Interior design AI workflow: SketchUp to client render by Mia

Mia is an interior designer based in London. She doesn't see AI as something that designs for her. She uses it to take over tasks that used to take hours or had to be outsourced. In this video she walks through a real residential project: a couple refurnishing a newly bought home and wanting a warm, modern, Japandi-influenced living room with a new fireplace around the existing TV. You see the whole client process, from the first mood board to the final proposal.

What you'll see

1. Why she started with the fireplace. It's the permanent element that sets the tone, while furniture can change later, so the clients needed options first.
2. Boards as a shared project space. She invites the client with view or edit access and lays out site photos, measurements, space plans and mood boards. She adds furniture and material lists with product links.
3. Client feedback on the board: comments, tick and cross marks on materials, emoji replies and a direct chat.
4. Fireplace options modeled in SketchUp, rendered on the board with Image to Render and a prompt asking for natural daylight and no other changes.
5. Connecting a material reference image to the render on the board to try a different fireplace finish.
6. The full living room rendered from updated SketchUp views, with the same "change nothing else" approach.
7. Change Materials to put a striped fabric on the sofa, then sheepskin on the lounge chair, each from a reference image.
8. Edit Canvas with a brush mask to swap the lounge chair for a specific piece of furniture from a product image.
9. Populate Render to add a couple watching TV.
10. Extend Image to show more of the room without remodeling.

Takeaways

• She believes the designers who do well will be those who know when and where to use AI, not those who avoid it.
• Starting with the permanent element and showing variations before final rendering keeps client decisions in a sensible order.
• She adds "do not change anything else" to her prompts so edits stay limited to one object or material. In her results, only the target changed.
• Having the brief, feedback, product links and renders on one board makes client communication clearer. Clients can see exactly what to buy.
• Extending the image is a quick way to show more of a space without going back to the model.

Try it yourself

Set up a Board for your project and invite your client. Render SketchUp views with Image to Render or 3D Model to Render, then refine them with Change Materials, Edit Canvas and Populate Render.