As an interior design buff who has redecorated my own home twice in the past 5 years, I was intrigued when I first heard about Modsy – the online interior design service creating 3D renderings of your actual rooms. I decided to give Modsy a try to see if it could help make my next home refresh easier and more affordable.
Over the last 6 weeks, I‘ve now used Modsy to redesign my living room, dining room and primary bedroom. In this detailed review, I‘ll share my first-hand experience using the platform as an average homeowner along with an unbiased assessment of the key pros, cons and alternatives.
Overview – How Does Modsy Work?
For those unfamiliar, Modsy is a tech-powered online interior design service that helps you visualize and purchase products for your home digitally. You start by capturing photos/scans of your rooms using their app. Modsy designers then transform these into photorealistic 3D renderings showing your exact rooms decorated with new furniture and design elements tailored to your taste.
The key steps are:
- Scan/photograph rooms needing a refresh
- Answer style questions and share budget
- Modsy creates 3D concepts matching your needs
- Review designs in realistic 3D, suggest changes
- Seamlessly purchase furnishings you love
Once finalized, you can conveniently purchase recommended items from various brand partners directly through the Modsy site. Think of Modsy as your virtual interior designer, product visualizer and shopping assistant all wrapped into one.
My Package Details
I opted for the mid-range Multi-Room package at $299 to redo my main living spaces. This gave me the dining, living and primary bedroom for one flat rate. Had I priced out an independent designer, this likely would have cost upwards of $2000 or more. The discounted multi-room approach made financial sense over individual rooms.
Now let‘s get into the details of my first-hand experience…
Detailed Review Of The Modsy Design Process
Overall I was quite impressed by how smooth and high-tech the whole Modsy interior design process was compared to alternatives I’ve tried. Here’s an overview of my experience with each step along the way:
Room Scanning
I used the Modsy iPhone app to scan each room taking photos from multiple angles. The scanning feature uses augmented reality to map the exact dimensions of your walls, windows, etc. I did this slowly, making sure to capture every nook and cranny.
The scanning only took 5-7 minutes per room thanks to the well-designed app UX. Within 24 hours my exact room layouts were processed into reusable 3D models visible online ready for designing.
Time to Scan: 5-7 minutes per room
Style Quiz & Design Form
Before connecting with my designer, Modsy had me take an interactive style quiz featuring photos of different rooms. Through tapping my favorites, it learns your specific interior design taste – genius.
Next I filled out a detailed design form indicating budgets per item, special requirements, product preferences and anything else unique to my space.
My Style: Transitional Modern Blend
Initial 3D Design Concepts
A week after scanning, my designer emailed initial 3D design concepts tailored to my style and needs. I was blown away seeing my actual rooms transformed with beautiful new layouts and furnishings. The renders felt photorealistic – I could visually walk through each space and view from any angle just like real life.
My husband and I had a blast “walking” through our virtual new rooms. A few pieces weren’t our taste or seemed oddly sized, but overall they captured 80-90% of what we envisioned right out of the gate.
Initial Design Accuracy: 80-90%
Revisions & Finalization
Over a week, my designer and I exchanged four rounds of design tweaks via email and the online tool. Adjustments were a cinch to request – I took screenshots from the 3D concepts marking changes on top. Updates like different rugs, new sofa colors or rearranged layouts would come back in 1-2 days.
In just under two weeks, we reached final designs accurately reflecting my dream dining, living and bedroom. Being able to visualize everything to scale in 3D eliminated nearly all guesswork.
Revisions Until Final Design: 4 rounds over 2 weeks
Seamless Purchasing
This was another Modsy highlight – effortless integrated shopping across brands once my designs were complete. Similar to major retailers, I was able to add my selected items to a cart then check out entering payment and shipping details in one simple flow.
Over two weeks my items arrived safely with no issues. Setting up the new furniture was a satisfying experience having seen it all digitally first. And I confirmed spending nearly 40% less than had I purchased comparable furnishings from standalone stores.
Integrated Shopping Savings: ~40%
Clearly the Modsy service delivered in facilitating an easy, technology-driven room redesign at significant cost savings in my case. But what about downsides?
Potential Limitations To Consider
While I had an overwhelmingly positive experience, Modsy may not be ideal for every user or home project based on a few constraints I noticed:
-
Limited Custom Furniture: As a digital service, Modsy’s customization relies on available manufacturer offerings. One can’t design fully bespoke pieces unmatched to your space.
-
Less Personal Connection: Communication happens online versus an ongoing relationship with a individual designer. Feels more transactional.
-
Multi-Step Process: Finalizing designs requires back and forth. Those wanting a one-stop design may prefer upfront investment in an independent designer.
-
Requires Visualization Skills: The 3D concepts require some spatial thinking to understand sizing, positioning, etc if new to online interior design.
However, for mainstream room refreshes on a budget, I found the technology and convenience major advantages over tradition design services. Now let’s compare Modsy versus alternatives.
How Modsy Compares To Top Alternatives
As an experienced interior design consumer, here is my perspective on how Modsy fares against five major competitors in the market:
| Service | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Independent Designer | Highly custom, personalized service | Expensive, no 3D concepts |
| Havenly | Affordable, easy online approach | Visuals lack realism |
| Decorist | Styled photos visually rich | Partial room views only |
| Homepolish | Local designers with oversight | Premium cost |
| Laurel & Wolf | Freelance designers bid your job | Lacks cohesion |
Key Takeaways
- Modsy technology delivers the most realistic 3D visualization capability
- Packages drive signficant all-inclusive cost savings
- Integrated commerce from brands convenient
- Main limitations = less customization and personal designer relationships
Ultimately, I believe Modsy hits the best balance of design quality, capability and affordability compared to alternatives. But individual needs should dictate the ideal service.
Would I Recommend Modsy?
In summary – yes, absolutely! As an discerning homeowner having tried both traditional and online interior design services, I firmly believe Modsy offers unmatched value.
For a small fraction of the cost, Modsy empowers everyday homeowners to get sophisticated designer results through their 3D visualization and integrated shopping alone.
The technology bridges real world and virtual in a way unmatched by other online design marketplaces lacking such realistic renderings. This chose efficiency and convenience outweigh the limited customization capability to me.
Most Valuable For:
- Full home refreshes
- Those needing help visualizing
- Smaller budgets
- Tech-savvy online shoppers
I’d recommend first timers start with one room. But those doing whole home makeovers should absolutely get a package for maximum savings off trying to price out comparable furnishings elsewhere.
While not perfect, Modsy moves the interior design industry decidedly forward into the 21st century of tech efficiency. I eagerly await to see how they continue improving an already superb proposition for mainstream homeowners.
Have additional questions? Feel free to reach out at the email below as I’m always happy to discuss interior design!
Julie L.
Seasoned Interior Design Enthusiast
