Photo: @homeeapp on Instagram.
If furniture shopping feels more like a chore than a fun outing to you, the new app Homee is right up your alley. (Think Tinder, but for home decor.) Immediately after downloading the app, users are connected with a design expert in the company’s West Hollywood offices. Via chat, you describe what you’re looking for, and upload photos of your space. Within 24 to 48 hours, Homee curates a portfolio of furnishings that fit your style. You can revise the look as many times as you want, and design services are free. When you’re satisfied, you order furnishings with a few taps and swipes, directly from the app; they’ll ship in the next five to 14 business days.
“It really only takes a few hours for the first design to get off the ground,” says co-founder Madeline Fraser. “Within a month, you can have a perfectly new space.”
Photo: @homeeapp on Instagram.
This isn’t Fraser’s first attempt at catering to the whims of style-conscious millennial consumers. She, along with Beatrice Fischel-Bock and Lizzie Grover, previously founded Zoom Interiors, an online interior design company. The three Shark Tank veterans quickly realized that to retain their tech-savvy customers, the company would have to go mobile. “They wanted a very simple and easy and instant way to design a space and to get it done,” Fraser says of Zoom Interiors’ client base. That’s when the idea for Homee hatched and the trio brought in two more co-founders: Ben Broca and Ethan Gromet. The quintet created the current mobile platform, which started in beta in September of last year and officially launched this month.
“We’re trying to change the way that men and women think about buying furniture,” says Fraser. “The whole idea of interior design scares them a little bit. What we’re trying to do is make it approachable, make it simple, and help them get it done very easily.” Designers are trained to work with any aesthetic and personality, and to make the design process not only painless, but enjoyable. As Fraser attests, the initial chat phase “feels like you’re texting with a friend.” Designers are currently on-call all day between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. Pacific with 24/7 service on the company’s wish list for the future.
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Because Homee’s team specializes in virtual design, they’re able to judge what fits where without taking measurements or ever setting foot in your space. Clear product descriptions eliminate the need to see the pieces in person (though fabric swatches are available for some items if you’re a tactile shopper). Furnishings are sourced from trusted wholesale furniture manufacturers and retailers with whom the founders have a long-standing relationship. Homee also offers a price-match guarantee so you know you aren’t overpaying for your wares. And those wares, by the way, are downright covetable: modern, brash, and bold with a hint of moxie and sass.
Photo: Homee App on Facebook.
The result is a streamlined, modern take on what might otherwise intimidate millennials, men, or those averse to decorating in general. “They can design their home all from their sofa if they want to,” says Fraser of the app’s users. “They don’t have to take so much time to go and find pieces that work for them. They can just chat with their designer and get it done.”
