MyDeco.com takes the pain out of interior decorating

Hoorah! After a tantalising wait, MyDeco.com has arrived. Much like a build on Grand Designs, it has been built from the ground up by a determined team with a very strong vision of what it’ll become. MyDeco is a site that addresses the big gap in the interiors market for a stylish aggregator that brings 1000s of products together in one place, with inspirational features, usable interior visualisation tools and a community to share the fun, trials and tribulations with.

From what I’ve seen so far, Brent Hoberman and co have pulled it off.

I should mention that Tim and I were part of the Interesource team that helped MyDeco figure out how to engage with the community. We brought together the suite of tools and activities the more motivated users of the site might engage with – from rating, recommendations and comments to blogs, tagging, sharing video and photos. Users can also hang out with other like-minded folk by setting up groups to celebrate their favourite designer or share tips on creating the perfect Modernist bedroom, for example.

Of course, the site’s only just gone into public beta (as heralded on TechCrunch and TechDigest today) so there aren’t a lot of people hanging out in the community yet. But there will be – MyDeco gives users a very rich experience that helps them experiment with interiors before committing to the big spend. And from what I know of the plans for community, there will be a lot of fun stuff to keep people coming back. The rendering tools are extremely impressive (it all happens at lighting speed, which is great) – there’s a lot of playtime to be had there.

I am a sucker for Ikea, but it’s a love-hate relationship that after each tortuous 4-hour trip makes me come over all Edgar Allan Poe and cry ‘nevermore’. MyDeco could just help make that drawn-out trawl through the shops a thing of the past with the features that are planned. It’ll certainly help take the pain out of gathering information, inspiration and ideas. And being able to buy via the site is just so damn handy.

The site’s still in beta whilst the team iron out a few problems, but MyDeco is definitely an inspiration as it stands. It’s also a lesson in ambition: there’s a whole lot more to come. “It’s wipe your feet and come on in.” Make yourself comfortable.