DIY culture, AI & Designers

There is this question running around the design field and it is most relevant to address it nowadays when it is still raw and hasn’t become a faced fact.

‘Where will designers be in the next 10 to 15 years with the DIY culture and AI rising?’

I love this question, as it is super relevant with how tech and design are evolving right now into design field. I have my own take on this subject and i will tell it as i see it.

DIY Culture Is Growing But It Has Limits

Some cultures are not only embracing the DIY movement, but excelling at it, especially with aesthetic-savvy younger generations, open access to global trends, online tutorials that go beyond just moodboards and dive into layout, lighting plans, and even renovation logistics.

We’ve moved from “I don’t know what I’m doing, help me” to “I watched 12 tutorials and made a notion board of my floor plan with linked sources.”

Platforms like Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube have made design more accessible than ever. People can absolutely DIY their spaces, especially when it comes to styling and furniture arrangement. There are even AI apps now where you upload a photo of your room and it gives you design suggestions.

But the catch is most people still struggle to visualize scale, flow and cohesive design. They end up buying the wrong-size furniture, mixing styles poorly, or just feeling overwhelmed.

So while information is everywhere, design sensibility isn’t something you can download overnight. That’s where pros still matter!

Why do people choose to avoid design services? Maybe it’s because of a lack of budget, a desire for control, or a lack of confidence in the results.

Yes, DIY movement is very resourceful but misses some points of view that are very important to the final outcome of any project. I will lay out some of the most relevant.

1. Emotional Disconnection From the Space

DIYers focus on: color palettes, Pinterest aesthetics, “copy this look.”
What they miss: How do I want to feel in this room?

The solution: People have to identify their emotional needs before they start designing. Before designing a space, “Design Your Inner World First”. Answering questions like: ‘How your home impacts your mood?’ to ‘What spaces make you feel safe vs. stimulated?’ and ‘What are your sensory preferences (light, sound, texture)?’ is of most importance.

2. Functional Blindness

DIYers focus on: how things look.
What they miss: how things work.

The solution: Layout, lighting, ergonomics, and multi-use space functionality are topics that create the ground work of the entire project. “Storage Without Shame: Invisible Systems for Everyday Chaos” is an example approach. People need to think beyond Pinterest-perfection into living better every day.

3. Decision Fatigue & Overwhelm

DIYers focus on: collecting endless options.
What they miss: filtering, prioritizing, and finishing.

The solution: “Decision Detox” calls where one stops spiraling in options and make peace with good-enough. Add templates, checklists, or even printable moodboard kits with boundaries built in (e.g. “choose only 3 colors, 5 materials”). Personally i have a signature framework:

“The 3Ps of Peaceful Design: Purpose, Priority, Placement”

4. Identity Confusion

DIYers focus on: copying styles they think they should like.
What they miss: their authentic design language.

The solution: Create or find a “Design Identity Finder” quiz, workbook or consultation. Think of it like a style personality test, but with a psychological angle. It will help you find the intersection between who you are, what you need, and what nourishes you. It makes your project work not just beautiful, but deeply personal.

5. Time + Energy Management

DIYers focus on: weekend projects that become 3-month sagas.
What they miss: the life cycle of a well-paced project.

The solution: Trace planning tools: timelines, energy-based task batching, realistic expectations.

6. Designing for Mental Health

DIYers focus on: visuals, trends, “what’s in.”
What they miss: neurodivergence, trauma, overstimulation, anxiety.

The solution:Mental Wellness by Design. Creating spaces designed for mental calm, trauma recovery, creative focus, family harmony: “The Safe Space Session”, “ADHD-Friendly Rooms” or “The Introvert’s Living Room”.

Overall, even if DIY culture is on the rise, one who starts on this journey of ‘do it yourself’, should always remember that each aspect of a project has more to it than what a technique or several tutorials teach. And this is just because there is too much information to acknowledge.

So being conscious of this can help one research better and fill the blind spots so that the end result can offer the right value and comfort one intended when starting. A designer does that intuitively and automatically because this approach is the only way a space can match to its owners wants, desires and expectations.

AI Will Be a Tool, Not a Replacement of DESIGNERS

An algorithm can suggest “nice-looking” rooms, but a designer can understand your lifestyle.

