http://www.sfgate.com/homeandgarden/article/Websites-help-dwellers-remodel-with-just-a-click-5316178.php
Websites help dwellers remodel with just a click
Updated 10:28 am, Friday, March 14, 2014
Do you long to reboot your decor, but you don't have the time or money to hire an interior designer, or just don't know where to start? Three new easy-to-use interior design programs aim to help you find that perfect new chair, transform your kitchen or even remodel your entire home with a tap of your keyboard.
Decorist
Gretchen Wolfe Hansen, a former consumer products developer, co-founded Decorist after struggling with her own design dilemma. "I didn't want to spent a fortune on a designer - like most women, I wanted bite-sized help," the San Francisco mother of three says.
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How it works: Services range from a quick free assessment of your style to a $169 mini-makeover. For the makeover you upload pictures of your room and describe your style challenge and budget. Within five days, one of Decorist's 20 designers will create a customized and interactive board with all the ingredients for a room, and a clickable shopping list.
Best feature: The website is beautifully laid out and fun to use. For the free service I was asked to select my favorite pieces from seven boards of sofas, chairs, rugs, mats, etc. to create a living room. I was then asked to sign in using my e-mail address (not something I usually like to do) after which I received a half page assessment of my style, including phrases like "less is more, modernist, ethnic accents, worldly look."
Bottom line: Spot on. (Though I must admit to being a bit miffed that the nuances of my design sensibilities could be discerned so easily.) This does lead to weekly e-mails suggesting furniture pieces and ideas tailored to you, but you can unsubscribe.
DesignMine
Home Advisor, a website connecting homeowners with pre-screened home repair and improvement professionals, has just launched DesignMine, described as "Pinterest with a purpose." Users create personalized design boards from 30,000 photos that can be shared with anyone. From there you can search for home professionals who might share your style. It's available online, though until March 24 the mood board is only accessible through an iPad app that requires at least iOS 6.0.
How it works: The website lists five styles and 20 spaces. I selected Contemporary and then Kitchen, which brought up 2,056 photos, some of which were dark and not high quality, with listings for the professional who provided the image. Clickable links are provided for Home Advisor's pre-screened professionals. The app is better; photos appear slightly brighter, with 32 styles and 37 spaces. You can also draw and write on the photos.
Best feature: Making a mood board was simple. (Your e-mail address is required.)
Bottom line: It's a useful tool for organizing ideas before you meet a professional designer, but not to identify specific items, though they are currently working with manufacturers to provide that service.
www.homeadvisor.com/designmine. Also available as an iPad app: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/designmine-home-design-ideas/id625335650?mt=8
Furnish
Furnish is a simple way to gauge if a particular chair is perfect for that corner in your living room without hauling it home or subjecting yourself to the nightmare of assemblage. The app is free for iPads, iPhones and Androids. Though it was first launched at the end of 2012, Furnish was recently remodeled for easier use, and 100 more products will be added to the existing 450 in the next couple of weeks.
How it works: It allows you to use your phone or tablet to superimpose images of furniture - from Ikea, Herman Miller and Crate and Barrel, among others - onto the backdrop of your room along with the ability to buy immediately. Just touch the furniture image and hover your phone or iPad over the space where you're considering it. Furniture can be scaled and rotated.
Best feature: I could see a red Eames rocker was perfect for the seating area of our kitchen, but the color needed to be orange, and the black stand of a Crate and Barrel lamp was too heavy.
Bottom line: Money saved, but I guess that's not really the purpose at all.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/furnish/id552805870?mt=8
Jody Brettkelly is an Oakland freelance writer. E-mail: [email protected].
