Tales from the Techside

I first read about Design My Room at the FBS Blog in the post Virtual Staging and let me say it is an awesome concept.

When you start a project you are given a choice of various blank room layouts to work with. However in future releases of the product it will be possible to upload your own room pictures and work with the real world product images and colors and apply them directly to your virtual space. Once you get past the initial fun factor I believe there are some real possibilities for real world application.

My wife recently moved offices for her company and as part of the office move the company owner hired an interior designer. Everyone involved had their own ideas about what to do with the space, having access to this tool would allow people to work together to design a space. Another application could be for home staging. When my wife and I sold our home our REALTOR recommended that we get a home stager, the process all-in-all went well but it would have been nice to have an “idea” of how the space would look rather than coming home and being surprised, albeit pleasantly.

Another potential use that I could see a tool like this being used for is to help people visualize themselves in the space. When going around taking a look at open homes you could snap a picture of the various rooms download them in digital format send them to your client with a link to design my room. Many people probably will not take the time to use the system but those who do will be pleasantly surprised at how fun it is to use and how creative you can get. I think the uploading of photos will make this a much more functional product and is ultimately critical to some of the ideas I mentioned above. However I believe there are still some functional uses:

1. Choosing colors and textures - you can apply colors in layers so you can see how specific colors would blend before committing to putting the color on your wall
2. Space visualization - want to buy that new plaid sofa worried it won’t go with your current decor, use a blank template load it up with stuff you have and drop the sofa in the room
3. Project planning - looking to remodel the kitchen get a rough idea of how the end result will look before starting.

If nothing else this could prove that you need the assistance of a design professional before working on a project. Has anyone used this tool for business or personal uses? Can you think of any ways this tool could be used?

Below are some of my favorite room designs.

Mark Flavin

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