AI for Interior Design
Updated: May 20, 2024
Embracing AI in Interior Design: A Bright Future Ahead?
*All Imagery used in this article were designed by Cley Atelier and generated using Midjourney.

Hey there, fellow designers and innovative minds! As a California-based designer with over 20 years of professional experience working in Interior Design & Architecture, I feel like I've had a front row seat to see firsthand how innovation shapes our world. Today, I want to dive into a topic that's buzzing in our industry: AI for Interior Design. Let's explore how we can stay ahead of the curve, learn to use AI as a tool, and ensure we're the ones running the tech, not the other way around.

The Design Process:
Integrating AI from Concept through Design Deliverables & Portfolio Building:
Concept Phase: Setting the Mood with AI
Before diving into detailed designs, we start with the Concept Phase. This involves pulling together imagery to convey the overall mood and feel of the design. Mood boards are a key part of this process, showcasing a general color scheme, textures, materials, and inspirational images. These boards help set the direction for the project and ensure everyone is on the same page.

AI can be a fantastic tool in this phase. Have you ever spent days digging through Pinterest trying to find the perfect images to convey your intent? Well now tools like Midjourney and DALL-E can generate concept imagery and even entire mood boards, offering a quick way to explore different styles and ideas. I find you get out of these tools what you put in and there is a bit of a learning curve if you want to "train" it to generate the specific type of imagery you're looking for rather than just accepting what it spits out on the first round. Yes, it can get a bit time consuming playing around with prompts and regenerating over and over, but I still find it much faster and more efficient than the old way of digging through magazines and Pinterest and Google for days on end. This speeds up the process and provides a broad range of options to consider. Combine it with Adobe Photoshop & InDesign to really mould things for your specific design intent and you may be amazed at how helpful it can be!
Design Development: AI as a Creative Partner
As we move into the design development phase, traditional design software takes the lead. Programs like AutoCAD, Revit, and SketchUp allow us to create precise, detailed, and customized designs. These tools are indispensable for developing the intricate details of a project. During this phase, typically the design is evolving at the same time as formal documentation (CD's) are starting, and the two are coordinated together for more advanced design deliverables such as: technical drawings, renderings, material boards and digital presentations, that convey a greater level of detail and specific design elements, specified finishes and FF&E specifications (Furniture, Fixtures & Equipment).

What is a rendering? A rendering is a visual representation of a design or concept, giving clients a sneak peek into what the finished project will look like. Renderings can range from simple sketches perhaps with marker or watercolor, to 2-D Floorplan or elevation renderings often, produced with AutoCAD + Photoshop, to highly detailed, photorealistic 3-D images. And yes, an AI-generated image can be considered a rendering, especially in the context of visualizing concepts. However, while AI-generated renderings are great for initial visualizations, traditional rendering software is essential for creating highly detailed, realistic and customized, project specific images. Traditional custom Renderings are typically developed using 3-D modeling tools like SketchUp, Revit, or Rhino, to build the custom 3-D model, and are then combined with advanced rendering software like Enscape, V-Ray, or Lumion, tools which simulate real-world lighting, materials, and textures, and together they can produce lifelike visualizations customized to the specific design project.

However, AI can still play a supportive role in the Design Development phase. AI tools can suggest alternate design ideas and color schemes, or even get into generating ideas for furniture or lighting design, expanding our creative possibilities. They can generate multiple loose design options quickly, helping us explore different styles and ideas before committing to a final design. Also I think with Midjourney specifically, you can continue to further develop the initial concept imagery; reworking and massaging the prompts and tweaking the design to really dial in on a higher level of detail and more precise imagery. At this point, from our findings, Midjourney seems to have the most advanced level of image generation capabilities, but of course everything will continue to evolve and develop at a rapid pace in the coming years.

Sidebar:
Now I would like to take a little sidebar here to address some common misconceptions about what "Interior Design" is to professional Interior Designers & Architects vs what I would consider Decorating or Staging. There are numerous new AI design platforms supposedly geared towards Interior Designers, I wont get into listing out names here, but if you're interested in some more specific examples you can watch the video link below, where this YouTuber tests out twelve of these different online design tools. I think this video is very informative and will help convey what I'm talking about.
In my opinion, at this point, these (and many others out there) are at best, toys to play with for non industry professionals. Perhaps they could be useful to Airbnb hosts or Real Estate agents looking to get ideas or quickly stage a photo of an existing space, or maybe even to an individual homeowner who doesn't have the budget to hire an interior designer but wants to play around with some ideas themselves. But as a tool to replace the current software and processes being used by professionals, no unfortunately the technology isn't there yet. Also clients beware, there are "decorators" out there calling themselves Designers (the difference is having an college degree in the subject or not) and some of these decorator hobbyists are using these programs to produce low quality work at budget pricing. However Interior Design is definitely a profession with an element of "you get what you pay for" so if you want things done thoroughly and correctly I would highly recommend hiring an credentialed, experienced, professional. When you are talking about hiring an Interior Designer or Architect for a project, it is assumed you are looking for a high level of customized design, technical skills, and knowledge of industry standards, current trends and resources that these professionals can provide. Anyways, I digress..... Point being, the technology for AI to generate fully customized renderings that include all specific project specifications just isn't there yet, but we will be staying as informed as possible, so when it is there we can jump in to take advantage!

