Before You Hire Spacejoy, Read This Interior Designer’s Review
As an interior designer who offers my services remotely, I am very aware of my big-brand competitors — companies like Havenly, Decorilla, and Spacejoy.
Naturally, I like to poke around online every once in a while and see what these larger online interior design services are offering, what their process looks like, and, most importantly, the quality of the design work clients are actually receiving.
I’ve reviewed some of these platforms before, and this time I decided to take a closer look at Spacejoy.
Rather than simply going through the marketing on their website, I wanted to see what real customers were saying about the experience. I started digging through reviews, blog posts, and examples of actual Spacejoy design deliverables that people had shared online.
And I found some very interesting examples.
So, as an independent online designer, I thought I would break down the Spacejoy design experience, critique some of the work I found, and give you my two cents if you’re considering using this online interior design service.
The Spacejoy Experience
Spacejoy follows a fairly typical online interior design model.
You start by submitting information about your room, your design ideas, and what you’re hoping to accomplish with the space.
From there, you complete a design-style questionnaire intended to help identify your preferences and give your designer an idea of what aesthetic direction you’re drawn to.
You’re then matched with a Spacejoy designer.
Spacejoy also uses technology that allows you to scan or document your room so that your designer can get the dimensions and spatial information they need to begin working on the design.
From there, your designer develops your concept and eventually sends you a 3D model of the room so you can visualize how everything will come together before purchasing the recommended furniture and decor.
At that point, you can communicate with your designer, provide feedback, and request revisions depending on the package you purchased.
In theory, it sounds like a pretty straightforward virtual interior design process.
How Much Does Spacejoy Cost?
Spacejoy offers different packages depending on the level of service and number of deliverables you want.
At the time I reviewed the service in September 2026, packages ranged from approximately $199 USD per room on the lower end to around $599 USD for the higher-tier package.
Of course, pricing and package inclusions can change, so I always recommend checking Spacejoy directly for the most current information.
From a pricing standpoint, Spacejoy is positioned fairly competitively.
Their entry-level service puts them in a similar category to lower-cost virtual design services such as Havenly, while the upper-tier packages start moving into the territory of more involved virtual design services like Decorilla or the average pricing for working with an independent online interior designer.
But the bigger question isn’t necessarily how much the service costs.
The real question is:
What kind of design expertise are you actually getting for that money?
And that is where things started to get interesting.
Are Spacejoy’s Designs Actually Good?
While digging around online, I came across a blogger who documented her experience working with Spacejoy and shared several of the design concepts she received.
She included the concepts Spacejoy created for her space, including the final design.
And when I saw it…
I did have a little chuckle.
Not because design isn’t subjective — because it absolutely is — but because there were some fairly obvious design issues that had nothing to do with whether I personally liked the style.
The latter is something we can actually analyze. Here is the design:
My Critique of the Spacejoy Design
Here are some of the main things that stood out to me.
The Scale of the Art Felt Off
Some pieces in the Spacejoy design felt undersized, while others didn’t seem to have enough visual presence to properly anchor the room.
From a style standpoint, the art looked like it came from the sale section at HomeGoods, in my opinion.
The Room Lacked Visual Harmony
A well-designed space should have some sense of rhythm.
Your eye should naturally move through the room.
Colors should repeat.
Materials should relate to one another.
Furniture should feel like it belongs together without everything necessarily matching.
In the design I reviewed, I felt like some of those relationships were missing.
There were several individual pieces, but they weren’t necessarily working together to create one cohesive design story.
So I Did a Quick Redesign
I did a very quick redesign of the same room. Keep in mind this was a quick redesign, not exactly my best design work, but just changing a few things so you could see the difference the changes would make at a quick glance.
I intentionally kept the overall vibe similar because I didn’t want to completely change what the client seemed to be going for.
Instead, I focused on correcting some of the fundamentals:
- proper scale and placement for art
- better relationships between materials and finishes
- improved harmony throughout the room
At this point in my research, I wasn’t particularly impressed with the Spacejoy design I had seen.
But one project obviously doesn’t tell you everything about an entire company.
So I kept digging.
