Authored by Saskia
I’ve been in the interior design industry for ten years now. When I was in school, I started out learning AutoCAD and Revit. To be completely honest, I never really got the hang of them. Then, along came SketchUp. It was so intuitive and visual that I finally found my stride, became proficient, and used it to bring my designs to life.
And then… AI arrived.
At first, it was a little clunky and hallucinated a lot. I’d get weird lighting, three-legged chairs, or a random sofa melting into a kitchen island. Maybe a faucet would be growing out of a stovetop, or a kitchen would suddenly feature five refrigerators—because clearly, every kitchen needs five refrigerators!
But over the last couple of years, AI got better. It got more precise.
Looking at these hyper-realistic digital renderings, it’s easy to wonder: Where do designers fit in now? Here is what I’ve realized: AI is not human. Interior designers and decorators are human, and we bring a human soul to design that an algorithm simply cannot replicate.
When a designer walks into your home, we don’t just scan the room. We feel it. We smell it. We touch it. We take in everything from the flooring and the trim, to ideas you have for custom home furnishings, to the architecture of the ceilings and the quality of the light. Most importantly, we listen to your story, your wants, and your needs. And that is where the real work begins.
You see, you can go onto an AI platform right now and create a rendering of absolutely anything you want, and it might look amazing on your screen. But you can’t build it—at least, not on a normal human budget. If you have an unlimited, multi-million-dollar budget, then by all means, go right ahead and try to build what the AI cooked up! But just so you know, that AI image doesn’t correspond with the room next door, or even the overall architectural style of your house.
Why? Because the computer doesn’t know your house. And it doesn’t know you.
If you put Snyder Atelier against an AI engine we definitely win when considering the granular details of your daily life:
- When you walk through the front door, where do you naturally drop your keys? Where do your shoes go?
- Is the TV meant for the formal front room, or should it be tucked away in the back?
- Do you thrive in an open-concept plan, or do you prefer the cozy boundaries of a traditional layout?
- What happens when you open the windows? Do you get a beautiful cross-breeze, or does the draft slam all your interior doors shut?
- Does the AI tool actually understand your technical lighting needs, or is it just placing pretty glowing spheres on a screen?
Homeowners absolutely should have the opportunity to play with AI and brainstorm ideas. It’s a fun tool! But it’s vital to understand that translating a digital fantasy into a buildable, real-world schematic takes immense time, skill, and deep construction knowledge.
Interior designers are constantly calculating things a computer completely ignores: the health and safety of your family, the flammability of textiles, and the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) off-gassing from products. We work hand-in-hand, in real-time, with your architect and your general contractor to ensure your home works like a well-oiled machine.
AI can generate a stunning picture. But a designer builds a life.