Documentation: Precision and Detail with Traditional Software
Finally, we move into the documentation phase, where precision and detail are paramount. This phase involves creating construction documents & details, which are essential for executing the design. Traditional software like AutoCAD and Revit are crucial here, allowing us to produce highly accurate and detailed drawings that meet industry standards.

Although we are starting to see articles and advertisements about our traditional design platforms beginning to integrate some level of AI into their software, I believe at this point, it is only at the very initial stages and does not yet contribute to the typical designers workflow. When it comes to producing the precise and technical documents required for construction, AI tools aren't replacing skilled professionals yet. They can assist in generating initial ideas and visualizations, but the detailed and customized work necessary for construction documents still relies on traditional software & educated, experienced professionals running this software.
The Role of Renderings in Building a Portfolio
Another one of the challenges we as Designers face in our industry, is showcasing our work. Projects can take years to complete, and sometimes they never come to fruition due to various constraints (Financing often being a big one). Or if they do get built, the design may end up very watered down from the original design intent (due to "too many cooks in the kitchen", budget constraints "VE" and more). Additionally, designers often can't use photos of finished projects because ether no one ever takes the time to professionally photograph the project before running off to star the next project, or due to NDAs or to protect clients privacy. AI-generated and traditional renderings offer a valuable solution for building portfolios and showcasing our distinct aesthetics. These renderings can be used for:

Marketing and Social Media: High-quality renderings are perfect for sharing on Instagram and other platforms.
Professional Websites, Blogs & Articles: Enhancing our online presence and generating much needed imagery in a very visually oriented industry.
Showcasing our Personal Design Aesthetic: Many times new clients want to see examples of our specific preferred "style" or design aesthetic, and although I strongly believe any good designer knows how to customize design for the specific client and project, it would be nice to be able to showcase what we could do with hypothetical dream projects. Over the course of ones career, we typically work on projects while working under a boss for a company and there is a team of different designers, a lot of client input included, as well as budget constraints. And although this is the reality of the industry, I believe most of us are artists at heart who want to express our creative side and the design choices we would make had it been our company or the ideal dream projects. Renderings are a way to build our personalized portfolios to convey our own personal style in a best case scenario. Just be sure to be honest and clearly label what was created using what software and if it was an "in-house" test project, just a rendering example, or a real life complete project that also included a full design deliverable package.

To wrap this up For Now:
Because there is so much more we could get into, including our vision for the ideal Interior Design AI software! But hopefully this touched on the general overview of where things stand at this point. AI is transforming the interior design industry, offering new tools and possibilities at every stage of the design process. From conceptualization to presentation deliverables and documentation, AI can enhance our workflows and expand our creative possibilities. While AI is an excellent tool for the conceptual phase and can aid in visualization, it can't yet replace the precision and customization offered by traditional design software.
We must continue to rely on the professionals and traditional design platforms for detailed design development. However, AI generated imagery provides a valuable resource for kicking off the initial conceptual phase, building portfolios, showcasing aesthetics, and enhancing marketing efforts. As technology evolves, the integration of AI in interior design will undoubtedly grow, offering new opportunities and challenges for professionals in our industry.
Stay ahead of the curve, embrace the new tech, and let’s keep pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in design!
*To our knowledge, the AI technology to generate fully customized (to specification) Interior Design Renderings has not been developed yet but if any AI software developers out there are interested in collaborating to make this happen please reach out! We have BIG ideas and the expertise from the user standpoint to help in developing the program designers dream of!
Interior Design & Consulting Services
Need help with your Interior Design project? You've come to the right place! Christine, principal of Cley Atelier, is a professional Interior Designer, please contact us for Interior Design Services. We can help with full design and documentation, provide assistance pulling the concept together or help with sourcing something specific. We offer everything from Luxury Full Service Design to Expert Advice Consultations and Virtual Design Intent Packages as well as hourly assistance options to help you with your specific design needs.
Are you an Interior Design or Architecture Firm who could use someone with a senior level of experience to jump in and help out as needed?! We offer consulting services on a freelance basis for production work as well as customized remote project management and training tutorials on AutoCAD for Interior Designers, Photoshop 2-D renderings, Sketchup + Enscape Modeling & Rendering for beginners and InDesign presentations. We can also help small firms set up CAD standards, structured project systems and procedures so your projects run like a well oiled machine. And we are also happy to give a personalized talk on AI to get your team up to speed on how to integrate the latest AI into your projects and workflow! Contact us for more information!