Clicks and mortar

WORKING OUT HOW to remodel your home can be like groping around in the dark. For starters: what colour should you choose? Where should you put your furniture? Where should the so-called accent pieces go? And if you want to move walls as well as furniture, the project will be even more stressful. Even so, you may be reluctant about taking the costly option of hiring an architect. You may know your mind and not want the law - or the wrong colour tiles - laid down. But you may be reluctant to take the plunge and do it yourself. Nothing's worse than toiling away for days or months, only to realise the end result looks worse than before - all clashing colours, off-kilter objects and wrong-sized rooms. The solution might be a strategy that offers the expertise of a professional without the expense or risk of a personality clash: makeover software. There's a good range of products you can download from the internet such as SmartDraw, Plan3D and a series of programs from DesignSoft. Romantics may recoil at the thought of this, imagining that software is inherently soulless and liable to tell you to colour every wall white and generally make your home resemble an office. How can technology facilitate such a personal process as home design? Enter Michael Koltai, the founder and managing director of the Budapest-based remodelling software firm DesignSoft, which offers a program called myHouse. It puts you in the driving seat, giving you control of every detail from materials and textures to reflections and light sources. After you've put your plan together, myHouse lets you see the result in full-colour 3D and 'walk through' the blueprint 'before hammering the first nail', as the promotion puts it. Koltai regards software as a solid solution to home design indecision. 'Within a few minutes of download through a DSL or cable internet line you can create, see and walk through your dream house or renovation,' he says. Carol Morrow, academic director for interior design at the Art Institute of Phoenix, is enthusiastic. 'There are no limits of this technology,' she says. And there are three good reasons. The first is efficiency. 'Millions of mathematical questions can be solved in a matter of seconds through the computer,' Morrow says. In a flash, you can create new arrangements, change colours, shift furniture and pore over a new plan. The second reason is that software improves the flexibility of a design project. It's simply easier to make and adjust decisions via a virtual view than on paper or in real life. The third reason is that design software speeds up the design process. 'When I painted the rooms in my house, I spent so much time and money buying quarts of paint until we accepted the colour,' Morrow says. Using a computer means you have a better chance of getting it right the first time. Architect Clarence Chiang Kwok-gai, of the Hong Kong architecture and interior design firm TeamHC, recommends design software. In Hong Kong, many people just can't afford the expense of professional designers. 'It's a good instrument for them to plan out their home,' he says. Ikea offers planning tools online, although it features only home-brand furniture, Chiang says. And he says that most software is 'very generic'. In the furniture database, you'll rarely find an Eames chair, for example, or designer seats, in general. Worse, even though they're easy to use and fun, the programs require patience if you're to get the best out of them. The owner of Louvre Gallery, architect Tony Luk Ka-luen, also has reservations about the digital approach. Software with strong, true-to-life 3-D rendering and walk-through abilities can work well because it lets you enter an interior and see the space, lighting effects, interior finishes, colours and so on. But Luk says professional programs such as AutoCad are hard for amateurs to use and require high-specification hardware to drive them. As well, many design programs exaggerate their usefulness and are good only for 2-D planning, he says. Worse, amateurs 'may not have the skill to perceive 3-D space' just from studying a 2-D line representation. Luk says sketching with a special clutch pencil on paper is a design ritual that computer software can't replace. Good design should be emotional and full of personality . 'A lack of character in any design is dull,' he says. One wonders whether the rather sterile procedure of clicking a mouse acts against the creative process. Even if you feel comfortable, your monitor will struggle to replicate the lustre and texture of shaken and stirred paint smeared against plaster and left to dry. You may find you still go through litres of paint in the search for the right hue. Morrow, despite her support for design software, says she has reservations about taking a hi-tech tack. She says clients are limited by their knowledge of interior design. Someone can have all the technology and do a poor job because of a lack of knowledge about colour co-ordination and layout. The British version of the product-testing guide Which? confirms that software isn't the easy option it may sound. The magazine reports that computer-generated plans are no substitute for architects' drawings. 'You need patience and an eye for detail to get the most from these programs, as well as some knowledge of window types, wall thickness, roofs, kitchen cabinet sizes and so on,' Which? says. 'To visualise a new extension, loft conversion or kitchen, these programs are worth a look but are overkill if you're just decorating.' Douglas Young, the founder and boss of the G.O.D. boutique, has no time for virtual vision. 'Design software for the layman isn't worth the effort of learning,' he says. 'It's great for presentation to clients if you're an architect. But if you're the end user, it's not worth your while to learn the program just to show yourself what you ought to have in mind in the first place.' The picture seems clear. Design software has huge potential. However, unless you can master the software and envision exactly how they pan out, you're probably better off hiring a professional. DesignSoft (www.designsoftware.com ), SmartDraw (www.smartdraw.com), Plan3D (www.plan3d.com), Planit (www. planit.com) and Punch (www.punchsoftware.com.au), Ikea (www.ikea.com), AutoCad (usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=2704278)