Spacejoy Reviews: What Are Customers Saying?
I started looking through other people’s experiences with Spacejoy to understand what the overall design process was like.
One review in particular caught my attention because the reviewer described something that I think is one of the biggest weaknesses of the large-scale online interior design model:
There wasn’t much interaction with the designer before the design work began.
The reviewer explained that her designer didn’t proactively connect with her before starting the project and largely worked from the questionnaire she submitted.
“No real interaction with your designer. You likely could email your designer if needed, but I was a little surprised that they didn’t proactively reach out to me before the design process started. I don’t think I was even properly “introduced” to my designer. They basically took my questionnaire and ran with it. If you are unsure on what you want and feel like you need a little more hand-holding from your designer, you might be better off with a different service…” Link to full review.
A Questionnaire Isn’t the Same as a Design Consultation
Design-style quizzes can be useful. But a questionnaire should be the starting point of connecting with your designer.
Also, I do not think it’s a good idea to select a designer without even gauging if you have chemistry with them before you dive into the project.
Just like choosing a hair stylist, you probably want to look at their previous work, get to know their personality, and evaluate if you think this is the right designer for you.
With SpaceJoy, that process is cut.
More Customer Reviews
I poked around for more reviews and came across the Trustpilot profile with an overall rating of 2.2 out of 5, and I will paste in a few interesting reviews I came across:
These being the most recent reviews had me very concerned.
So, although some have had a decent experience with Spacejoy, there is a real reason to pause and be cautious with spending your dollars here.
The Designer-Client Relationship Matters More Than People Think
The large online interior design platforms underestimate how important the relationship between the designer and client actually is. Chemistry between the client and designer is very important, and honestly, it can be make-or-break when it comes to the success of a design project.
Which is why I pass on some design jobs if I simply feel as if the client and I do not vibe.
That connection becomes weakened when the designer receives a questionnaire, looks at a few inspiration images, and immediately starts designing, which is Spacejoy’s process.
The problem there is that you may not even discover that you and your designer don’t communicate well until the first concept arrives.
By then, you’ve already spent part of your project trying to get onto the same page.
So, starting with a questionnaire and no real communication and vetting the designer usually leads to so-so results.
Is Spacejoy Worth It?
Photo Credit: Spacejoy
After looking through Spacejoy’s process, customer reviews, and some examples of the designs clients received, my feelings are fairly similar to what I’ve said about some of the other large online interior design companies I’ve reviewed.
The concept itself isn’t bad.
Virtual interior design can work incredibly well.
I know that because I literally run a virtual interior design business.
The issue isn’t whether interior design can be done remotely.
It absolutely can.
The issue is how personalized and professional the service is.
When virtual interior design becomes too standardized — questionnaire, designer assignment, quick concept, revisions, shopping list — you risk losing the part of the design process that actually makes hiring a designer worthwhile.
The client and designer connection.
The problem-solving.
The understanding of how an individual actually lives.
The small details that make a space feel truly special.
The Spacejoy projects I reviewed didn’t convince me that the design quality consistently justified choosing a large platform over working directly with an independent designer.
That doesn’t mean nobody will have a good experience with Spacejoy.
Some people do.
However, if you’re looking for a highly personalized design experience, I do not think Spacejoy is the right online design service for you.
Why You Should Work With an Independent Online Interior Designer
Yes, I am obviously biased here.
I’m an independent virtual interior designer.
But I also think there’s a fundamental difference between hiring a large online design platform and hiring an individual designer.
When you hire an independent designer, you’re choosing the actual person who will design your home.
You can look through their portfolio.
Read their blog.
Follow their social media.
Understand their philosophy.
See how they talk about design.
And decide:
Do I trust this person’s eye?
That’s incredibly important.
Because interior design is personal.
Your home shouldn’t look like a template or like AI designed it.
And your design process shouldn’t feel like you’re being moved through a system.
The best virtual design experiences should still feel collaborative, thoughtful, and completely tailored to the person living in the space.
That is ultimately what I think people should be paying for.
Not just a 3D rendering.
Not just a shopping list.
But the expertise behind each design decision.
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