ARBOR RESEARCH / PILOT 01

AI interior design,
put to the test.

Beautiful is only the beginning. Compare how well AI models reimagine a space—and how faithfully they keep it yours.

Tested September 30, 2026 · One assistant’s visual assessment

Sunburst AI renovation of the benchmark sunroom, with oak flooring and sage cabinetry
Residential sunroomSunburst max · AI-edited
Original sunroom before AI renovationView original ↗
17models attempted
3real-world spaces
45images to inspect
$6.37total measured API cost
A starting point

Different strengths. Clear choices.

Understand the scores ↗

Directional picks from two interior scenes. Small score differences are practical ties; cost and speed are measured separately.

The evidence, at a glance

Interior design model leaderboard

Download CSV ↓

Same photographs. Same brief. First result from every model. Explore quality, cost, and time without a single hidden composite score.

September 2026 AI interior design benchmark. Scores out of 100; cost in US dollars.
RankModelInterior score / 100Cost / imageMedian timeReturnedDetails
1GPT Image 2.5 SunburstOpenAI · max · Top interior score
89.8
$0.276990.3s3/3View
2GPT Image 2.5 FlareOpenAI · max
88.5
$0.276950.4s3/3View
3GPT Image 2OpenAI · high
86.9
$0.2768105.1s3/3View
4Grok Imagine Image 2.0xAI · medium
86.5
$0.090025.1s3/3View
5Grok Imagine Image QualityxAI · 2k
84.8
$0.080017.0s3/3View
6Muse ImageMeta · Standard · Budget preview
84.6
$0.010017.2s3/3View
7Hunyuan Image 3.0 InstructTencent · Standard
84.1
$0.090054.2s3/3View
8Seedream 5.0 ProByteDance · Standard
82.6
$0.1350127.9s3/3View
9Nano Banana ProGoogle · 2K
81.9
$0.150025.3s3/3View
10Seedream 5.0 LiteByteDance · Standard
80.8
$0.035052.8s3/3View
11Ideogram 4.5Ideogram · high
79.1
$0.220037.5s3/3View
12Grok Imagine ImagexAI · 2k
78.0
$0.022023.2s3/3View
13Qwen Image 3 ProAlibaba · Standard
77.5
$0.0780150.8s3/3View
14Nano Banana 2Google · 2K
76.5
$0.122031.5s3/3View
15GPT Image 1.5OpenAI · high
75.9
$0.260054.3s3/3View
—MAI Image 2.5Microsoft · Standard
Not ranked
——0/3View
—MAI Image 2.5 ProMicrosoft · Standard
Not ranked
——0/3View
17 models · 15 ranked · 2 returned no imagesInterior score: mean of two scenes.

Cost and median time cover all three requests per successful model. Six MAI requests failed with zero reported billable units. Different output sizes and quality settings were used. Read the limitations.

Look closer

The room tells the real story.

Click any image to inspect the full-size file.

Look at the windows, furniture positions, material changes, and light. A convincing renovation should still feel like the original space.

Original residential sunroom photograph
The starting point

Residential sunroom

Original photograph, unchanged. Every model received this same input and the same designer brief.

