Man Cave Meets Roomstyler

Today the painters are here to work on the man cave. That means we are getting close to the fun part, styling the room! So while I wait for the paint to dry I have been trying out a great little online program called Roomstyler.  I am not even sure how I ran across this program, so this is not a solicited review, but it is a great option for the occasional DIY-er that needs to do a little 3D rendering.
Here is how it works. You lay the room out as a floor plan. You can then add paint colors, finishes, architectural features windows and door, etc. The program is pretty detailed allowing you to adjust the location and size of all the architectural features. Once you have the room laid out you then have a huge selection of furniture, art, and accessories to choose from in order to style your room. While the program might not have the exact furniture pieces you have chosen you are likely to find something very similar in style and size. So choose away. I will say, searching out the furniture takes a little time to learn. There is a search tool but it take a little  trail and error to find which search criteria will yield the most results, i.e. should you search “bookcase” or “bookshelf”

Now that you have completed your styling you can take some 3D photos of your room and see how it looks. There is a camera option which allows you to pan around the room and adjust the height and angle of the camera. Once you have the view you want you can take as many 3D photos as you like. In just a few minutes the program generates life like 3d images including light streaming in from the windows, shadows, and reflections.

Roomstyler also gives you the option to create mood boards. Although I have not experimented with this option as much I find that it does not have nearly as many options as the 3D rendering part of the program. It would be great if the two were tied together and you could crate a mood board directly from your choices in your 3D room.  On the plus side you can upload your own photos directly onto your mood board and include any image you like. Here is the one I worked up.
I have had a lot of fun playing around, as you can see, so if you have some spare time and need to do some room planning maybe Roomstyler will work for you.