to include all elements in a virtual example when only certain items are up for selections because the elements all combine into the whole.

Here's the very important phrase for someone to learn and internalize from these threads. No design selection is in a "vacuum". You cannot (or should not!) select counters without the context of the cabinets, and you cannot select your cabinets without the context of the room they will be in, and you cannot select a kitchen without the context of the home it will be in. Everything flows together, or, it should, IF you want your home to appear to have a coherent and "put together" look. If you don't care what your home looks like, you're probably NOT posting here, right?

______________________________________________

Technical "How To"

I mainly use a itty bitty netbook at home to access GW, usually with a cup of tea in my hand and working on something else on the other laptop in the office. But the netbook is more portable and lighter than the 17" screen, so it's the one that will come with me in the tote or backpack and be available in a jiffy.

What it doesn't have is a lot of memory or software, and I figure there are a lot of other folks in a similar position. Either their computers are old, or they don't have a lot of software, so they don't think they can do the graphics manipulation needed in order to create a design board. That's not true!

I use MS Paint. It comes on every computer straight from the factory free of charge. After I've trolled the net using Google Images or Bing Images and saved a bunch of pretty pics in a folder labeled for the project, I'll open a blank Paint document and make it 800x600 pixels under Attributes. I use that size mainly because it will fit on to a screen without scrolling. Then I use the Edit menue to start it off with Paste From. While the image is still active on the screen, you can Stretch/Skew or Rotate/Flip it until it works for where you want it to be. Drag it to the spot and then go to another image. You won't get as pretty of a results as some of the software, but it will let you look at the different choices together. I've also taken to Copy and Pasting the larger major elements (Flooring, Cabinets) multiple times so they take up more actual physical space on the board like they would in real life. I did this because of a comment on one of the threads that I no longer recall that was about the beauty of one very large cabinet pull overpowering the fact that the other elements didn't really work together as well, but that was being hidden because of the large image of the pull that seemed to be a large enough visual element to make them work together.

So, pretty much anyone has Paint and can play with it enough to move the pics around, so let's see more of the design board creations in your threads for your own choices, as well as in the DAT.

Please DO jump in and participate in one of the ongoing threads! I promise that your own eventual kitchen will benefit from looking at the project as a whole, plus it is a LOT of fun to do things that you would never do in real life. I kinda had missed that aspect of design, where someone is willing to take big risks. You don't get a lot of that in RL. I would never have gotten the chance to do an exhuberant pink flamingo kitchen in real life! Now that I've done one virtually, that's eased a bit of the creative itch and I can go back to the sea of maple or white kitchens with a smile on my face. :)

L.

I am also using Olioboard, and I'd never heard of it until recently. It's not hard to learn at all. I use it to collect and play with materials until I arrive at a final collage, and then I click "Save as Jpeg" and save the collage to my computer. I post that to Photobucket for posting here.

The little applet you need to download (in order to grab images off the web) adds a little quicklink to your browser tool bar that says "Save to Olio." I'm pretty cautious about downloading apps I'm not familiar with, but this was fast and trouble free.

Once you log in, look for the upper left link that says "Me" to access all your saved items and boards.

Olioboard is designed so you can "Publish" your board to the Olioboard community, so other Olio users can see it. But if you simply want a tool to assemble boards to post elsewhere, just click "Save as Draft" instead of "Publish" and your boards aren't visible to others. I click Save as Draft often, to save my work as I go. I've had Olioboard freeze a few times, and this way my work is saved if I have to restart my browser.