Read the exact prompt

Act as a senior interior designer creating a buildable, high-end renovation visualization of this exact photograph. Edit the supplied photo, not a new room. Preserve the original camera position, lens perspective, framing, room proportions, structural beams, ceiling geometry, window and door positions and sizes, and outdoor view. Transform this cluttered sunroom into a calm, elegant contemporary dining and reading room. Replace only the floor finish with light natural European oak long wide planks, laid lengthwise from the foreground toward the rear cabinet, with staggered joints and a matte finish. Paint the left vertical timber paneling warm off-white, keeping the panel grooves. Preserve the stone wall strip and the dark rear curtain. Keep the dining table in its exact location, replace its cloth with a bare rounded natural-oak tabletop, and replace the dining chairs with refined oak-frame chairs with ivory upholstered seats in the same locations and count. Replace the rolling office chair at right with one low upholstered oatmeal reading armchair with fixed oak legs in that same position. Refinish the right window bench and rear sideboard in muted sage green; give the bench an ivory linen cushion. Remove the laptop, cables, papers, boxes, floor glove, bags and miscellaneous clutter. Add one low ceramic bowl on the dining table and a closed book on the reading bench. Do not add a rug, new windows, walls, shelves or furniture that obstructs the glass. Use sophisticated restrained styling, tactile physically plausible materials, accurate furniture scale, coherent contact shadows and natural daylight in the original direction. Keep window reflections believable and all verticals consistent with the source. Photorealistic editorial architectural photograph, inviting and achievable rather than extravagant. No people, text, logos, watermark, split screen or collage. Return one image.

GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst Residential sunroom renovation output
AI-edited result

GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst

92.0 / 100$0.2772 API cost

A cohesive, inviting renovation with tactile oak, ivory upholstery and muted sage storage. Keeps the shell, curtain, stone strip and key furniture positions; clutter is removed cleanly. Small additional decor and minor chair-detail reinterpretation remain.

All results & settings ↗
Grok Imagine Image 2.0 Residential sunroom renovation output
AI-edited result

Grok Imagine Image 2.0

87.5 / 100$0.0900 API cost

A convincing, useful pale-oak and sage renovation with appropriate furniture scale and original camera mostly intact. A visible overhead cable remains and there is small table/chair-detail drift.

All results & settings ↗

Images retain their native proportions; framing and resolution can differ. All 45 outputs are available on the model result pages.

How to read this benchmark

Useful evidence.
Honest limits.

One assistant scored the first output from each model. This pilot helps you inspect tradeoffs; it does not establish a universal winner.

Read the full methodology ↗
35%Structure & camera
25%Design & materials
25%Instruction adherence
15%Photographic realism
Two interiors. One output per scene.

No independent human panel, crowd votes, Elo rating, or statistical confidence intervals. Exact product matching and construction feasibility were not tested.

The questions that matter

Before you choose a model.

Which AI model performed best for interior design?

GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst at max quality scored 89.75/100 across the two interiors in Super Arbor’s September 30, 2026 pilot. Flare max scored 88.5/100 and was a practical quality tie. These are subjective pilot results, not evidence of a universal winner.

Which model was the most affordable?

Muse Image cost $0.0100 per successful image in this run and scored 84.625/100 on interiors. Grok Imagine Image 2.0 cost $0.0900 and scored 86.5/100. Prices apply to the tested settings, not every resolution or provider.

How were the models tested?

Seventeen fal editing endpoints each received the same three photographs and one fixed prompt per photograph. We kept the first output, with no paid retries or model-specific prompt tuning. Two interior scenes determine the interior ranking; one exterior is scored separately.

Is this an Arena or Elo leaderboard?

No. One AI assistant assessed structure preservation, design, instruction adherence, and realism. There are no crowd votes, Elo ratings, independent blind review, or statistical confidence intervals. Close scores should be treated as practical ties.

Can these results guarantee exact product matching?

No. The test measures conceptual renovation imagery. It does not validate exact catalog products, finish colors, product dimensions, installation quantities, or construction feasibility. Verify materials and measurements before purchasing.

Why are some models unranked or missing?

MAI Image 2.5 and MAI Image 2.5 Pro failed all three requests each, so they have no visual quality score. Seven additional exact variants from the candidate list were not found in the connected fal catalog at test time. This is not a claim about every provider.

Can I download or cite the results?

Yes. Download the CSV, public JSON, or Markdown report. Cite Super Arbor, AI Interior Design Benchmark, September 30, 2026 pilot, and include the sample size and subjective scoring limitations.

From possibility to your place

What could your space become?

Explore your next renovation with Arbor Design Studio.

Start imagining ↗