Don’t Trade in Your Decorator for an App

I love using decorating apps for the iPad and iPhone. In fact, my most recent find, Home Design 3D app has gotten quite a bit of traffic. However, as someone who has been trained in art and has professional experience in Interior Design, I can tell you that decorating apps won't replace your interior decorator.

Recently, I was tempted to rely on the Sherwin Williams Color Snap app (Benjamin Moore has a similar app) and quickly learned better. The app works by taking a photo of an inspiration item for the room such as a fabric or painting. The app will then analyze the colors on the photo and then you can tap different colors in the image to use as your wall color. The app will suggest specific paint colors to use in the room.

I recently used the app, and was sorely disappointed by the color choices. In once case, the suggested colors were very pleasing to look at on the iPhone, It helped me to see what combinations of color tones would look good in the room. I then went and purchased color samples, came home and tried them on the wall and they were just very wrong. I also tried this in another room, and I could easily see that the colors chosen by the app were far more muted than the inspiration item I was using. The resulting paint colors were in a completely different color spectrum than the original item.

Where the app goes wrong is probably in the ability of taking a good photograph with the iPhone and iPad. While these awesome electronics take good pictures, good enough for a snapshot anyway, but without proper lighting and superior photo taking skills, you are not going to get a good enough photograph for the app to analyze.

With that said, you are still going to need the skill of someone who is good a choosing colors to make adjustments to the color choices, which the apps will allow you to do. Better yet, once you use the app to help you figure out a general combination of colors, it is best to go to the paint store and pick up samples to try out in the room you plan to paint. Whether you have this skill yourself, or need a decorator, this is an important step that should not be skipped.

In summation, I will definitely continue to use my decorating apps. They give me great ideas, access to the most trendy colors and styles, and help me to reorganize a room in minutes. However, they cannot be used to override good decorating skill and experience.