For those who haven't tried Olioboard yet, here are some basics of what it can do:
- You can save each new Olioboard project you create with a title you choose, so you can open it to work on it as often as you'd like.
- You can crop objects to cut off extraneous background edges.
- Flop objects (reverse a chair to face from right to left) or flip objects (reverse up to down.)
- Resize objects, and move an object from front to back (put a floor behind a table, and then put a vase on the table.)
- Remove backgrounds. So far this seems to work best for me if the background is mostly a solid color. The "remove background" tool requires a little experimenting, but it's helpful.
- Rotate items, but not in fine degrees. Change a cabinet handle or rug from horizontal to vertical or 45 degrees. Sometimes, when I'm moving or resizing an item in Olioboard too quickly, I also rotate it by accident, so it ends up sideways. If this happens too often, you can put a little checkmark in the box that says "lock" by Rotate, and the item will no longer rotate until you unlock it.
- Duplicate items. If you have a cabinet image you like, you can make it the size you want, and click "duplicate." Another cabinet pops up, the exact same size. This way, you don't have to carefully size each cabinet (or backsplash tile, or flooring piece) one at a time.
- Upload images to your Olioboard library that you already have on your computer. So, you could take pics of the actual cabinets/furniture/flooring in your home, save them to your computer, upload them to Olioboard, to play with them there.

Sometimes, I'll click on "Save to Olio" to save an item to my Olioboard library, and I'll get a window saying "We're sorry, but this site does not allow saving with Olioboard extensions." In that case, I cancel the Olioboard Save window, and try right-clicking on the image (in Windows) to choose "Save As." Then I save it to my computer, and upload the item into my Olioboard library. It's a few more steps, but not hard. Another method is to open the Snipping Tool that comes with Windows, to select part of a webpage and save it to your computer. I think Macs have a similar version of Snipping Tool (if I'm not mistaken) that lets you capture any part of an internet page you're viewing.

When you copy an item off the web and add it to your Olioboard library, it captures the internet location where you found it, and often the manufacturer name/item name as well. This makes it easy to go back later, when you're done with your collage, to look up the info you need to source your materials for your post. When you click on the item in your completed Olioboard, the lower left corner of your screen displays a tiny window with the item name, and a link that says "Shop It". Clicking this will take you back to the website where you grabbed the item, so there's no need to make extensive notes about where you found it. I reject a lot of stuff after playing with it in my board, and this way I don't waste time documenting something I didn't use.

Also, the items I don't use in my current board still exist in my Olioboard library of items, so they're great to consider for future projects. And each item will still link back to the website location where I found it.

I don't see any way to change the color of an item in Olioboard, unfortunately, and I don't have a good solution for that (I don't own Photoshop.) I'm going to try the method that Cawaps outlines above, by using Word to paint a square of transparent color over the image (thanks for that!)

For years I've used a free download program called Irfanview to edit images. It's much simpler than sophisticated programs like Photoshop, although it still has a learning curve at first. I use this program to resize images, sharpen them if they appear fuzzy, or rotate them by only a few degrees at a time. I can add text to an image, and tweak colors slightly by selecting Color Corrections under Images. However, I can't change colors drastically (I can�t make a brown cabinet pink.) Irfanview also has a Paint Dialog box that I haven't learned how to use well. Basically, to tweak an image using Irfanview, I save the image to my computer, open it up in Irfanview, do the tweaking, and then resave it under the same file name. Then I can upload it to Olioboard to use in a board.

Most of this just takes some time to play with it, learning as you go. I said a few bad words out loud when I first tried Olioboard (I find it has a few little glitches.) Now I find it very handy and fast.

I usually agonize my way through interior design, worrying about two things: not using our money wisely, and not being happy with the results. These board exercises are a stress-free way to make endless design choices without any scary consequences. I don't even have to consider what we can afford; I can just be creative, have fun, and try to improve my abilities. That's very freeing, and a lot more fun than staring hopelessly at paint samples in Lowes.

After working on only a few of these boards, I notice things I didn't previously. Looking at photos in magazines feels very different; I notice how a curved table leg echoes a curved light fixture, or how other elements in a photo aren't as pleasing as they could be. Doing these board exercises helps me to see things, and that has always been a skill I needed to improve. I can paint walls with the best of them, but being able to confidently choose a lovely color that works great, while DH is making faces at it? Somebody shoot me now.

