Furnishing An Environment: Applications To The Rescue

Washington Hispanic AP

Deciding how to distribute the furniture in the house, or the plants in the garden, required a pencil, graph paper, a measuring tape and a lot of imagination.

The process, however, has been greatly simplified thanks to the emergence of numerous applications designed to solve this type of dilemma.

Furniture companies, interior designers and even gardeners are offering a new generation of applications and internet programs that facilitate the work of both novices and professionals, often using virtual reality and augmented reality technology. 

“They are applications that generate ideas, select materials and tell you where to get them for home projects,” says Margaret Mayfield, architect of Los Osos, California. “And they are very useful for transmitting ideas to contractors and architects.” 

Technology allows one to see what kind of furniture can fit in your home before you buy it, using your phone’s camera, for example, avoiding having to return furniture that did not fit well. 

The design applications are not only for interiors. There are some that help to decide which plants look good in the garden, and in what place.

One of the most popular applications is Houzz, used by 40 million people around the world per month, according to Liza Housman, vice president of the company. It includes a huge data bank with photos that can be searched by style, country or color, for example. 

The portal “Visual Match” allows one to order furniture and other products similar or similar to those of photos. And they offer the possibility of a friend helping to decide using the option “Invite a collaborator”. It also facilitates contact with designers, architects and gardeners in the area. 

“View in My Room 3D”, meanwhile, allows you to photograph an environment with the phone and then, using augmented reality technology, to arrange certain furniture in the room to see how it looks. 

For the garden, Houzz has articles and tips from professionals and a forum in which gardeners provide suggestions. 
Another portal, iScape, helps to visualize the garden, store and share ideas, and buy products for the garden. 

As with all technology, sometimes learning to use applications is so problematic that people prefer to go back to pencil and paper. The professionals, meanwhile, say that if there is a big job, it is better to hire specialists. 

And do not be surprised if the gardener or the designer pulls out your phone and consults an application. 

Matt McMillan, gardener at Pound Ridge, New York, says “I often consult with the Merlin application of Cornell Lab of Ornithology. I also have dragonflies, butterflies and fungi. I can not live without the application of ‘Toolbox’, especially its compass. ”