• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

The millennial generation is split in 2: an older crowd with boomer-style comfort, a younger set going 'back to the early 1900s'

2

'The demographic dividend of the last 40 years is ending': J.P. Morgan says the world is running out of the two things that kept interest rates down

3

Jensen Huang made his $172 billion fortune on AI chips. His family's $75 million gift to Vanderbilt argues art decides what technology is for

1

The millennial generation is split in 2: an older crowd with boomer-style comfort, a younger set going 'back to the early 1900s'

2

'The demographic dividend of the last 40 years is ending': J.P. Morgan says the world is running out of the two things that kept interest rates down

3

Jensen Huang made his $172 billion fortune on AI chips. His family's $75 million gift to Vanderbilt argues art decides what technology is for
interior design

This App Lets You Redesign Your Apartment Using Snapchat-Like Filters

By
Polina Marinova
Polina Marinova
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Polina Marinova
Polina Marinova
Down Arrow Button Icon
February 1, 2017, 11:01 AM ET
Courtesy of Hutch
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

For anyone who’s ever wanted to redecorate their space without doing the heavy lifting, a new app wants to help.

Hutch, which launched Wednesday, lets users upload a photo of their space and apply a style filter such as “French couture” or “eclectic chic.” Using proprietary technology, an interior designer then transforms the space with a virtual design and sends the look back to the user within 24 hours. From there, users can buy the pieces they like.

The app is free, but the company makes money when it sells furniture, which it buys wholesale and sells at a premium.

Hutch itself has undergone quite a few makeovers: its founders have tried three times in the past two years to create a successful interior design service.

In 2015, Beatrice Fischel-Bock and her co-founders appeared on Shark Tank to pitch Zoom Interiors, a web-based service allowing users to set up a consultation with a designer and receive a floor plan with custom designs. The Sharks criticized the model, saying it wasn’t scalable. The team managed to secure a $100,000 deal for 33% of the business with Barbara Corcoran, but it later fell through.

That’s when Tinder co-founder Sean Rad swooped in. Rad began connecting the Zoom founders with investors and attending weekly meetings. In a few months, the company renamed itself Homee, changed its model, and raised seed funding from Rad, Ben Silverman and Scooter Braun. In July 2016, Homee announced a $5 million Series A round, led by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, bringing the total funding to $7.2 million.

Fischel-Bock thought she had a winner on her hands. Homee was a messaging app that allowed users to chat with interior designers, create a look for their home, and buy furniture recommended by the Homee team. The chat-based app was gaining good traction until she realized something game-changing — when it comes to interior design, people don’t really want to chat.

“We were growing more than 100% month over month, and we just found that it wasn’t a sustainable, scalable process on our end,” Fischel-Bock says. “We wanted to keep it a free experience.”

The team realized that it would have to start charging for the chat feature in order to sustain its growth. The chat element was the most expensive part of process, but user feedback indicated that people prefer to see the design, not talk about it. So the founding team decided to pivot yet again, taking the most popular Homee feature — the visual rendering of the space — and making it the focus of the business.

With Hutch, there is no chatting. The app simply allows users to upload photos and get furniture suggestions within 24 hours.

The company hopes to build out the technology necessary to automate the process in the next few months, so the user can see a render of the space almost instantaneously. The hope is that the app will generate “a pseudo-version of reality,” like Snapchat filters that can recognize a user’s face, and apply effects.

Hutch App

Interior design startups Laurel & Wolf, Havenly and Homepolish are all competing for users, but the real key for Hutch lies in its technology. If the company can develop its “proprietary photo” software to automate designs and generate renders in seconds, it’ll be a game-changer for the interior design industry.

“Interior design is a space where you either have to spend a lot of money to go through a very long process or be overwhelmed at the number of options,” Rad says. “The most successful companies are those that help people filter through all the noise.”

Let’s hope third time’s a charm.

About the Author
By Polina Marinova
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • TikTok icon
  • YouTube icon

Latest in

France deploys giant military cargo plane to dump tons of flame retardants as European wildfires displace more than 250,000
Environmentwildfires
France deploys giant military cargo plane to dump tons of flame retardants as European wildfires displace more than 250,000
By Mark Carlson, Emma Da Silva, John Leicester and The Associated PressJuly 25, 2026
1 hour ago
Intern arrested in Belgium on suspicion of spying inside NATO military headquarters and ‘being a member of a criminal organization’
CybersecurityNATO
Intern arrested in Belgium on suspicion of spying inside NATO military headquarters and ‘being a member of a criminal organization’
By Sam McNeil and The Associated PressJuly 25, 2026
2 hours ago
Let’s get ready to rumble: The next Fed meeting will be a ‘family feud’ — and that’s exactly what Chairman Kevin Warsh wants
EconomyFederal Reserve
Let’s get ready to rumble: The next Fed meeting will be a ‘family feud’ — and that’s exactly what Chairman Kevin Warsh wants
By Jason MaJuly 25, 2026
2 hours ago
The ‘Trump Trade’ is turning into a loser in the stock market
InvestingStock
The ‘Trump Trade’ is turning into a loser in the stock market
By Geoffrey Morgan, Joel Leon and BloombergJuly 25, 2026
4 hours ago
Samsung wins $200 billion order to supply chips to Broadcom
AIChips
Samsung wins $200 billion order to supply chips to Broadcom
By Hooyeon Kim and BloombergJuly 25, 2026
4 hours ago
SK chair says Anthropic asked for supplies to make its own chips
AIChips
SK chair says Anthropic asked for supplies to make its own chips
By Ian King and BloombergJuly 25, 2026
4 hours ago

Most Popular

The millennial generation is split in 2: an older crowd with boomer-style comfort, a younger set going 'back to the early 1900s'
Real Estate
The millennial generation is split in 2: an older crowd with boomer-style comfort, a younger set going 'back to the early 1900s'
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 25, 2026
13 hours ago
'The demographic dividend of the last 40 years is ending': J.P. Morgan says the world is running out of the two things that kept interest rates down
Economy
'The demographic dividend of the last 40 years is ending': J.P. Morgan says the world is running out of the two things that kept interest rates down
By Eleanor PringleJuly 24, 2026
2 days ago
Jensen Huang made his $172 billion fortune on AI chips. His family's $75 million gift to Vanderbilt argues art decides what technology is for
Big Tech
Jensen Huang made his $172 billion fortune on AI chips. His family's $75 million gift to Vanderbilt argues art decides what technology is for
By Sydney LakeJuly 23, 2026
3 days ago
Trump pulls back after Iran crosses his red line as U.S. military breaks two-week streak of airstrikes amid talks for potential Hormuz deal
Middle East
Trump pulls back after Iran crosses his red line as U.S. military breaks two-week streak of airstrikes amid talks for potential Hormuz deal
By Jason MaJuly 25, 2026
5 hours ago
An 11-year-old is cleaning his neighbors' trash cans for $10 each—he now has 100K followers as teens face the worst summer job market since 1948
Success
An 11-year-old is cleaning his neighbors' trash cans for $10 each—he now has 100K followers as teens face the worst summer job market since 1948
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJuly 25, 2026
15 hours ago
The $39 trillion U.S. national debt isn’t as high as Japan’s and Singapore’s relative to economy size—and yet it's still worse somehow
Economy
The $39 trillion U.S. national debt isn’t as high as Japan’s and Singapore’s relative to economy size—and yet it's still worse somehow
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 23, 2026
2 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.