These design threads remind me of running around a jogging track with friends. It's great to have the encouragement of those jogging with you, but the real benefit (for me, anyway) is the personal strength I'm gaining as I make the exercise laps. I think I get about 90% of the benefit before I post anything, because I feel like the experimentation process is strengthening my ability to start seeing which elements work, and which don't. When I flop down a pretend rug in a mood board, and say, "ick" or "maybe," I hope I'm learning how to make better judgements. (And, no hunting for receipts, to return my mistake purchases.)

I hope others will jump in, and let yourself experiment in a stress-free way. As a fellow newbie (who understands the nervousness about first posting) I'd also suggest not getting worried if there isn't an avalanche of feedback. I often have my nose down working hard on my own board, and by the time I come up for air, half the thread is over, and I haven't made any comments (I'm slow!) The real benefit, for myself, is the fun and learning that goes on as I hunt and choose elements for the board. Posting it among friends and getting some helpful feedback (pro or con) is the big red cherry on top. Now that I know how how mood boards work, I'd probably keep doing them even if nobody ever saw them but me, because they are that great a learning tool.

pricklypear, absolutely start DAT PINK Part 2. Include a link to the original pink thread. Looking forward to seeing your space!

Design Around This #2: Colonial Revived 
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg1120302415211.html

Design Around This #3: 1920s Kitchens and All That Jazz 
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg1110391922585.html

Design Around This #4: Formica Patterns are coooool! 
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg1110530014438.html

Design Around This #5: Neo-Tuscan/TuscAmerican 
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg112008118668.html

Design Around This #6: I'm Dreaming of a White Kitchen, But... 
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg1200164315354.html

7 ... ?

Design Around 8: Animal 'Prints'. Newbies welcome 
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg121138208471.html

Design Around This #9: Tarting Up a Tudor 
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg1215040817289.html

10 ... ?

Design Around This #11: Pink for the Present Day 
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg1223195928212.html
Design around this, pink, part 2.... 
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0120533616224.html

Design Around #12--1960s tract house 
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0111113421143.html

Design Around This #13: French Country 
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg012330482680.html

Design Around This #14: Rustic Modern 
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0111353213639.html

Background for DAT #15 Hollywood Regency 
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0223352816093.html
Hollywood Regency, Design Around This #15 
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/con0211415323291.html

Thanks for compiling that list. Don't worry about the A's. People will just think you are one of the many Canadians on the board! (Now I am ducking....)

Design Around This #7 was Victorian/Queen Anne, but I can't seem to find it on search.

Design Around 9: Keeping the Golden Oak
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg1223260219606.html
There were two DAT #9s, due to a miscount. Golden Oak was 9, Tarting up a Tudor should have been 10.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg1212522312103.html

Upcoming Design Around This #16: Yellow Kitchens
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0202144714707.html
Design Around This #16: Yellow Kitchens
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0301475011272.html

Design Around This #17: Steampunk (background/discussion)
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg032002253368.html
Design Around This #17: Steampunk. Post Designs Here
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0317541615695.html?6

How about asking the designer to integrate a piece of art into a kitchen design and require that a certain number of kitchen design features be inspired by the art? And let the designer choose the piece?

OR

Pick a single art piece for all to work with (agreeing on the piece might be hard, though.)

What we have done so far:
1) Apple Jasper
2) Colonial Revived
3) 1920's Kitchens and All That Jazz
4) Formica Patterns are Coooool!
5) Neo-Tuscan/TuscAmerican
6) I'm Dreaming of a White Kitchen, But...
7) Victorian/Queen Anne
8) Animal 'Prints'
9) Keeping the Golden Oak
10) Tarting Up a Tudor (posted as #9)
11) Pink for the Present Day & Part 2
12) 1960s tract house
13) French Country
14) Rustic Modern
15) Hollywood Regency and Background
16) Yellow Kitchens and Background
17) Steampunk and Background
18) Art of Kitchen Design and Background
19) A-a-h-vocado & Gold and Background--Chestertown Buff & Rosemary Sprig
20) Real Estate REmodels and Background--In the Market for a new kitchen