“Technology is the enabler for success; when used to enhance efficiently and encourage collaboration, we can help provide outstanding quality service globally.” Peter Conant, Former President of The International Interior Design Association (IIDA).
There is something exciting about bringing a room or a space to life from conception to final product. In between those two stages are countless hours spent considering the client’s brief, reviewing the space, finding the suppliers and meeting deadlines in the smoothest way possible. The interior design industry in Kenya is growing steadily and with the appreciation for external design gurus to transform a space, the opportunity for technological development should equally follow suit.
We thought we would highlight some tech tools that can make your work and life a little easier.
- Augment
Technology has truly transformed the interior design space with augmented reality apps such as this one called Augment. Available online, with an opportunity to try it for free, Augment allows you to try furniture and other interior design products in a 3D enhanced reality in real time in the real environment from the convenience of your tablet or smartphone. The beauty of this is that you can test out the furniture in the space and see if it will really fit or match the color. Other features include color customization, embeddable website button for suppliers to allow customers to try their products in their spaces before buying. You can also try out different models /items at the same time to test the layout of the space. Find the app here.
Image©Augment
Check out the video below to see how it works and how you could start to work with it.
- Decolabs
For some more augmented reality, here is Decolabs. This app allows you to completely decorate a space using their Augmented Reality virtualization tool so that you can make a concrete evaluation of how things will fit or not. As they put it, Decolab allows you to “explore, simulate, configure and review interior designs.” You simply take the picture of the room that needs to be decorated then include interior objects to see the complete picture. The added benefit of this tool, and augmented reality, is that you are able to switch, remove, add things to a room and completely virtualize before purchasing anything. You can easily collaborate with a client right there on the spot making the whole design process shorter. Find the app here.
Image©Decolabs
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Watch the video below to find out more.
- Estiluz
If you have ever gone shopping for a chandelier or light fixture, you know how each light starts looking the same over time; and how many emails you have received with stock items from the store based on codes you selected. But how about actually knowing whether a light will fit in the room or even look good. That awkward moment of fitting a light and realizing it is too small or simply blah. Estiluz can help with that; where you are able to see exactly how the light will look in a room through, you guessed it, augmented reality in 3D. You simply need to print out the markers, place them on the point you want to test out and select a light fixture. You can then save the image, share or find out whether that light actually works. Try the app out here.
©Claudia Sanchez Graphics
Image©Estiluz
- Houzz
Houzz is like home Pinterest on steroids. You can search for inspiration for every kind of room that you can think of. By simply creating an account, you can create folders and save images according to rooms you are working on or simply want to remember. With over 11 million photos, there is so much to inspire you. Creating that mood board will be that much easier. You can send select images to your client to show them an example or even determine their initial idea. You have access to purchase items directly from the app or simply find where to buy that chandelier that caught your heart. Houzz also launched this year the “View in My Room” tool that allows you to experiment with home décor options by virtually placing them in your home directly from your tablet or smart phone. Houzz also offers the “Sketch” tool to design a space by placing items in a room and moving them around with the added bonus of being able to comment on the image; collaborations made easy. Try the app here.
Image©Houzz
Image©Houzz
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Image©Houzz
Convenience is the name of the game when it comes to technological advancements and innovations in interior design. The Augmented Reality tool simply makes everyone’s life easier. With long commutes, traffic and other inconveniences in needing to be in the space or store in person, buying a product then returning it when the client changes their minds or found to not fit has been; these innovations can easily change one’s work and truly make it more efficient.
