3D interior design online

ApaPlan team · Updated October 14, 2026

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You can design an interior online yourself and for free. ApaPlan is a browser-based interior design tool where the measured floor plan, furniture, wall and floor materials and the 3D view all belong to one project. There is nothing to install and no subscription. The editor opens without sign-up — your guest project is kept in this browser; sign in with Google or email to save it to an account and continue on another device.

Not AI: you design it yourself

Many “interior design online” searches now lead to image generators: upload a photo and get a pretty picture. That is great for inspiration, but the picture does not know the size of your room, does not check walkways and cannot tell you whether a particular wardrobe fits. ApaPlan works differently: you build the room from your measurements, place furniture with real dimensions and choose the finishes. The result is less glossy-magazine, but you can actually build it. ApaPlan has no automatic AI design generation.

The two approaches combine well. Use a generated or magazine image as a reference: pick similar materials and furniture, then check in ApaPlan how the idea looks in your room with its real wall lengths, windows and doors. Often the sofa from the picture has to shrink and the wardrobe has to move to another wall.

What to prepare before you start

A do-it-yourself interior starts with a few questions, not with paint samples. Who lives here and what do they do at home? Where is the workspace, how much closed storage is needed, is there room for guests? Write the answers down; they become your checklist for the finished design.

Measure the rooms, windows and doors, ceiling height and radiator positions. If you are keeping some furniture, measure it too — those pieces go on the plan first. Collect a few interior photos you like and note what attracts you: the wall colour, the floor, the shape of a sofa or the light. That makes it easier to translate a feeling into specific materials.

How to design an interior online, step by step

1. Create a measured floor plan by drawing walls or importing a plan image, then check the outline.
2. Add doors and windows and verify wall, opening and sill heights.
3. Place the main furniture from the catalog and set its real dimensions.
4. Choose materials: paint, plaster or tiles for walls, parquet or tiles for floors. Change the colours of furniture and textiles.
5. Switch to 3D. Look at the room from above, then use Walk mode from the entrance, the window and the sofa.
6. Save a copy of the project and try a second finish without changing the furniture.
7. Return to 2D to verify measurements and download the renovation PDF with its finish schedule.

Wall and floor materials and textures

The editor includes a texture library: parquet, tiles, plaster, paint, stone, concrete, masonry, carpet, fabric, leather and metal. Assign a material to a specific wall, a room's floor or an object. The eyedropper copies a material from one surface to another, and on complex models you can change the material of a whole group of parts. You can upload your own textures and models too; they stay in the browser of the device where you added them.

A few practical tips for combining finishes:

• The 60–30–10 rule. About 60% of the surface is the main colour (walls), 30% a secondary colour (large furniture, floor) and 10% an accent (textiles, decor). It is a guideline, not a law, but it quickly shows when there are too many colours.
• A floor darker than the walls usually makes a room feel grounded; a light floor with dark walls makes the space feel smaller.
• Large patterns on tiles or walls should be checked in 3D from a realistic distance: from above they look different than from the door.
• One accent wall is the one you see from the entrance or the sofa. Find it in Walk mode, not on the plan.

3D modes: overview and walkthrough

ApaPlan builds the 3D scene from the same plan as 2D: walls, openings, furniture and finishes are shared, so changes appear in both views at once.

How to check interior proportions

The most expensive design mistakes are about scale, not colour. In 3D and Walk mode, check:

• whether a tall wardrobe blocks a window or walkway when seen from the door;
• whether the sofa looks too large for the room and leaves space at the armrests;
• whether a pendant light suits the ceiling height and the size of the table;
• whether the kitchen worktop is visible from the dining area and vice versa;
• how heights relate: windowsill, headboard, worktop and shelves.

Perspective distorts size, so return to the numbers on the 2D plan for exact distances.

A useful technique is to change the size of one item and look at the result in 3D straight away. Compare a 200 cm and a 240 cm sofa, or a dining table for four and for six. In 3D the difference is often clearer than on the plan, which makes the purchase decision easier. The same works for wardrobe heights and kitchen island widths.

Example: compare two finishes in one room

Save a duplicate project first. Keep light walls and a neutral floor in one version, then change one wall colour and the floor texture in the other. Compare the same viewpoint without replacing all the furniture at once. This is an illustrative comparison workflow, not a promise of a photorealistic rendering.

Building a style in the editor

A style has three layers: finishes, furniture shapes and the colour palette. In ApaPlan each layer changes independently, so you can build a style one layer at a time.

• Scandinavian: light painted walls, light parquet, simple furniture shapes, textiles and plants. Check in 3D that the room does not feel flat without a contrasting accent.
• Industrial: concrete or exposed masonry on one wall, dark metal, leather and wood. Keep the brick on a wall furniture does not hide, or the effect is lost.
• Modern classic: calm plaster, herringbone parquet, a symmetrical arrangement around the sofa or bed. Symmetry is easiest to check on the 2D plan.
• Minimalist: few items, closed storage, plain surfaces. Proportions matter most here: empty space highlights every awkward size.

Common do-it-yourself design mistakes

• Starting with decor and colour before checking dimensions and walkways.
• Choosing furniture by photo instead of by size: a sofa in a showroom and in a 3 × 4 m room look very different.
• Looking only from above — from the door, a tall wardrobe may cover half the window.
• Changing everything at once: walls, floor and furniture. Then you cannot tell what improved or spoiled the room.
• Trusting colours on screen. Before buying paint or tiles, compare physical samples in daylight and evening light.

Bathroom and room design online

For individual rooms, use guides with ready plans that open in the editor: the bathroom planner with tiles, fixtures with real dimensions and access to the bath and basin, plus the living room, bedroom and kitchen planners.

What 3D shows and what to check separately

The ApaPlan 3D view is interactive, not photorealistic. It helps you judge geometry, furniture and surface combinations, but it does not reproduce real lighting or the exact shade of a purchased material. If you need photorealistic renders or working drawings, see the comparison in our interior design software alternatives guide.

Renovation PDF with a finish schedule

Once you have chosen a design, click “Download renovation PDF”. It includes the plans, a room schedule with areas and a finish schedule listing the materials chosen for the walls and floors of each room. Take it to your contractor or to the store; it is not approved construction documentation.

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