The world of interior design is a career focused on creating a vivid working or living interior environments for buildings, homes, or workplaces. A specialist works on the basic layout of furniture, colours, and decorations to make sure that they promote work efficiency, safety, and comfort. They are responsible for designing the lighting, art, and décor of the area.

They work to design the interiors of shopping malls, homes, airports, and office buildings. You know that the interior designer has done a good job when the room you enter is pleasing and soft to look at. The arrangement of the furniture and auxiliary decorations should not be intrusive or harm the usual flow of traffic and should offer safe access to exit routes.

In the past, designers had to work on paper, making 2D blue prints of their designs. They would work together with the architect and engineer of a building to ensure they have the proper measurements and designs of the building, so they could make proper designs for the inside area.

This proved to have a lot of complications. Sometimes the measurements were wrong or the decorations they had designed would not complement the building’s architecture. Sometimes there would be the problem of precision hazards. The designer wanted to make measurements for every little detail like small counter tables and miniscule windows but because everything is done on paper where the image is only hypothetical, mistakes are prone to occur numerous times. The plain fact is that seeing the measurements done on paper and seeing them in in a three-dimensional plane are two different things where the latter is clearly better.

3D Interior Design

The solution has arrived just recently with the introduction of 3D image modelling. With CAD or Computer Assisted Design Tool, the designer can now make their measurements and images in a complete three-dimensional landscape. They no longer resort to a top-down, side, and front view image sheets or an isometric configuration of those different views. They now have the option to get a complete 360-degree view of the entire interior area all in 3D. They can accurately create model images down to the smallest detail.

The main hurdle, as mentioned above, was miscommunication between the interior designer and the architect and engineer of the building. Now, the architect can use CAD to create an accurate 3D representation of the building which the designer can use to work on his job. With this, they can easily communicate what works and what doesn’t. The designer can make an addition to the model, say a built-in wall bookshelf, and then have the architect and engineer review it to double check if this change in design and construction would alter the room’s stability. If they say it is faulty, they can make their own adjustments to give the designer a perfect view on what should be made for the addition to work.

Another good thing about this upgrade in interior design is that the designer can now get a perfect artistic evaluation on his work. Designers are hired to ensure that the work place is conducive towards a better working environment where the employees and visitors are comfortable and safe.

The ability to measure the size of hallways, sitting areas, doorways, and how their decorations, colour choices, and furniture arrangements will affect all of these are greatly improved with the use of a 3D model of the room. When changes need to be done to the interior design plan, the designer can make these changes and it will not cost anything because the layout is all on the computer. This leads to the main benefit of using 3D modelling software for interior design - cost reduction.

By using a three-dimensional model, the designer can cut costs in drafting a layout plan for the interiors of the building. They do not need to work and spend much for prototype scale models, and they do not need to spend on numerous blue print papers and design tables. They can integrate all of these onto CAD software. They can give in-depth presentations to the board on what the insides of the building will truly look like. This is referred to as a virtual simulation. The board is given a virtual “walk through” of the interiors. If changes are required, the designer can do these without spending anything – they just need to open their file on the program and implement the changes to the model. This saves time, money and effort.

The last main benefit that 3D models offers for interior design is the fact that modelling software is always upgraded and open for downloadable add-ons and plug-ins. New tools are always available for the designer to purchase and download. These days CAD software even includes animation options so that the designer can integrate motion into their design. This allows them to test how moving decoration would affect their designs and the space of the area. It also makes for better virtual simulation. Additional tools and add-ons are constantly being updated and upgraded to make the modelling even more realistic and responsive.

The future of interior design these days is almost entirely down on a computer, using CAD software. Soon these very tools are going to be accessible for mobile units like tablets and mobile phones. Integration between technologies is already happening and it would soon follow suit for interior design tools.

A custom web designer can create the model on their laptops and then access the file for modifications right on their cell phone. While the basic education and responsibilities of a designer remain the same, students now need to learn computer software and gain skills in different tools to make sure they are updated and modern in their techniques. This will only continue to grow in the world of interior design as it implements newer 3D modelling technologies.