News

New computer software launched this week aims to end the days when homeowners planning a renovation had to squint at paint chips or gaze at piles of bricks or floor strips to visualize their finished project.

HomeWorks, developed by RenoWorks Software Inc. for Home Hardware Stores Ltd., allows people to feed photographs of their homes, or just a room, into their computers and alter them digitally to "try on" different roofing, cladding, windows, doors, hardware, paint, mouldings and flooring.

"Sometimes things don't turn out exactly as you expected . . . we've all experienced that," joked Andrew Pantelides, national product manager for Home Hardware, at the media launch for the software this week.

When working with paint chips, "you sometimes find that that orange is really orange," he said.

The HomeWorks software allows digital or scanned photographs to be altered so the viewer can see what more than 2,500 different design products (all sold by Home Hardware) would look like on or in their particular home.

"Previously, this kind of functionality was only available to professionals," Mr. Pantelides said in an interview.

The software will sell for $24.95 and include a $25 gift certificate for people who spend $450 or more on home-improvement products at Home Hardware.

While the software allows full visualization of different finishes and colours, it does not include prices.

It can generate glossy photos of how the house would look with its new roof or French doors, as well as a list of the products needed, which the customer brings to Home Hardware for pricing.

Doug Vickerson, chief executive officer of RenoWorks, said the product has generated intense interest from manufacturers of building materials.

Fifteen were invited to a recent introductory presentation and 40 showed up, he said. More than 30 were chosen to have their products appear as selections in the HomeWorks program.

"There's nothing like this in North America; it's the first time it's been made available to homeowners," Mr. Vickerson said.

Still, the days of fingering wood samples and gazing at bricks aren't entirely over yet.

When HomeWorks is downloaded it opens with a disclaimer saying that the limitations of monitor resolution make it impossible to reproduce colours with complete accuracy, and users are urged to view actual samples before making their final selections.