Using Text-to-image AI for home reno ideas
My wife and I are about to renovate our new house (a 4-room BTO), so we have been browsing Pinterest, Instagram, Tiktok, etc. for inspiration. We have a rough idea for what we want for most of the house, except for the common bathroom. We just can't seem to find any pictures that we're in love with yet.
Maybe AI can solve our problems?
FLUX
Black Forest Labs is a relatively new startup, founded by researchers that helped create Stable Diffusion. Their first product, FLUX.1 seems pretty good.
Screenshot from https://artificialanalysis.ai/text-to-image/arena on 13 Oct 2024.
You can try it using pollinations.ai or replicate.com.
Images
Alright let's get down to designing. I'm using replicate.com's super fast demo here, which is running the FLUX.1[schnell] model.
Let's see what it knows about the typical HDB toilet.
HDB toilet
It knows that HDB toilets are small! That's pretty good. But the design is pretty ordinary, let's try feeding it a popular design trend.
HDB toilet, scandinavian
Hmmmm I'm not sure if that's really scandi. And why are there two sinks?
Okay maybe it's bad at trends, let's try giving it explicit design elements.
HDB toilet, fun tiles, wood elements
Alright, it incorporated both the "fun tiles" and the "wood" parts! No idea why it thinks there should be two toilet bowls this time.
And I'm noticing that these toilets are kinda small, maybe it's underestimating how small HDB toilets are. Let's drop "HDB" from the prompt and see how good it is at colours.
toilet design, earthy, muted colours
I see that both "wood" from the previous prompt and "earthy" here resulted in some sand/grey tiles and plants. This time, there are two toilet brush holders and two mirrors!
Eclecticism is all about incorporating multiple styles and ideas. Generative AI is supposedly very creative, let's see how good it is!
toilet design, eclectic
Industrial, brick-like wall tiles, floral wallpaper, Victorian floor files, some modern-looking lights. Nice! Once again, two toilet bowls, and one of them is right under the sink -.-
The overall vibe is quite old and cold, let's see how it interprets vibes.
toilet design, eclectic, modern, warm
The wall is some kind of cement screed or limewash, and the floor is wood-like. The bin and brush holder is now metal, and there's a plant next to the toilet bowl. Very modern. And this is the first one without any weird duplicates.
We're missing a shower though, let's see if it can understand requests for specific elements.
toilet design, eclectic, modern, warm, rainshower
Ack... am I supposed to shower while sitting on the toilet bowl‽ And now the sink is gone. Okay maybe I need to be really specific with my requests.
toilet design, eclectic, modern, warm, rainshower, glass partition, sink with vanity cabinet
What is with this obsession for having the shower area alongside where you take a shit? Is this a thing?
Also, now I'm missing the whole "eclectic" vibes. This feels like a regular modern toilet with a wood-inspired vanity cabinet.
Let's just try running the same prompt again and see what else it comes up with.
toilet design, eclectic, modern, warm, rainshower, glass partition, sink with vanity cabinet
Still missing the "eclectic" vibes, but now the toilet and shower are in separate spaces.
Bottom line
FLUX has some knowledge of basic design elements and trends, but there's obviously a long way to go before it can churn out usable ideas reliably.