For the longest time, I struggled with moodboards.

Everyone, everywhere, told me the same thing: brainstorm, gather inspiration, build a moodboard, then sit down to design. Simple, right? Except for some reason, I just couldn't make myself do it . In my early days, my designs were... honestly, random. No plan behind them, no real reason I'd chosen that flower or that colour or that layout. I'd just open a blank canvas and hope something good happened.

Then one day I came across a design brief I really loved, and something shifted. I decided I was going to do this one "properly." Moodboard and all.

So I went looking for inspiration. And what I found is that once I knew where to actually look, the whole process got so much easier. Here's where I go now.

1. Books

There's this amazing library not far from where I live, and it's become my main source of inspiration. Trees, tropical florals, botanicals, you name it. Sometimes I'll go into their catalogue, type in something like "tropical flowers," and reserve every single book that looks like it could be useful. It's such a simple thing, but it still gets me every time: all that inspiration, completely free.

This is just some of the books, there is so much more.

2. Readly

This one is genuinely my favourite. Readly is a website/app where you can search through hundreds of magazines, and mine are always home decor and architecture. There's so much to learn just from flipping through them: what's trending, how colours are being paired, how a room gets styled around a single print. They often run free trial months, or you can subscribe properly. Either way, I'd recommend it to anyone. CLICK HERE to check out Readly.

3. Biodiversity Heritage Library

An absolute gem, and underused if you ask me. It's a huge, beautifully curated archive of old books, organised by subject and contributor, full of florals, bugs, birds, all sorts. You can genuinely get lost in there for hours. Whenever I need a new leaf shape, an unusual bloom, or some kind of little bug motif I haven't drawn before, this is where I go. CLICK HERE to browse.

4. The world, just out there

I take photos of everything. Colourful walls, flowers, leaves, the texture of cement on a footpath, whatever catches my eye. Most of it looks completely random sitting in my camera roll, but it's all reference for later. You never quite know what's going to spark a design until it does.

Some of the things that caught my eye. 5. Pinterest

I couldn't leave Pinterest off this list, obviously. It's brilliant for colour palettes, and I've built up a proper library of unique florals from there over time. But lately I've been leaning on it less than I used to, and using the sources above more, mainly because I don't want to end up too influenced by what other designers are already making. There's a difference between being inspired and accidentally recreating someone else's idea, and I'd rather stay on the right side of that line.

Okay, so back to moodboards.

Once I actually had a moodboard pulled together, everything got easier. Conceptualising a collection, imagining what it could look like, deciding what belonged and what didn't, it all had a reference point to work from. It was a genuine lightbulb moment for me.

Now, putting together a proper inspo board is just part of how I work. It gives me direction before I even open my design software, and honestly, I think my work is that much better for it. Not because a moodboard makes me more talented (it doesn't), but because it stops me from starting completely blind.

If you're someone who's been told a hundred times to "just make a moodboard" and still hasn't quite worked out how, I hope this gives you a few real places to start looking.