If you’re like me, envisioning a room with a new paint color, piece of furniture or window treatment sends shivers down my spine. While I work in a creative environment, I simply cannot visualize new décor for my home as evidenced by a flamingo-pink powder room I once painted – yes, I admit it.

Needless to say, the myriad of new apps and online and in-store visualization tools that are available are sparing me from poor design choices. For all home décor-challenged folks out there these tools will show you how furniture, floor coverings, different paint colors and more will look together by mixing and matching from a variety of pre-set colors and textures.  The easy-to-use tools help consumers channel their inner Martha Stewart and feel more confident in purchasing decisions, in addition to saving time and money by not having to re-do décor or hire a professional designer.

Some of the most popular iPhone home design apps are Colorsnap, Colorchange and Ben Color Capture.  With Colorsnap, you simply take a photo of a swatch you are using.  This can be anything from a close up of your sofa to a print on your lampshade.  Once you take the photo, the Colorsnap app will find a paint color that best matches your swatch.  Colorchange lets you see your interior with the finished product and Benjamin Moore’s Ben Color Capture app matches paint swatches with your interior.  With the snap of your camera, you’ll receive paint recommendations within seconds along with a dealer locator.  All this, and you didn’t even need to leave your couch.

Home furnishing retailers and manufacturers can take advantage of these latest technologies to develop interactive visualization tools that will help make the sale and deliver more satisfied customers.  With a world of people strapped to their phones, not utilizing these app opportunities would be a very poor decision. Like my hot pink bathroom.

Domus, Inc. is an integrated digital and traditional marketing communications agency that delivers unconventional thinking and out-of-the-box strategies that help our clients sustain growth and demand brand awareness.  For more information, please visit us at http://www.domusinc.com.