Adressing questions like: Do you have kids?, Pets?, Do you work from home? Are you a minimalist or do you love maximalist cozy chaos? are never integrated into an ai generated design software.

That nuance of understanding your emotional relationship with a space is still very human. People crave that kind of connection, especially in their homes. AI still isn’t created to address these aspects. So, Human Touch Still Wins with Personalization!

So instead of replacing designers, tech and AI will help democratize design, making it more accessible even for budget-conscious clients.

Designers will likely lean even more on tech: AI-generated mood boards, virtual staging, AR/VR for walkthroughs, automated budgeting tools, etc. These tools will make it easier to navigate projects efficiently. Think: quicker turnaround, less manual labor = more affordable design services.

AI has developed some potential new opportunities for designers. Righ now a lot of designers position themselves less as decorators and more as strategic lifestyle consultants.

Sell function, emotional value, longevity, and custom-fit solutions, not just pretty spaces. They Speak in terms of “problems solved” instead of “rooms styled.”

Think: “You’ll stop arguing with your partner about clutter and feel proud to host again.” That’s something no TikTok tutorial can guarantee.

Design begins with the inner world, adapts to the mind, and lives beautifully with you, afterwords.

One thing that sets interior design apart from many fields is its emphasis on human needs. You’re designing environments that influence how people feel and interact.

AI or tech may be able to generate designs, but they can’t replace the empathy and understanding you bring to creating spaces that truly work for people.

Interior designers won’t disappear—they’ll adapt.

Smaller clients may not hire them for full-service projects, but will still turn to them for guidance, clarity, and helping their vision actually come together.

It’s like cooking: yes, you can follow a recipe on YouTube—but sometimes you still want a chef to show you how to make it actually taste good.

Designers in the FUTURE

The Undeniable Shift: From Authority to Advisor

Clients no longer see designers as the only way to a beautiful space—they see them as an option in a sea of tools, apps and advice.

And that shift devalues the perception of what interior designers actually do unless it’s attached to something tangible and unique. Right now the design field is reduced to fees, not creativity or experience. Design is becoming more transactional.

From my personal view, the profession itself will evolve in the near future. For some of us it already did.

We’re living in an age of what some thinkers call “stacked transitions.”
That means: changes aren’t happening in a linear, one-by-one way anymore, they’re happening all at once, layered on top of each other.

Technology is reshaping how we work, create, relate, and even think (AI, automation, remote life), climate shifts are making us question how and where we live, economies are changing in unpredictable waves, social structures and values are being questioned, updated, or discarded and spiritual interests are rising in parallel with mental health crises. People are simultaneously more connected and more isolated than ever.

And all of that it’s happening faster than our nervous systems was built to handle.

What I notice most often in people (especially emotionally attuned people), in the face of all this movement, people are turning inward, seeking meaning: Nature, Simplicity, Embodiment, Slower rhythms. A quiet revolution is happening in kitchens, gardens, relaxation rooms, and journals.

People are realizing they can no longer count on external systems to hold them. So they’re rebuilding homes that feel sacred, creating work that aligns with values, curating communities with emotional depth and learning to self-regulate instead of just “cope”.

So What Is the True Role of a Space?

Maybe it’s this:

Space should not protect us from life, it should prepare us to meet it.

Not escapism. Not isolation. But a kind of internal clearing. A mirror. A tuning fork for the inner world.

A well-designed space—a truly conscious one—doesn’t trap you in comfort. It gently reminds you of your wholeness, so you can meet the world from alignment, not avoidance. It’s not a place to hide from others—it’s a place to remember that there are no others.

Your space is more than a place. It’s a reflection of your thoughts, your patterns, your becoming. It holds your fears, your joy, your quiet hopes, often before you even speak them.

In a world that moves fast, demands much, and distracts easily, we often forget:
we don’t need more change. We need more presence.

More spaces that allow us to simply be without performing, escaping, or improving.

A designers work isn’t about designing for trends or perfection.

It’s about creating environments that gently hold who you are now, and quietly invite who you’re becoming.

Because your space should not protect you from life, it should prepare you to meet it, with calm, with clarity, and with care.

This is design as remembrance. This is space as integration. This is you, coming home.

written by Amalia Predescu

copyright@DekoreStudio