People are turning to AI for a wide range of decorating tasks. Among all respondents, 21% have used it to plan a room layout, whilst 18% have used it for interior design inspiration, renovation ideas or choosing paint colours. A further 16% have used AI when choosing furniture.

Alison Westaby, Head of Interior Design at Barker and Stonehouse, says the popularity of using AI for home design is understandable.

“AI makes design feel very accessible. You can have an idea and see a version of it almost instantly, which is incredibly appealing. It’s a great way of exploring possibilities, particularly for people who might struggle to visualise how something could look.

“What it doesn’t necessarily give you is the understanding behind those choices, whether they’re right for the room, the person or the way they actually live.”

This is likely why four in ten respondents say they would use AI as a starting point but make the final decisions themselves. Only 11% would let it make most of the design decisions.

One of AI’s clearest strengths is visualisation. Some 40% of respondents believe it does, or would, perform well at visualising a finished room. Suggesting colour palettes and finding inspiration followed, both at 35%.

If you know that you want a change but can’t quite picture the result, AI interior design tools allow you to test possibilities. They can show how a darker wall colour might alter a room, suggest furniture arrangements or help turn a loose idea into something more tangible.

Alison agrees: “AI can be brilliant for testing an idea, exploring colour or helping someone visualise a direction they might not otherwise have considered.

“The limitation is treating that visual as a finished design. A room isn’t designed in isolation, as scale, proportion, light, architecture, furniture, materials and how everything relates all have to work together.”

In other words, the image can begin the conversation but it’s less reliable as the final blueprint.

Our research suggests that many people who have tried using AI for home design have already encountered a problem. Among AI users, 47% have followed decorating advice or suggestions only to realise that they wouldn’t work in their home.

Other frustrations are similarly practical. Of those who have used AI for home design, 28% have found designs difficult to recreate in real life, 25% have encountered unrealistic budgets and 24% say the resulting style felt generic. One in five say that suggestions were impractical, whilst 19% have been recommended furniture that wouldn’t fit their room.

Alison expands on this: “An image doesn’t have to walk around a coffee table, open a cupboard, account for a radiator or make sure a sofa can actually get through the front door.

“It can create a beautiful visual, but real interior design has to work in three dimensions, at the right scale, within a budget and for the people who are actually going to live there.”

AI can also miss the less glamorous details that quietly determine whether a space succeeds, including sockets, door swings, circulation space, natural light and access. Changing one element can also affect everything around it, from rugs and lighting to side tables and walking space.

The survey doesn’t suggest that people see AI and professional design as opposites. In fact, 34% would trust a combination of AI and a professional interior designer to create a room suited to their lifestyle, compared with 28% who would trust a professional alone and 14% who would trust AI alone.

For Alison, a designer brings curiosity, judgement and context to the process. That means understanding the architecture, noticing how light changes, asking questions and joining together hundreds of interconnected decisions.

“I'd encourage people to look beyond interiors,” she adds. “Hotels, restaurants, galleries, travel, fashion, gardens, architecture, even places you simply feel good in. Rather than asking what interior style you are, think about what you're consistently drawn to: colours, materials, atmosphere, shapes and how spaces make you feel.

“Your home becomes much more personal when the inspiration comes from your life rather than somebody else's room.”

As AI home design develops, it’s likely to remain a useful source of ideas and experimentation. However, it’s also important to remember that a home is more than a polished image. The details, compromises, memories, habits and individual choices are what give it character. AI can generate a room, but people still create homes.

If you’d like help turning inspiration into a practical and personal space, our Interior Design Service brings that human understanding into the design process. We’ve also got plenty of blogs that you can read through for even more interior styling ideas.