Virtual Home Decorator

Can a virtual home decorator help make your next interior design project a success? Virtual design programs can help you navigate a room makeover, even if you cannot afford to bring in a professional decorator. Unleash your inner interior designer with a little bit of virtual help.

What is a virtual home decorator? These software programs aim to step in when you cannot hire a real, live interior designer for a home makeover project. They allow you to sample different design options online, creating a virtual image of what your room would look like if you made a particular change. There are several different things you can experiment with in a virtual design program. Imagine having the option to try out the following things before you make a commitment:

• Paint colors
• Tiles
• Flooring
• Carpets
• Wallpaper/Stencils/Borders
• Furniture placement
• Light fixtures and features
• Window treatments

The thing that holds most people back from embarking on a room redesign – be it a complete overhaul or just a little bit of updating – is the fear of investing a lot of time, energy and money into a project that ends up being a disaster. With a virtual decorating program, you can take the guess work out of the equation.

Of course, not all virtual design programs are created equal. Some of them allow you to upload a photo of your room so you can see exactly how things will look and some of them use a generic room as a base. The difference? Usually, the price.

There are a wide range of programs on the market, and they range in price from free to several hundred dollars. More and more companies that produce home improvement products are developing their own designer programs specifically for testing their products, and these programs can be found for free on the company websites. We recommend starting out with the following virtual design programs, each of which is available online free of charge:

• 3D Home Decorator – This site uses a generic room, but you can make changes to the room shape and size to make it more like your own home. You can experiment with paint, murals, furniture styles and sizes, wallpaper and rugs in this program. If you are stuck for ideas, you can browse rooms created by fellow users to get your creative juices flowing.

• iVillage – The home improvement section of iVillage doesn’t allow you to upload a photo of your own room, but you can do the next best thing. Set the dimensions and other specifics of your room, and then experiment with everything from paint colors and wallpaper to tiles and lighting fixtures.

• Floor Facts – This website is not specifically a virtual design program, but rather is a collection of links to several design software programs that focus on flooring. This is the place to go if you want to try out different styles of hardwood, tiles, linoleum, carpeting, marbling and other flooring options.

• Swatchbox – Swatchbox is to walls what Floor Facts was to floors. Swatchbox offers a database of links to sites that let you experiment with paint colors, wallpaper, murals and other wall art options.

• Better Homes and Garden – Better Homes and Garden has several different virtual design programs available. They have one that allows you to make a series of changes to a room and then a few different programs that let you focus on one feature, like furniture or paint. Their site also offers a plethora of design ideas if you’re stuck on what to do next.

One word of warning when using these programs – since the free programs don’t allow you to work specifically with a picture of your room, the results are to be used as a guide only. Remember that you may need to scale things different for your own space.

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