Online Interior Design Tools

Photoshop has always been my go to software when I create "mood boards" for projects. First, I will sketch out my concept for a room. Second, I will take a picture of the room and upload it into Photoshop. Once the room is in Photoshop, I can change the wall color, remove walls, change the floor finish, add light fixtures, etc. Next, I insert the furniture selections and manipulate them with the scale, rotate, perspective, distort, warp, or skew function so their size and perspective align with the room. Then, I  manipulate their fabric or finish by adjusting the hue, saturation, color balance, or by filling them with a specific pattern (i.e. the fabric I am proposing to recover the piece in.)

I am sure this sounds easy, but in reality it takes a while to master and years to hone your skills so you can be efficient with the time it takes to complete a room.

I have a friend who is always in the know about the latest and greatest gadgets, gizmos, websites, apps, companies, etc. He is always sending me websites that are geared towards interior designers or the do-it-yourself crowd. I have never had the need to stear from my trusty Photoshop, but I realize that not everyone wants to spend $500 on Photoshop software nor take the necessary time to master it.

I decided to give Olioboard a chance. Olioboard is a website that offers users a platform to create 2D or 3D  "mood boards". The Olioboard "Community" is stocked with furniture from several stores and hundreds of blank rooms to use as a canvas. If you can't find a specific furniture piece or room background from their library, they let you upload your own, but you have to enter in a description for each piece you upload.

In this economic climate there are more and more freelancers out there who are converting extra rooms in their homes into office spaces. I decided to put together a scheme for a soft, chic, inviting, and functional interior design office.  

To shop my Olioboard above, click here. 

I did not purchase the upgrade for Olioboard that allows you to put together an overall budget and shopping list for each room, but the standard version does allow you to "shop the room". When you shop the room, you can scroll over an item and click on it to get the link to the store where you can purchase it online. I tried to do a 3D room, but there is not a function that allows you to change the perspective of the furniture pieces, so you are limited to pieces where the photograph of the item is already set in the correct direction as it would be in your room.

I hope you all enjoy my office scheme, presented to you via Olioboard.