You have a renovation budget, a Pinterest board full of ideas, and no idea which AI tool actually does what you need. Some generate floor plans from scratch. Others restyle your living room from a single photo. Here's how to figure out which one fits your project.

What is AI home design software?

AI home design software uses artificial intelligence to help homeowners plan, visualize, and refine residential spaces. That includes generating floor plan layouts, restyling rooms from photos, testing materials and color palettes, and creating realistic renders of spaces that don't exist yet.

The key difference from traditional design tools: you don't need to learn CAD software or draw anything manually. You describe what you want, upload photos or dimensions, and the AI generates visual options. Some tools focus on one step of the process. Others, like Maket, combine layout generation, editing, and visualization in a single workspace.

Starting from zero: planning a new layout

If you're building new or doing a major renovation, the first thing you need is a layout. How many rooms? Where do they go? Does the flow make sense for how you actually live?

AI floor plan generators handle this by taking your requirements (lot shape, square footage, room count, style preferences) and producing multiple layout options in minutes. Instead of waiting a week for one draft from a professional, you can compare a dozen configurations in an afternoon.

This is especially useful when you're still in the "figuring it out" phase. You're not committing to anything. You're just seeing what's possible. Try a layout with the home office next to the main bedroom. Try another with it on the opposite side of the house. See which one feels right before anyone picks up a hammer.

We wrote a full breakdown of how floor plan generation works in our AI Floor Plan Generator guide.

Restyling what you already have

Not everyone is starting from scratch. Maybe you love your home's layout but the living room feels stuck in 2015. Or you just bought a place and want to see what it could look like with different finishes.

This is where photo-based room redesign comes in. Upload a photo of your current space, pick a style direction (Scandinavian, industrial, coastal, Japandi), and the AI shows you a transformed version. No painting, no furniture shopping, no commitment. Just a clear picture of what's possible.

It works for any room. Test your dated bathroom with modern fixtures. See your garage conversion as a studio apartment. Try five different backsplash options for the kitchen without ordering a single sample. The point is to make decisions faster and with more confidence, because you've already seen the result.