When I moved into a new studio apartment last year, it was my chance to live out my DIY YouTube dreams and design to my heart's content. But it turned out to be more difficult than I thought. Since I couldn't afford a real designer, I decided to try some creative AI-powered design apps I saw floating around the internet.
AI-based design tools started to evolve around the time ChatGPT came on the scene. They come in different flavors, from platforms where you upload a photo and write a prompt for the AI to upload a new photo to suggest new styles for you to try.
I decided to try a couple of straightforward AI chatbots (ChatGPT and Gemini), a retail-based AI assistant from Ikea, and three design apps (Spacely AI, Decoratly, and RoomGPT). I uploaded photos of my apartment to the platforms and wrote two prompts for those with a prompt box: “Give me a storage solution for this area” and “Make this photo mid-century modern. Change room.”
Here are brief summaries of how each worked.
Chet GPT and Gemini (obviously) weren't clearly designed for design, so the most I expected was some tips and maybe some photo editing that he did. Some information about selected items has been provided.
I got what I was hoping for. Both ChatGPT and Gemini gave me storage suggestions, ChatGPT told me what materials I should look for to keep the room in a mid-century modern style. Neither chatbot was able to change my photo or design my room in the style I chose.
ChatGPT is free to use for a limited number of messages. Otherwise, it's $20 per month. Gemini is free, but the advanced version with better AI models is $19.99 with a Google One subscription.
Ikea created a customized version of ChatGPT last February so shoppers can ask questions about decorating their living spaces and get suggestions on style and furniture. I uploaded a photo of a corner of my room, which admittedly featured exercise equipment, vinyl records, a bookshelf, and just a messy pile of general bric-a-brac, and checked out his suggestions. What did
To store my yoga mat (and a travel pillow that's supposed to be a yoga mat), Ikea's chatbot suggested I get storage racks and other “decorative items.” (He also suggested I add a bookcase even though I already had one in my photo.)
As expected, after suggesting storage solutions, Ikea wanted me to buy his products, so I measured the space and told him I'd like items that had a mid-century modern feel. Give birth to but with dark wood. He responded with pictures of the items and told me where to find them. Despite all that, it still felt more like a search tool than a design app.
A better option is probably Ikea's Non-Chat GPT-based mobile app, which uses its products to help you visualize how your space will look in your home by overlaying them. .
Ikea's Custom GPT is free on the OpenGPT Store.
The most recommended AI-based design platform on social media is Spacely AI. After uploading a photo or choosing from a template, users can redesign the space, render an empty room, or edit the photo with text prompts.
I asked Spacely to reimagine my space in a mid-century modern design with primarily wooden furniture. Spacely is more customizable than other platforms, allowing me to control how much its model responds to my cues (like preferred style, color palette, etc.). However, the customization options in the free version are quite limited. If you want to do more than try it out, you'll need to go for a paid plan.
Spacely had a basic understanding of what I wanted, but the images he produced didn't really meet my brief. For example, I uploaded an image that included two plastic containers and a lemon, and the AI generator turned both objects into…decorative objects, I guess. Plastic containers have become wooden cylinders and lemons are either rocks or rotten fruit. (Unfortunately, it's still common for AI-generated images to appear funny.)
Spacely AI Pro is $20.75 per month for an annual plan or $39 for a monthly subscription for unlimited annotations, watermark-free images, and high-resolution downloads.
Decorations also change the images in a certain way. It is very limited for free users. Before subscribing, I could just upload my photo and tap the quick redesign button to create a generic design full of white and black furniture and zero character.
When I upgraded to a Pro account, I was able to use Decortly's “Build a Prompt” feature and its image filter, which lets you give instructions on what you want the app to build. Unlike other AI prompt builders I've tried, Decoratly won't let me write my own prompts. Instead, I had to choose from a prepared set of words to describe what style, color, content, and texture I wanted to see in the converted image.
I chose the words “mid-century modern,” “dark, gray,” “wood,” “metallic,” “smooth” and “neutral” for my room. The new image it created felt closer to a real room with a distinct style that I've gotten with other apps, though some of its choices can be odd – like placing some kind of table object on top of a cylinder. Replaced my electric fan. In addition, he put my Monstera plant in a tiny pot that would have fallen flat in five seconds.
Decoratively costs $12/month for unlimited designs and additional features. 24-hour ($3) and seven-day ($6) trials are available.
Of the dedicated AI design platforms I tried, RoomGPT was the most disappointing.
I felt like the app did minimal work in redesigning my space. He changed a few items to fit the brief—for example, adding a couch to a room that didn't have one—but he also removed my TV and media console entirely and never Also didn't change the room to fit what I wanted.
RoomGPT runs on a credit system, where each render is a credit. The free version offers two free credits. After that, there are three paid tiers based on the number of credits or room designs: $9 for 30 room designs; $19 for 100 designs; and $29 for 200 credits.
Waiting for better.
In short, none of the AI apps I tried really helped me design my space. At most they had to show me the type of furniture that could fit the environment I was looking for, which I could do anyway with a quick Google search. None of them were able to find a new style for my space or truly reimagine my apartment. As with other things, AI isn't really ready to design our living spaces.