Skip to main content

See your home in VR before calling in the decorators

The commitment to remodel, redecorate, or even just throw a fresh coat of paint on the wall is a big one. There’s money to spend, contractors to work with, and no going back once you’ve started. That’s why being able to see what it will look like before you start is so valuable, and now you can do it in VR, thanks to a new VR and AR (augmented reality) app from iStaging.

Some of the prettiest demos for virtual reality over the past couple of years have been architectural concepts, but they’ve never been quite as personal as this. With iStaging’s new app, you can overlay new furniture in any room in your house, in real time at actual size, giving you a real idea of what works and what doesn’t.

Better yet, you don’t even have to place a marker on the floor to make it work correctly; simply boot up the app, point, and go.

If you want the full 360-degree experience though you will need some VR goggles, or a compatible headset. There are a number of options for you at this point, but Google Cardboard is likely the cheapest.

Once you have your headset on you can not only pick and choose the furniture, but look around your room in 360 degree augmented reality. You can then jump from the real environment into a virtual one designed by professionals, which could give you inspiration for changing around your own home’s layout, color scheme, or furnishings.

This could be handy professionally too, as it will allow estate agents to layer in furniture for homes, and give clients a look at what their future home might be like when they’ve moved in completely.

Available now for iOS and Android, the iStaging app is just one of several that the developers have received awards for in recent months. Not all reviews are stellar however, with some Android users suggesting the VR function is superior to that of the AR.

How have you found the apps?

Editors' Recommendations

Jon Martindale
Jon Martindale is the Evergreen Coordinator for Computing, overseeing a team of writers addressing all the latest how to…
Best color laser printers for 2024: tested and reviewed
A Brother printer on a counter in front of a brick wall.

The best color laser printers can be a great investment, saving you quite a bit of time and money. For shoppers worried about the long-term ink costs, you'll find color laser printers surprisingly affordable. Laser printers use toner, which lasts a very long time, delivering a low cost per page for monochrome documents and fast color prints. The best color laser printers offer quick performance and reliability to help keep your home office or small business productive.

If you need to scan documents for record-keeping and photo capture or want the convenience of a color copier, an all-in-one color laser printer is an essential tool for your small business or personal use. For a small added cost, you get expanded capabilities. That's why every model on this list is an all-in-one from the best printer brands.

Read more
The 5 best Wi-Fi adapters for PC in 2024
The Ugreen AC1300 Wi-Fi adapter in a desktop PC.

Whether you're designing it yourself or getting a pre-built PC, it can be easy to get a computer and realize that it doesn't have a native Wi-Fi adapter. Or, maybe it does, but you're internet speeds are getting faster, game downloads are getting bigger, you've already upgraded your router and need an adapter to match your newfound power requirements. No matter the situation, an external Wi-Fi adapter that you can add to your PC setup or even laptop setup will be worth your time. Here, we investigate the best Wi-Fi adapters for PC use. Most are incredibly affordable and just snap into a free USB port and start working.
The best Wi-Fi adapter for PC in 2024

Buy the

Read more
How to pin a website to the taskbar in Windows
A man sits, using a laptop running the Windows 11 operating system.

Windows includes many interesting tools, but if you’re like many people, more and more of your digital life is happening in your web browser and nowhere else. That being the case, you’ll want to keep your most important websites close at hand. The easiest way to access them in Windows is the Start menu and the taskbar, treating them more or less like programs in and of themselves.

Although easy overall, getting a website from your browser to your taskbar is slightly different depending on which browser you’re using.

Read more