Three kinds of home decor apps (and which you need)
Search for a home decor app and you will find tools that do very different things. Picking the right kind matters more than picking the right brand.
| Kind | What it does | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Photo redesign (AI) | Takes a photo of your real room and shows it in a new style, colors and furniture. | Deciding on a look before you spend money. |
| 3D room planner | You build the room and place furniture from a catalog to scale. | Checking layout and measurements in detail. |
| Shopping and inspiration apps | Collect ideas, boards and products to buy. | Finding pieces once you know what you want. |
Decoratly is the first kind: a photo-based AI redesign tool. It shows how a style, color or piece of furniture could look in your room. It is not a floor planner and not a store. If you need exact measurements, pair it with a planner (see our room layout planner guide).
Six things to check before you pick an app
- -Does it work on your own room? Some apps show generic showroom examples. The useful ones redesign a photo of your actual space, so you can judge whether a look suits your light, floor and windows.
- -Does it keep your room's structure? Good results keep your walls, windows and proportions. If the AI moves a window, you cannot trust the result.
- -What is really free? Look at how many designs you get, which styles, whether results are watermarked and whether you need to sign up. Compare the free tier, not the marketing.
- -How do you pay? Subscriptions renew until you cancel. One-time payments for a set period do not. Neither is better, but you should know which you are signing up for.
- -What can you edit? A full redesign is only the start. Being able to change one thing (a wall color, an object, the lighting) is what makes the tool useful for real decisions.
- -Can you act on the result? It helps if the app points you to similar furniture, matching paint colors or a next step, instead of leaving you with only a nice picture.
For how specific tools compare on price and free tiers, see our comparison of the best AI room design tools.
What Decoratly's decor tools do
Decoratly is a web app: nothing to download. You upload a photo of a room and choose from 75+ styles (or describe your own), and it generates a redesign of that room in about 30 seconds, keeping your walls, windows, light and proportions. Around that, these tools help with real decor decisions:
Restyle a room
See your room in a different style and compare several. Start on the free room designer.
Try paint colors
Test a wall color on your own photo and match it to real paint brands. See the paint color visualizer.
Try furniture
Add a piece of furniture to your room to see how it looks. See the furniture visualizer.
Remove objects
Take out furniture or clutter to see the room empty or to plan a new layout. See remove furniture from a photo.
Stage empty rooms
Furnish an empty room for a listing or to imagine how you would use it. See AI virtual staging.
Ask an AI designer
Chat about a photo of your room and get short, practical suggestions. See the AI interior designer.
Shop the Look
Find similar furniture from your redesign. It links to Google Shopping and Amazon searches and is free. Decoratly does not sell furniture.
Style quiz
Not sure what you like? Take the style quiz and match your taste to a style.
Before
After
How Decoratly compares with other tools
Each of these pages compares Decoratly with one tool, using prices and free tiers read from that company's own site:
- -RoomGPT: credit-based redesigns, and what its free credit really gives you.
- -RoomsGPT: daily free designs and monthly plans.
- -Reimagine Home: monthly plans and a few free designs.
- -Interior AI: high-volume subscriptions and a broader toolkit.
- -Homestyler: a 3D floor planner rather than a photo redesign tool.
- -Roomstyler: a 3D room planner.
- -Home Designs AI: what it is and how it differs.
For the full picture, including which is best for what, see the best AI room design tools compared.
Web app or native app?
Decoratly runs in your browser on your phone or computer, so there is nothing to install and nothing taking space on your phone. There is no separate iPhone or Android app. If you specifically want an app-store app, you will need a different tool, but for most decor decisions a browser is enough: take the photo on your phone and upload it.
What it costs
Trying Decoratly is free: 1 design from your own photo, no signup and no card, in 6 starter styles. Free results are watermarked and at web resolution. Pro is a one-time $14.99 payment for 30 days, not a subscription: unlimited rooms, 200 designs, all 75+ styles, the edit tools and full-quality downloads with no watermark. Payments go through Stripe, and every purchase has a 30-day money-back guarantee described in the refund policy.
Home decor ideas an app can help you decide
- -A new color. Paint is the cheapest big change. Try three colors on a photo before you buy a can, then use the paint calculator to work out how much you need.
- -A different style. Compare a warm, layered look with a light, minimal one on the same room. The style guides explain what defines each.
- -A new sofa or rug. See whether a bolder piece works in the room before you order it, then check the dimensions against your space.
- -A layout change. Removing one object or moving the seating can change how a room feels. Preview it first.
- -Styling a room to sell or rent. Neutral, staged photos help people picture themselves in a space.