Is AI Your New Furniture Shopping Assistant? A Designer’s Test
As a designer who’s no stranger to AI in the interior design world (hi — if you’re new here, this is a topic I talk about often), and as someone who is constantly sourcing hundreds of furniture and home items, I eventually found myself wondering just how well AI could help me shop for furniture. With AI tools such as Perplexity, Vetted, and even ChatGPT claiming to act as some sort of shopping assistant, I knew I had to test these tools to see how useful they really are for sourcing.
Now, I actually love the sourcing process in interior design — it’s where the creativity comes in, and it’s the backbone of the entire design. So this wasn’t something I ever cared to outsource. However, if you’re a designer reading this, you know that sometimes we’re searching for very specific pieces to complete a space, and this is becoming increasingly difficult in a world where thousands upon thousands of furniture vendors exist. Sourcing often takes me eons, and let’s face it: if AI can help me narrow down design options, I’m absolutely going to use it.
If you’re an average homeowner, you might also be wondering whether AI can help you shop for furniture, so of course, you could also make use of these AI shopping apps.
Whether you’re a pro or not, shopping for furniture and home goods can be a tedious task. So let’s see whether AI can actually help in the process of furniture shopping.
Read: Paintit.ai: The Ultimate AI Room Design Tool With Shoppable Furniture
Designer Tests AI For Home Decor Shopping
So, let’s get into it. I currently have a long list of items I need to source, and I’m getting busier by the day. As a one-woman show, this task can become overwhelming very quickly. I’ve listed some items below that I currently have my eye out for.
My Furniture List
- A white oak 60″ wall-hanging media console
- A contemporary oval dining table, no more than 60″ wide
- A 300cm × 200cm jute rug
- A dining room centrepiece
- 50″ contemporary mirror
Testing Perplexity AI For Furniture Shopping
Perplexity AI is an AI tool I’ve been hearing a lot of buzz about. Some interior designers even use it to create or refine 3D visuals, with plenty of success. While it’s not marketed specifically as an interior design AI, it does have capabilities that feel very design-oriented. So, I decided to see how it performs when I asked it to find a media console with very specific requirements.
Here’s what I prompted Perplexity with:
“Can you help me find a media unit, white oak, modern, sleek, that can be hung on the wall and should be no larger than 60” wide and 18” deep? It must be able to be shipped to Canada.”
The AI immediately provided several sources for this media console. Interestingly, all of them were from Etsy, though it did give a few different options.
The first option it linked met all the requirements. The second option met most of the requirements, but it wasn’t wall-mounted.
Although I liked the first Etsy option, it wasn’t the most affordable (over $5K). So, I asked the AI for more affordable alternatives. Here’s what happened:
The AI started linking media consoles from more familiar brands like The Brick and IKEA, but also from some unfamiliar brands that looked a little sketchy. It seemed to forget some of the design requirements I had provided, linking furniture pieces that didn’t match the description at all.
Overall, Perplexity gave me one solid option out of six. To be honest, I don’t feel it eliminated much of the hunting for this item.
Overall, I’d give Perplexity a 6/10 for furniture sourcing.
Testing Vetted AI For Furniture Shopping
Vetted AI is an AI tool marketed toward designers and homeowners looking to source furniture. One of the standout features I noticed is that it can source from multiple countries. As a designer working with clients online and across the globe, this tool could be extremely beneficial for someone like me who isn’t necessarily familiar with every furniture market out there.
I decided to test Vetted AI to see what kind of oval dining tables it could find. I prompted the AI with:
“Find me a contemporary oval dining table no longer than 60” wide.”
I kept the prompt pretty simple, as this is how I would imagine most people to prompt. Immediately, it brought up a TON of options across different tabs, such as “Vetted Picks,” “Wayfair Picks,” and others. Upon reviewing the options, I realized that most did not fit the specified 60” width. This is crucial — when a measurement is specified, it’s important.
However, the AI did give me one viable option (at least one I would consider viable) from Crate & Barrel, which was exactly 60” wide. This is a piece I would actually present to a client.
Because Vetted AI can source from different countries, I switched the country to the UK, as I’m currently working on a project there and needed to find a 300cm × 200cm jute rug. I prompted the AI again, and this time only got two options. The first option wasn’t viable — the link led to an unrelated product. The second option seemed promising, though it wasn’t from a known retailer.
Overall, I had mixed results with Vetted AI, but I would rate it 7/10 for furniture sourcing.
Testing ChatGPT For Furniture Shopping
Now, I noticed a new feature on ChatGPT called the “Use Shopping Research” option. Naturally, I clicked it. Immediately, ChatGPT asked me what I was looking to source, and I prompted the AI that I was searching for sculptural decor pieces. It then asked for a price range and showed me photos to accept or deny, helping the AI understand the general vibe of the decor piece I wanted.
The AI then did some “thinking.” It’s worth noting that I was using the free version of ChatGPT, and results can fluctuate — especially on the free version — so keep that in mind.
After a while, the AI generated a list of decor pieces for tabletop use, primarily from Etsy. The problem? The links weren’t working.
So, it seems that ChatGPT failed me here.
I then decided to bypass the shopping research feature and simply prompted: “Find me an organic modern centrepiece.” After going back and forth with ChatGPT, as I often do when testing it, it told me it couldn’t generate shopping links.
I let ChatGPT defeat me here and gave it a 3/10 for furniture sourcing.
ChatGPT will still remain my best friend, however, it won’t be added to the Spaces by Dee procurement team.
Testing Gemini For Furniture Shopping
Gemini might just be the AI that replaces ChatGPT for me.
Now, when it came to furniture sourcing, Gemini took a different approach. I asked it to find a 50″ contemporary mirror available in the UK. Instead of finding me specific items, Gemini provided a list of vendors, noting that finding a mirror with those exact dimensions might be a challenge. I browsed the recommended vendors; while some didn’t pass the vibe-check, one caught my eye. Ultimately, I did end up shortlisting a mirror I found through one of these suggestions, so I consider the search a success.
Overall, I give Gemini a 7/10 for furniture sourcing.
Which AI Is Best For Interior Decor Sourcing?
After testing three AIs for furniture and decor shopping, what’s my take? Well, it’s similar to my overall thoughts on most AI tools in interior design: these tools still need refinement, but they can be helpful.
I don’t think these AIs will replace my work in sourcing items for clients. They might help me gather additional options, but considering the mixed bag of product recommendations I received, I’m not completely sold.
That said, I’m not entirely unsold either. I really do think a tool like this could be a game-changer for designers, because sourcing specific furniture pieces is such a time-consuming and tedious task. There’s just a level of refinement that AI tools need before they can truly replace the hunt.
For online furniture shoppers, these tools can be useful, and they may even find you the perfect piece. Results with AI vary a lot — it depends on how you prompt the AI, how flexible you are with the furniture and decor pieces, and sometimes, honestly, how ChatGPT is feeling that day. If you’re less picky than an interior designer, AI findings may suit your needs perfectly.
So, for now, I think I will stick to making use of the Google Shopping tab while I continue to tinker with different AI tools for furniture shopping.
Read: Interior Designer Tries and Reviews Havenly: See The Results
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