How to Make a Sample Board in Interior Design

Visualize the finished room and sketch the room to scale with all the finished elements in place.

Choose paint colors, wallpaper, carpet, tile, fabric and drapes for the room.

Gather samples of each from the manufacturer or purchase small pieces of each. Pieces should be at least 2 by 2 inches.

Look through magazines to find furniture and layouts that you like; make copies or cut these pictures out.

Place one display board on the work surface. Arrange the elements on the board close to where they would be in the room. For example, wallpaper samples would be vertical along the sides of the board, while carpet samples would be along the bottom of the board.

Cut a second piece of foam core with a craft knife to the size of your scale drawing. Apply glue to the backside of the drawing and stick to the foam core. Set aside to dry.

Glue paint chips or wallpaper samples together overlapping so each color is shown with the name of the color showing, or write the name on the back. Set aside to dry.

Print labels from the computer for each element, such as "wall color," "border color," "drapes" and "upholstery."

Glue the scale drawing to the center of the board.

Glue the paint or wallpaper samples to either side of the drawing.

Glue the flooring samples to the bottom of the board.

Glue the fabric swatches beside the drawing opposite the paint or wallpaper.

Glue furniture pictures on the bottom half of the board.

Add any other details such as fabric trim, photos of plants or wood finishes in the open spaces of the board.