Games · iOS
Design Home™: House Makeover
by Crowdstar LLC
Design Home has been pulling in decorating enthusiasts since late 2016, and nearly a decade and 515,000 ratings later it still commands a 4.59 average. The premise is simple: take on room challenges, furnish them using real brand-name decor items, and get scored by the community. At 345 MB it is a substantial install, and the free price point comes with the currency economy you would expect. For a casual creative outlet it delivers, but the monetization structure shapes almost every decision you make inside it.
What It Actually Does
Each session drops you into a staged room shell and asks you to fill it with furniture and decor pulled from a catalog of real-world brand items. You submit the design, other players vote on it, and your score feeds a progression rank. Exterior and garden challenges sit alongside the interior ones, giving the format some variety. The loop is genuinely satisfying in short bursts, and seeing community votes roll in adds a light social hook that keeps the cycle going.
The Currency Problem
The in-app purchase system is not subtle here. Most desirable catalog pieces cost in-game currency that depletes quickly, and the earn rate through normal play is slow enough that spending real money feels like the intended path rather than an option. Challenges also require entry fees in that same currency. Players who refuse to spend will find themselves recycling a narrow slice of the catalog, which undercuts the creative freedom the format promises. This is the central tension the game has never resolved.
Who Gets the Most from It
If you have a genuine interest in interior design aesthetics and enjoy light competitive feedback, Design Home scratches an itch that very few mobile titles target. The real-brand catalog gives it a grounded, magazine-like feel rather than a cartoony one. Casual players who treat it as a browsing and styling toy, rather than a game to optimize, tend to report the most satisfaction. Competitive rank-chasers will hit the paywall friction faster and harder.
Pros
- Real brand-name decor catalog gives challenges a grounded, realistic visual quality
- Community voting adds a social feedback layer that most decorating games skip
- Both interior and exterior challenge types offer some format variety
- Nearly ten years of updates suggests the developer is actively maintaining it
- Strong store rating across a very large sample of 515K reviews
Cons
- Currency drains fast and the earn rate nudges players toward purchases repeatedly
- Challenge entry fees mean low-currency players can get locked out of participation
- 345 MB install is on the heavy side for a decorating game
- Creative range is effectively capped by how much currency you are willing to spend
- Community scoring can feel arbitrary and disconnects effort from results