When my neck started hurting after playing games for long hours on my IKEA couch 5 years ago, I knew it was time to change the chairs at home because there was so much movement that it certainly wasn’t stable. I thought so. A good sofa can change your life, a bad sofa can hurt your back, and finding the right style for your life can cause serious decision paralysis.
Here, I explain how searching for a new sofa using the artificial intelligence tool Gepetto led me to aesthetically overhaul my mismatched living room, and how you can use AI to reimagine your living space.
AI Tool: Gepetto
Gepetto was created primarily with real estate professionals in mind who need to list their homes and apartments online cheaply without actually renting the furniture.
It’s like a text-to-image AI tool, but instead of writing a prompt to create an image, it asks you to upload a photo of the room you want to redesign or furnish and choose from various drop-down menus. Just be told what to do. Interior design style to apply.
Gepetto workspace in your browser.
Screenshot by Gepetto/CNET
You can use the in-browser workspace to change things like wall color and give some creative freedom to the tool’s results.
I’m looking for a complete overhaul to go along with a more comfortable and better-made sofa, so I’m re-creating my entire living room to a more cohesive look instead of the current style mish-mosh I’ve been banging on. I had it designed. Over the years, little by little, together.
In-browser tools are easy to use.
Visit the Gepetto AI site and click Get Started. Create a login using your Apple, Google, or Microsoft account. Take photos of the room you want to redesign. Upload the photo to Gepetto. Tell Gepetto which room in the house it is. Bedroom, living room, kitchen, bathroom, home office, dining room, balcony, garden and other spaces. There are also options for professional spaces such as clothing stores, bars, and coworking spaces. Choose an interior design style to apply to your image. Options include Provence, Normandy, Modern, Mid-Century Retro, Balinese, Classic, Colonial, Cyberpunk, Hamptons, Miami, Minimal, California, Rococo, Scandinavian, and Peace Enfants (a styling system specifically for children’s rooms). Choose whether to repaint the walls and keep the same type of furniture you already have, raise or lower the creativity meter, then press “Generate”. It takes approximately 15 seconds for the image to be generated. Then you can scroll. View results and choose your favorite.
Living room makeover, Versailles edition
The results can be quite fun, especially when you make fancy plans. The reimagined room below looks like it could be a corner of Versailles.
Oh, yes. It’s the perfect place to enjoy a glass of chilled caviar and vodka while reveling in the benefits of all the political power held firmly in the iron fist of a small ruling class.
Created by Rachel Caine using Gepetto AI
You also have the option of keeping everything the same in the room and just replacing or adding furniture. This can be potentially valuable for people moving into a new house or apartment and starting with an empty space.
Gepetto is free for the first seven uses, but after that you have to pay just over $43 per month for unlimited usage and image upscaling. I tried seven different styles and ended up with a mix of tastefully appointed rooms and flashy living spaces that would make a Russian oligarch feel comfortable.
Among the miles of jute, ornate ceiling frescoes, curtains that are melting from the windows, and floor changes that are probably too expensive to afford, I found one helpful suggestion (AI Ignore the two wide-brimmed sun hats that Tools decided would make a classy wall decoration ).
This is a very good example of how a living room should look and feel, minus the cheery green giant wide-brimmed sunhat decoration.
Created by Rachel Caine using Gepetto AI
Buy AI Appearance Online
At the end of the process, press the shopping button on the right side of your browser window to explore Google Image search results for websites where you might find furniture and decor similar to what’s in the generated room.
The top results weren’t very helpful. Real estate sites like Zillow and Apartments.com or short-term rental sites like Airbnb and Vrbo led the charge, but if you scroll a little further down, you’ll find items similar to the decor and furniture created by Gepetto. We found retailers like Etsy that sell it.
I dropped the images I liked best into Google other than Gepetto, and they offered some decent furniture options from reputable online retailers such as West Elm, Amazon, Soul & Lane, Etsy, Article, and Pinterest. I did.
Screenshot by Google/CNET
All that’s left to do is source a new sofa that won’t hurt your spine or your bank account.
If you’re looking for other visual ways to use AI, check out how to plan your Halloween decorations with Midjourney and how to remodel your bathroom with Renovate AI. For more AI news, tips, and reviews, visit CNET’s AI Atlas hub.
