I’m bad at interior design. So bad, in fact, that I affectionately refer to my apartment as ‘the clown house’ due to its total lack of a cohesive color scheme. It’s definitely due for a refresh — so I turned to Alexa+ to help me create something more tasteful.
A few weeks ago, Amazon rolled out Alexa+ in the UK. The AI-powered virtual assistant made its debut in the US last year, but the company had taken its time localizing Alexa+ for British users. Not only does it recognize and use British slang (which is sometimes unintentionally funny considering its rather posh accent), it also links to services and sites that people use in the UK —and since it’s designed to be an ‘ambient assistant’ for your home, it seemed like a natural choice for decorating advice.
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With certain devices (such as the latest Amazon Echo Show smart displays), Alexa+ can take a picture of the room as a starting point, but if you’re using different hardware or want help with another room, you can just describe what it looks like and the assistant will understand. There was a brief moment when I accidentally gave Alexa the impression that I had a strange bedroom with only three walls, but that was probably a poor explanation on my part (the fourth wall is painted a different color).
I started with my spare bedroom/study, which is where I keep my Echo Show speaker, and is the place most in need to help. Paint always looks brighter and bolder on a wall than in a tin, and I ended up with a small room painted quite an alarming shade of swimming pool blue. With two bikes mounted on the walls, two desks, and a bookshelf, it’s quite an assault on the eyes.
Alexa+ gently suggested toning things down with a sage green to “make those bikes look like intentional art rather than storage solutions” and “create a calmer workspace for your computers without clashing with your existing setup”.
She even generated some swatches when I asked to see some examples of sage green paint, though she was unable to recommend one in particular, explaining that she couldn’t see or recall images that she had created before. Nonetheless, it was very useful, and she even offered to message it to my phone for future reference.
Floor to ceiling
Next I described the hallway, and was impressed that she factored in my smart home devices when making suggestions about flooring:
“A light colored runner would help enormously,” she suggested when I described my narrow hallway with its black laminate flooring and no natural light. “Maybe cream or soft beige to tie in with those bedroom curtains as we discussed, And since your robot vacuum can handle it, you won’t have to worry about maintenance!”
She even suggested using an anti-slip rug mat underneath, or possibly carpet tape, and I was pleasantly surprised that it didn’t immediately try to shuffle me off to Amazon to buy some.
If an AI was capable of cringing, I think Alexa+ would have done it when I described my bedroom: “Blimey, that’s quite the red theme you’ve got going!” she remarked, not unfairly. “Sounds like you’re living in a proper crimson sanctuary there.”
Once I’d clarified that the crimson sanctuary was in fact a normally-shaped room (which she called “a proper four-wall bedroom situation”), she suggested swapping the red for dusty lilac or more sage green, “with soft neutrals or warm gray as your base”.
If I wanted to keep my red accent wall (yes, I know) she suggested fitting some cream curtains to break up the intensity: “The key is creating breathing space so the room feels cozy rather than overwhelming.”
She also recommended plants that can survive without natural light for my bedroom, and suggested adding copper accessories in my green living room. It all made sense, and since I’m a fan of green, I wouldn’t have a problem with spreading it throughout the whole apartment.
Picture this…
I was a little skeptical about how well the decorating conversation would work, but it was a rather lovely chat, and I came away with some genuinely good ideas (as well as my sage green swatches).
Sadly when I tried the same experiment more recently, the experience wasn’t quite as colorful. When I asked for some examples of a color, Alexa+ told me she’s unable to generate images, and offered to tell me where I can buy paint instead.
Although our initial conversation was definitely quirky, it was a lot of fun, and this turn of events was a tad disappointing. Hopefully Alexa+ will rediscover her eye for color soon.
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catherine.ellis@futurenet.com (Cat Ellis)
