Remember back in 2015 when you would create mood boards for your designs and knock your clients socks off?! The hours you spent in photoshop manually removing the white background and combining all the products together to show what it would look like were well spent – they impressed the client after all. Fast forward to now, and mood boards are commonplace and expected, and they rarely wow a client.

Don’t get me wrong, mood boards are still important to convey a design and I think they are absolutely worthwhile to create (and faster thanks to Canva), but they just don’t produce the wow factor anymore. So what does?

The answer is easy – photorealistic 3-D renders!

A photorealistic 3-D render of a bathroom
A photorealistic 3-D render done in SketchUp and V-Ray for a client’s bathroom.

These images look very close (if not just like) an actual photograph, and they are the closest thing to seeing what your space will look like on a 2-D plane (VR sets like Oculus are the next big thing for interior design by the way).

Creating renders of your space conveys not only the scale, layout, and function of your design (in the dimensions of the actual space), but it also shows how the colors, textures, and lighting will play into the design. Something mood boards can’t touch with a ten-foot pole.

Many designers know they need these, but many fall into the same trap. They don’t have the time, they don’t have the technical ability, or they don’t believe that they can actually master 3-D modeling. Well, with FOCUSED SketchUp for Interior Designers, those traps are eliminated. I won’t get into why FOCUSED SketchUp is different from other SketchUp courses here (you can read about that in this blog post), but it gives you the focused instruction and downloadable assets that designers need to learn and use SketchUp and V-Ray efficiently. Read more of our testimonials from actual Interior Designers – they can vouch for the course.

So how does this earn you more business and more money?

Renders Prove You are at the Forefront of Interior Design

Clients want to work with the best designers. What they quantify as the “best” varies, but one criteria is a designers website, work examples, and professionalism. Having 3-D renders of your designs on your site or in sample work packets shows that you take your work seriously, and that you have the technology and know-how to keep up in today’s everchanging tech world. 3-D renders prove your design legitimacy.

Renders Show an Extra Dimension of Your Designs

This may seem obvious, but clients want to trust you as a designer – they want to trust your design capability. When clients see that you provide 3-D renders, that gives them an extra warm-and-fuzzy that you are capable and that there is less of a chance of something going wrong when products and finishes are installed in the space. For example, that 48″ round table you chose for the breakfast room looked great on the mood board, the client loved it, ordered it, and on install day discovered it was too small for the space – you needed the 60″ instead. Those types of mistakes are drastically reduced when you work in 3-D software like SketchUp.

A photorealistic 3-D image done with SketchUp and V-Ray for a client’s living room.

When comparing designers, your future clients will see that your competition only provides mood boards but that you provide both mood boards and 3-D renders. It gives you an edge, which will land you more clients and more business!

People talk – Especially When They are Wow-ed

It’s no secret, if clients are blown away by your renders, they will tell their friends, their family, pretty much anyone that will listen (hello Facebook and Instagram posts)! It’s difficult for many people to visualize how everything in your design will work together. How will that couch look with that paint color? Does the white oak floor compete too much with the oak headboard on the bed? Will the curtains conflict with the upholstered chairs? You get the idea. People are so appreciative of seeing photorealistic 3-D renders of their designs that they are much more likely to recommend you to others, which means more exposure for you, your brand, and ultimately results in more business!

Repeat Clients

When a client is happy with the space you designed for them, they are more likely to hire you to design other spaces in their home. Having 3-D renders as part of your deliverables not only increases your chances of your design succeeding when applied to the physical space, but also gives you a better chance of impressing your clients and gaining their trust. That trust will fuel their desire to have you design more for them, which will increase your revenue.

Bottom line is that having 3-D renders as a tool in your design toolbox will result in more clients, more work, and more money for your business! If you are ready to start learning FOCUSED SketchUp and V-Ray for Interior Design, click the button below!

Enroll in FOCUSED SketchUp!