Reading Time: 4 minutes 3 Ways to Use Augmented Reality To Streamline Home Decorating
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This is a guest post about home decor.
When most people think about Augmented Reality (AR), they think about things like games and social media filters, but the world of AR goes a lot deeper and provides amazing enhancements in many aspects of our lives.
In 2020, the technology saw a huge uptick of use in the shopping process, with what is now known as the virtual try-on. With more people shopping from home, there was a need for a way to visualize products without actually trying them on. This is now possible by leveraging your smartphone camera. AR is revolutionizing the world of beauty and makeup, but it’s also a huge deal in the world of renovating and interior decor.
AR and Decor
One of the biggest challenges of making any change to your home is the fear of buying the wrong thing. Very often, the way something looks on a web page or in-store is very different when it’s in our homes. If this is a struggle you frequently face, AR can also be the perfect tool to make your next home upgrade so much easier.
Before the only option we had was buying something, trying it in the space and then returning it if it’s not suitable. Now technology is set to change that and streamline how we furnish our homes and decorate them! The greatest thing about this technology is it can save you a ton of money because you get to make decisions with more confidence.
A lot of money is wasted in buying things that actually don’t fit into how we want our homes to look, and now that’s no longer something to worry about. Here are all the ways Augmented Reality (AR) is going to be a huge help in your DIY and decorating process.
Test Out Paint Colors
If you’re thinking of switching up the paint colors in your home, it can be hard to really know what your choice is unless you have some way to visualize what a new wall color will look like. Using your smartphone camera and a handy app like Colorsnap is one of the easiest solves for this problem.
All you need to do is choose a paint color and then point your camera on the wall to watch it transform on your phone’s screen. This helps you see how the color would translate to your walls and your space, and to make sure it goes with the furniture you already have. It’s a simple step, but a huge game changer that allows you to know you’ve picked the right color and that it will work well with the vision you have for your space.
Creating Your Vision for a Room
One of the most important lessons we can learn from all the decorators out there is to plan out a design before you start sourcing or buying any pieces. They leverage various digital tools to be able to do this, including virtual mood boards and of course Augmented Reality to map out how certain pieces will look before they even pay for them.
A really cool way to make use of these tools in your own home is to try it for decorating your walls. Whether you’re thinking of doing a really stylish gallery wall or a beautiful, eye-catching and unique piece of wall art, imagine being able to see what it would look like using your smartphone camera and an app!
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You will not only see if it works in the area you’re planning to place the item, but you can also play around with sizes and additional pieces to pair it with, without purchasing anything at all.
Virtually Test Furniture Before Buying
Back in the very recent past, buying a piece of furniture was terrifying because it felt so final. Sure, you could return the item, but no one really wanted to deal with such a hassle. When you had to buy a new couch or a new table, you really had to make sure it was exactly what you wanted – the right size, the right shape and the right style.
Thanks to the powers of Augmented Reality, that is a thing of the past! Apps like DecorMatters not only give you a list of products in your favorite home decor stores, they also allow you to view the pieces in your actual space. It uses your camera to map out the area and then it imposes an image of the chair, table, rug or item that you want. You’ll never have to lose sleep over getting the wrong chair again.
So many elements go into a well-decorated home, and it can be overwhelming and challenging knowing if the vision you have can truly come to life in your home. Technology is being used to make this process easier, and giving you more confidence in what you decide to buy and place in your home.
Best of all, a lot of these tools are cheap or even free, so it will save you money many times over, and actually make the process of enhancing your home more fun and exciting.
Rachel is an Austin blogger, educator, mom, wife, young breast cancer survivor writing about health, saving money, and living a happy life in Austin, Texas.
Rachel has written for HuffPost and Hometalk and has been featured on KXAN, Studio 512, Fox 7 Austin, and CBS Austin.