9 Apps for Virtual Interior Design

Making interior design changes in your home is daunting. It changes the feel of your home, and since you live in it, it’s only natural that you want it to go smoothly. Luckily, the digital age comes with tools to make the process as problem-free as possible. Check out these useful (and unbelievably fun) web and mobile applications for redesigning the interior of your home.

Web Apps

Autodesk Homestyler: Free

This interior design tool lets you completely customize your home design. It’s very exciting and slightly addictive. You can create a 2D room layout that adjusts to 3D interactive rendering which can be used to stage the room in a variety of styles that you can play with to figure out the design that works best for you.

Ikea Planner Tools: Free

The Ikea room planning tool allows you to map out the dimensions of your room in 2D that way you can plan your furniture purchases, paint colors, and flooring choices in 3D. The visuals are more animated than the Autodesk Homestyler, so the impression you get may not be as accurate. It is, however, better at giving you a feel and understanding of how much and what kind of furniture you can have for the space in your home.

HomeByMe: Free

If you’ve ever played the Sims game, you’ll love HomeByMe. You can design the layout easily from scratch and quickly place furniture and fixtures, all on an easy-to-use grid-style layout. The app even gives you an animated person whose height you can adjust so you can see how they fit into the space!

Armstrong Virtual Room Designer: Free

This app is best if you’re thinking about changing your flooring, trim, and wall paint. It allows you to test out how different materials and colors work together in a space. Unfortunately, it doesn’t allow you to completely customize the fixtures and furniture in the room. Although, it does give you an accurate feel of how components of a room work together.

Planner 5D: Basic: Free, Unlimited Catalog Access: $29

Planner 5D fulfills its promise to create both detailed 2D layouts and semi realistic models of 3D layouts. While the creation tools don’t let you customize completely, they are very easy to use. Their catalog of furnishing and fixtures is also extensive, and you can create more than just an exterior. This application allows for the creation of exterior landscaping as well. The paid version of this app has over 3000 items with which to furnish your virtual dream house.

Mobile Apps

Autodesk Homestyler Mobile: Free, iOS and Android

With the mobile version of Autodesk’s Homestyler you can use photos of your own house and put high-quality 3D models of real furniture products, lighting fixtures, rugs, paintings and more in your rooms. The designs are can be shared, so you can get feedback from friends and family.

Rooomy: Free or $79 per virtually staged room; iPad App

With RoOomy, you can create 3D room scenes from photos. This allows you to virtually stage your rooms so you can get an idea for what products, designs, and inspiration you would like to add to your living space.

Planner 5D: Free or Unlimited for $19.99, iOS and Android

The Planner 5D mobile application allows for the same level of customization as the desktop application, including the 2D-3D toggle and maneuverability. The price for unlimited access is lower in the mobile application than the desktop, but still has an extensive number of freely available items.

Roomle: Free, iOS

With Roomle you can sketch floor plans with your fingertip, define surfaces and colors of floors and walls, and take a virtual walk-through of your design. It is an easy to use tool that users have praised for its intuitive features and layout, as well as it’s simplicity and versatility.

Have you test any of these apps out? Leave a comment below and tell us what you think.