the best room design app

13 interior design apps that instantly help visualise new rooms

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If you're thinking of giving your house a revamp, the hardest part is always visualising exactly how it's going to look at the end. Because who wants to spend weeks painting and decorating and realising that metallic peach was a mistake?

Thankfully, room design apps and interior design software is more than accessible in 2020, and now we can get a glimpse of the final result before we've even started. They're also ideal if you're still shopping around to find furniture that you like, and most retailers offer some sort of 'try-on' feature these days.

Luckily, you don't need anything fancy to join in on the action. You can be equipped with something as simple as an iPhone to experience augmented reality, and many of these apps don't cost a penny. You can often just snap a photo of the room you're giving a refresh, and go to town changing the colours of the walls, adding new furniture, or even changing around the layout of your current furniture without the hassle.

So, which ones are the best to download? Let's take a look…

1 Best room design apps - H&M Home Voice Stylist

If you own a virtual assistant, H&M Home's voice stylist is about to become your new BFF. For example, you can ask your smart speaker for recommendations on the best placemats under £10, and it'll come back with a number of suggestions based on questions about your style preferences, which you can then place orders for using just your voice.

2 Best room design apps - DFS Room Planner

What's great about the DFS room planner is that it doesn't just help you see what their sofas and coffee tables look like in a room - but you can input exact measurements and add accessories such as TVs and fireplaces to get a real view of what it would look like in your home.

3 Best room design apps - iArtView

Art lovers, this one's for you. Making an investment in a big art piece can seem daunting, and wondering how it's going to look when it arrives even worse so. iArtView allows you to browse through hundreds of pieces (or use a photo of your own if you're an artist), and it'll automatically scale onto a photo of the wall you want to put it on.

4 Best room design apps - IKEA Place

One of the first major players to introduce an augmented reality feature to their products was IKEA. The Swedish homeware company allows you to see through your camera lens what various pieces of furniture would look like placed in your room, before you make the purchase.

5 Best room design apps - HomeByMe

This free app is like a real-life version of The Sims. You can create an entire floor plan of your home in 2D or 3D, and add all of the tiny details to make it an exact replica. Brands add their furniture to a big virtual catalogue, so you can then start adding new pieces to your rooms and see what you fall in love with.

6 Best room design apps - Pantone Studio

As far as coming up with colour schemes goes, Pantone Studio is the best of the best. You can build colour palettes based on existing furniture you have, try out different Pantone shades on your walls and really get creative with your re-design.

7 Best room design apps - DecorMatters

DecorMatters is great because it's so realistic, allowing you to design your actual room (virtually of course), with real furnishings. Not only that, but based on the different rooms and designs you build, it'll also recommend you products that you may not have otherwise found.

8 Best room design apps - Dulux Visualiser

If you want a new lick of paint in a room, Dulux Visualiser is simplistic and easy to use. You can try out any of their paint colours against your own wall virtually as opposed to using tester pots.

9 Best room design apps - HomeStyler

HomeStyler has all the great features of other interior design apps. But, one aspect it does offer that makes it unique is this incredible 4K effect, adding some serious realism to your designs. Looks realistic, right?

10 Best room design apps - Pinterest

The OG of room design tools, Pinterest is a hub for gathering inspiration, creating mood boards and finding products to fill your home with - and it's responsible for about 99% of DIY projects we've all attempted.

11 Best room design apps - Havenly

While Havenly is a paid-for service, it's a really cost-effective way of getting a professional result. You're paired with a personal interior designer who will recommend products, styles, and help you bring your vision to life.

12 Best room design apps - Substance By Adobe

More for the pro-interiors experts, Adobe's Substance program is for the fine-tuning details, and a place to build large-scale projects down to every fine measurement. If you can get the hang of it, the results are pretty impressive, though.

13 Best room design apps - Hutch

Hutch allows you to dress up your home using your phone camera, while choosing from chic, hand-picked designers to furnish it with. The app also guarantees a price-match for any purchases made through them, which is always a bonus at this time of year. The shopping feature is currently only available in the US however, but it's still a great app for getting that all-important inspo.

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