As an interior designer, your goal is not only to create visually striking spaces but to ensure that each design resonates with your client’s lifestyle.
With this in mind, AI-powered tools are a solution for the interior design process. These tools make it possible to visualise designs, streamline budgeting and ensure projects stay on track, enabling you to achieve efficiency, precision and style that truly complements your clients’ needs.
Meet Sarah – an interior designer working on a custom kitchen renovation for a client, Sarah must present three design options by Friday. With several projects on the go, she’s turning to AI to help her meet her client’s tight timeline.
To bring her vision to life, she uses Sonae Arauco’s 3D Simulator and further enhances her mood board with samples from the Innovus Decorative Products Sample Box.
Source: https://sonaearauco.co.za/3d-simulator/
Step 1: Setting the Vision – Transforming Ideas into Tangible Designs
By using interactive tools like RoomGPT, Collov, or Home Designs AI, she can input her client’s preferences with keywords like “modern woodgrain finishes” or “eco-friendly home interior”. In the prompting, she can include Innovus product descriptions and within minutes, AI-generated concepts tailored to her specifications pop onto the screen.
AI-driven platforms give Sarah access to a wide array of interior design styles, materials and layouts. She explores combinations of woodgrain decors, opting for contrast with the soothing unicolour decors, and accenting, with one of the stone-like designs within the fantasies category in the 3D Simulator. Drag, click, download, print and… Voila! Sarah now has three unique designs that will inspire her client’s decision-making.
By pairing AI’s recommendations with her expertise, Sarah ensures her selections are both functional and aesthetically pleasing, truly matching her clients’ needs.
Source: https://collov.ai/
Step 2: Budgeting – Bringing Clarity and Control to Project Finances
With a clear vision in place, Sarah moves to budgeting – an essential step in aligning her creative ideas with the project’s financial scope. Budgeting can often be time-consuming, but AI-powered tools offer Sarah an efficient way to create an accurate and adaptable budget that evolves with the project.
Using an AI-based budgeting tool like ClickUp, Sarah can enter project specifications and obtain a detailed cost breakdown that includes materials, labour and transportation.
Sarah uses AI to keep finances transparent and organised, giving clients peace of mind throughout the design journey. By balancing creativity with financial clarity, she demonstrates that a well-thought-out budget can add value and confidence to each step.
While AI-generated budgets are insightful, they’re not always perfect. Market prices for decorative finishes or furniture can fluctuate and unexpected costs may arise. Sarah includes a buffer to accommodate these potential changes, ensuring she has the flexibility to refine her designs without risking budget overruns.
Source: https://clickup.com/
Step 3: Project Management – Keeping Track of Timelines and Tasks
With the design and budget structures, Sarah shifts to managing the daily operations of her project.
Sarah’s focus on the kitchen project requires close teamwork. By coordinating with contractors, suppliers and other stakeholders, she keeps everyone on the same page, fostering an atmosphere of mutual respect and collaboration; and ultimately bringing her client’s dream kitchen to life.
Using a project management tool equipped with AI, Sarah divides her workload into structured tasks and milestones. The software provides reminders and pings her with notifications to keep track of delivery dates as well as, potential delays based on supplier data.
Sarah ensures that each step remains feasible without compromising quality or design integrity.
Source: https://ayanza.com/
Step 4: Quality Control – Ensuring the Final Touches Meet High Standards
Within the project proposal, quality control becomes essential. AI tools that detect 3D design discrepancies play an important role here, enabling Sarah to check alignment, material consistency and precision in her proposed installations.
Sarah can scan her 3D renderings against on-site builds, ensuring each design matches the original concept. This helps her reduce the risk of costly adjustments, identifying discrepancies early, and allowing her to achieve a polished, professional result.
Quality control is more than a final check – it’s a chance to ensure that the design resonates with clients emotionally.
Source: https://www.midjourney.com/
Pros and Cons of AI in Interior Design
Now that the project was presented to the client on Friday and was approved, reflecting on the benefits and challenges AI brings to interior design is helpful.
Pros:
- Efficiency: AI tools simplify tasks like drafting, budgeting and scheduling, allowing designers to focus on creativity.
- Precision: With AI, materials such as wood-based panels and finishes snap perfectly into place, enhancing the design’s quality.
- Cost Control: AI budgeting tools offer real-time updates, helping designers maintain financial clarity.
- Sustainability: AI helps designers select environmentally friendly design solutions when presenting concepts to clients who have tight output timelines.
Cons:
- Reliability: AI-generated budgets may not account for unexpected expenses or delays.
- Safety Risks: AI recommendations aren’t always safe or practical for every environment, reinforcing the need for experienced oversight.
- Lack of Human Intuition: While AI offers precise data analysis, it lacks the nuanced intuition that passionate designers bring to each project. This human touch is essential for translating concepts into living, breathing spaces that resonate with style and purpose.
Conclusion
Integrating AI into the interior design process allowed Sarah to deliver a bespoke kitchen concept that aligned perfectly with her client’s vision. The Innovus enhanced mood board and AI-supported project proposal impressed the client, earning approval by Friday’s deadline. With everything set, the project will commence in two weeks, backed by AI’s ongoing support to maintain quality and efficiency within budget, at every stage.
For more details on Innovus’ decorative product range and how they can support your projects, visit Sonae Arauco’s website.
Visit our various partners and affiliates:
The Building Centre, The Kitchen Specialist Association, The Green Building Council and The African Institute of Interior Design Professions.