Design your home decor using online tools.
The hardest thing about computer and online interior design tools is that a flat picture does not accurately reflect what a three-dimensional room will look like. Many online interior decorating tools let you draw a room in two dimensions and convert it to 3D. Additionally, many show colors and textures and let you change them as you choose, so you can see what those dark red walls will really look like before you actually paint them.
Floor Planner
Start with a blank page, an empty room or an example you can edit. Drag features into place such as furniture, rugs, closets, bathroom and kitchen fixtures, stairwells and windows. Save your floor plan and convert it to a 3D view of the room you just designed. Share or print it, or go back to the 2D version and move things around some more.
floorplanner.com
MyDeco.com 3D Room Planner
Start with an empty room or an example you can edit. Add furniture, paint the walls, and choose flooring. View a small 3D version or click "big render" to generate a larger 3D version.
mydeco.com/design/
Autodesk Homestyler
Drag and drop rooms, windows and doors to create a floor plan for a whole house. Add items, including real products from Sherwin-Williams, Flor, Dacor, Flex Deck, Kohler, Corian, Zodiag and Merillat. Switch to 3D mode to see it come to life, and share it online with family and friends. Export in DWG or RVT format for use with professional design software.
homestyler.com
SeeMyDesign
Build your room and add window treatments, artwork, flooring and rugs. Paint the walls. Preview a realistic looking full-color room. This view looks more realistic than the other programs, but requires a file to be installed on your computer in order to work, and may not run on every computer.
seemydesign.com
Design a Room from Armstrong
Use this tool to visualize different flooring options in different style rooms. Choose from bathroom, bedroom, dining room, family room, foyer, home office, kitchen and living room. Then select a decorating style. The program gives you a pre-designed option; you can't make it look exactly like your room, though you can change the color of walls and cabinets. Then you view the flooring options and narrow them down by category. You can also learn features of different styles of flooring.
designmyroom.com
Colors Pallete Generator
This tool is really meant for web designers, but you can use it to generate a color palette for your room if you have a digital photo with accurate coloring that shows elements with the colors you want in your room. Upload it and it will generate a light, medium and dark color palette using the colors in the photo. A good way to use this would be to upload a photo of your couch, or tiles you plan to use in your kitchen.
cssdrive.com/imagepalette/index.php
PlanningWiz3
This tool is marketed for professional designers to use with their clients. It is meant to be added as a feature for an interior designer's website. The customer uses the software to visualize a room using furniture the designer has for sale, and captures contact information so the designer can contact the customer.
planningwiz.com
Plan3D
Plan3D is an online application for homeowners, contractors and designers. There is a charge to use it which amounts to only a few dollars per month but is paid annually. It is similar to some of the other 3D programs, but it offers a large library of textures and furniture and allows you to do outside landscaping as well as interiors.
plan3d.com
myPANTONE for iPhone
This tool for the iPhone connects to the Internet and provides accurate color matching to the Pantone color system. A designer or homeowner can hold the phone up to any colored item and pick the closest match in the Pantone color system for paint or textiles.
pantone.com/pages/products/product.aspx?pid=980&ca=4
DreamDraper Online
This software works on computers, tablets and smartphones that have access to the Internet. Subscribe with a monthly fee. This software offers many options that some of the other space planning programs do, but lets you add furniture and drapery options from vendor websites. It's good to help get an idea what a room will look like with various custom drapery options.
dreamdraper.com
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