Interior design can be an expensive affair when you get the professionals involved. Whether you’re on a budget or a budding enthusiast who just wishes to do things their own way, there are interior design apps to help with the process. In fact, AR or augmented reality can really help visualize how the end result would look. We have identified some of the best interior design apps for both Android and iOS platforms that you can take advantage of in recreating and decorating the perfect home. Let’s check those out.
Best Interior Home Design Apps
Redecorating your home or even just a room is a multi-step process that involves measuring out the dimensions, choosing the right furniture, planning a layout, and visualizing it before you buy any of the actual furniture or decorative piece. That’s why I’ve chosen to keep a healthy mix of home interior design apps that would help with your weekend project.
1. Measure
Measure is the default leveling and measuring app offered by Apple to help you take approximate measurements and level objects. This would be the first app you would need if you wish to measure anything in your room and don’t have long enough tape. The app uses AR to calculate the length and size of the objects and internal sensors to act as a spirit level. If you have an iPhone 12 Pro or an iPad Pro with a LiDAR sensor then the app is accurate to a few millimeters but still functions decently without the LiDAR. Measure is a free interior design app available on iPhone and iPad.
Pros
- Inbuilt Spirit Level
- AR-based measurement
- Maximum precision with LiDAR sensor
Cons
- Margin of error with non-LiDAR devices
- Doesn’t Store the measurements
Get Measure (iOS only)
2. Cam to Plan
Cam to Plan is an AR-based measuring app that lets you create entire floor plans on your iPhone. Similar to Measure, Cam to Plan uses the Camera to map out the floor of a room and lets you measure it by placing digital flags in every corner. The room doesn’t even have to be a rectangle, it can be an n-sided polygon and the app still maps it out flawlessly. Once you have the floor measured, you can save the file as an image or share it as a PDF directly from the iPhone. However, you can only export the saved files by upgrading to the pro version. You can unlock the Pro version for $2.99/month or a $30 one-time fee. Cam to Plan also has a 7-day free trial so that you can test the features for yourself.
Pros
- Measure floor, walls, and even ceilings
- Save the floor plan as image
- Share as PDFs
Cons
- The app doesn’t utilize LiDAR even if it’s available
- Measurements are an approximation
Get Cam to Plan for iOS and Cam to Plan for Android (free trial, $3/month)
3. Homestyler Interior Design
Homestyler is a completely free visualizer app that you can use to get the feel of how your room would look with new furniture. There are three modes in which you can create a digital layout. You can use AR, an existing picture, or choose from given templates. Once you have the image, start placing furniture to see how the room would look afterward. There is a decent catalog of 3D models of popular furniture such as sofa sets, chairs, cabinets, TV stands, etc. Once you’re done visualizing, it is easy to save the design as an image for future reference. Homestyler is a completely free 3D home design app.
Pros
- Decent catalog of furniture models
- Option to create a design with existing pictures
Cons
- The AR mode doesn’t work properly
- No option to walkaround the layout in 3D
Get Homestyler Interior Design for iOS (free)
4. Roomle
Roomle is a complete visualization app that lets you create a digital version of your room and populate it with furniture. The app has a huge catalog of 3D furniture that you can either put on your floor plan or use the AR feature to put it in your room and see how it looks. Once everything is in place, you can walk around the room with the app’s 3D room creator. You can find some of the most popular furniture models from IKEA and get a pretty good idea of the final layout.
One of the best room planner app is also free to try letting you place furniture using AR but only gives access to one floor plan. You can get the subscription rolling to unlock floor plans and the entire catalog. Roomle costs $5.99/3 months.
Pros:
- Huge catalog of furniture models
- 3D walkaround
- Ability to change wall color for visualization
Cons:
- One floor plan in the free version
Get Roomle for iOS (free, $5.99/3 months)
5. Planner 5D
Planner 5D is another really impressive interior design app for planning and visualizing with an intuitive UI. It is really well-designed and prioritizes your interests and aesthetic choices first and to do that, it will ask you a series of questions to tailor the catalog. Not only Planner lets you place furniture in a room using AR and 3D models, but also lets you place structural items such as columns, gates, arches, fence, trees, etc.
The app has more than 5000+ items in the catalog complete with furniture, appliances, household items, and more. The best part is that all the items and layouts are of the highest resolution so that you get a photorealistic render of your dream design. Planner 5D is free to try and offers limited features that you can unlock with a subscription of $59 for a year or $6.99 for a month.
Pros:
- Photo-realistic renders
- 5000+ items in catalog
- Tailored designs
Cons:
- Only five textures in the basic plan
Get Planner 5D for iOS and Planner 5D for Android (free-trial, $6.99/month)
6. Live Home 3D
Live Home 3D is the most comprehensive interior home design app on this list. It allows you to create a detailed floor plan of your room or house and then instantly convert it into a 3D-rendered space. You can also use AR to scan the room. Ranging from a square to a polygon-shaped room, you can design any size or shape and populate it with appliances, furniture, fireplace, kitchen, etc. It’s also convenient to adjust every aspect of your floor plan so as to create a precise layout, instead of an approximation. Live Home 3D is free to use but you need to get a subscription to be able to save and export your projects. The subscription starts at $4.99/month.
Pros:
- Huge list of building materials and structural objects
- Instant 3D rendering of the 2D layout
- Precise layout design tools
Cons:
- Interface and controls feel crammed on a smartphone screen
Get Live Home 3D for iOS (free, $4.99/month)
7. Houzz
Houzz is the only home design app you need when you’re looking for inspiration while remodeling your home or room. Instead of fancy tools to plan the layout, Houzz offers a huge collection of high-quality photos of existing rooms with different designs. You can filter them by preference, style, location, or room. Houzz has more than 20 million photos and you can directly shop from the app for the furniture that you may like. You can get a pretty good idea of how the furniture might end up looking in your room with the AR preview feature.
Along with that, you also get the option to hire local professionals from within the app because let’s face it, you’re going to need them at some point. Houzz is completely free to use.
Pros:
- 20 million high-quality interior photos
- Option to filter by style, location, and rooms
- Inbuilt marketplace for buying furniture
Cons:
- Doesn’t let you browser without signing up
Get Houzz for iOS and Houzz for Android (free)
Which are the Best Interior Design Apps
These were some of the best interior home design apps that you can use to begin remodeling your home. Ranging from simple measuring tools to full-blown VR and 3D interior design apps, the list has a healthy variation of all. Cam to Plan is a perfect measuring tool to map out a room and Live Home 3D is the app to visualize your home by designing it from scratch. Which one is your favorite interior home design app? Let me know on Twitter.
Also Read: 6 Best Furniture Design Software (2021)
