While late to the party of industries that have been significantly disrupted by technology, interior design is finally turning a new page with Hutch – the interior design app that takes a photo of your room and virtually redecorates it.
Recently, Zillow, the online real estate platform, invested 10 million in the technology. This new investment means that Hutch has raised a little over $17 million, with earlier investments coming from Founders Fund, Scooter Braun and Tinder co-founder Sean Rad.
According to Zillow’s CEO Spencer Recently, there will be no strategic or operational partnerships between Hutch and Zillow at the moment. Although, it’s not hard to imagine a future where Zillow and Hutch work together to help new buyers design their home, or tempt existing homeowners to redesign and upgrade to a new place.
How Does Hutch Work?
The process works by submitting a photo of your space to a Hutch designer who creates a custom design according to your “look”. You can then swap products in your design for similar ones, or try new looks, and finally, buy the furniture and decor you love. You can click on an item to see product details, dimensions, ratings, and features.
Since launching Hutch the team has built in some new features to improve the user experience. First, the design process has switched from mostly manual to automated (with a little human oversight), reducing the time it takes to get your room designed to under an hour.
The improvement in turnaround time does have some downsides — instead of a totally custom design, users now “swipe” through different design styles — like industrial, relaxed or floral. As you swipe through designs, all the furniture in the room changes to match that style. So while the process is now a little less personalized, users can still individually swap out items from Hutch’s library of items if they don’t like a piece the style recommended.
The Future of Interior Design
Hutch is a fun app that makes it easy for anyone to design a space quickly on a smartphone. However, there will always be a demand for professional Interior Designers, but like all industries, those who adapt to new technologies and embrace change will thrive in the years ahead.