AI kitchen design generator: test cabinets, counters and layouts in Formas

Formas works as an AI kitchen design generator for homeowners, interior designers and kitchen sellers who want to see a kitchen before committing to it. Upload a kitchen photo or sketch to Freeform Studio, point at the cabinets or the countertop, attach a sample and compare redesigned versions on one board. Cabinets and worktops are some of the hardest things to change once they are installed, so a realistic picture can spare you an expensive regret. Below is a practice kitchen remodel from first photo to a material board, plus an honest breakdown of what an AI tool can and cannot tell you.

There is a lot you can try for free here. Formas offers free templates in Drawing Studio and the Style Transfer app and gives you free credits every month. Open Formas Studio with a photo of your current kitchen and one or two finishes you like.

What an AI kitchen design generator does

An AI kitchen design generator uses AI to create kitchen concepts and 3D layouts from photos, sketches or basic dimensions. You upload a single photo, and the tool analyzes the kitchen layout and redraws cabinets, counters, walls and lighting, keeping much of the original layout, though not all of it. Photo-based generators focus on redesigning existing kitchens while retaining their structure. Others analyze spatial relationships and ergonomic flow, trying to optimize cabinet and appliance placement, traffic flow and the work triangle between sink, stove and fridge.

Most AI kitchen tools offer multiple style options, including modern, farmhouse, industrial and Scandinavian, so users can compare ideas instantly and test colors before a remodel. Before-and-after comparison features show the impact of a change. Some integrate product catalogs with real-world items, some add budget tracking based on materials and layouts, and many make it easy to share designs with contractors. Better communication between homeowners and contractors may be the most practical benefit of all.

Formas does this kind of work from a design studio, which changes how you steer it. You mark the exact part of the room to change and attach the material, and the same board can then carry on to moodboards, panoramas and video. That helps if the kitchen is part of a wider home, or if you need to show the result to someone else.

How to redesign an existing kitchen in Formas

Try this practice brief: a narrow galley kitchen with dated oak cabinets, a laminate counter, one window and a cluttered worktop. You want to compare two schemes. Scheme A is painted sage shaker cabinets with a butcher block counter. Scheme B is a more modern kitchen in pale quartz, with a quartz island for an open plan version. Swap in your own room afterwards.

1. Upload your kitchen photo and pull your swatches

Stand in the doorway and take a wide, sharp photo in daylight that shows the cabinet run, the window and the floor, then upload it to a Freeform canvas. If the kitchen is L shaped, add a second angle.

Then bring in your materials. Material Snapshot pulls swatches from your own folders, so the sage paint card, the butcher block sample and the quartz offcut you already have can go straight on the board. Write your brief in plain language. "Keep the window, sink position and appliance locations. Sage green shaker cabinets, butcher block counter, warm under-cabinet lighting."

2. Generate a first version of each scheme

Set quality to Draft to test colors and styles, since each operation uses credits depending on its complexity. Formas's August workshop advises Draft to test and Ultra 4K to deliver, and 4K sits on Pro and Pro Plus. Choose Precise or Context with the next step in mind: Formas's tutorial pairs Context with controlled local edits, and that is most of what a cabinet swap is. Model Selection runs one prompt through one or several models, which helps you judge difficult details like glass doors. Generate Scheme A and Scheme B from the same photo so that the only differences are the ones you asked for. If you have not settled on a preferred kitchen style, run different styles too, say farmhouse style and then Scandinavian style.

3. Point Smart Notes at the cabinets, counter and backsplash

Smart Notes are the heart of this workflow. Add a note, point its arrow at the upper cabinets, attach the sage card and write what should happen in that area. Add a second note for the countertop materials with the butcher block reference, and a third for the backsplash and any open shelving. One note can also combine references, such as a brass handle and the sage paint on the same doors. The Formas Smart Notes tutorial shows pins, references and iteration history in action.

You can then compare cabinet styles, cabinet colors and cabinet finishes one decision at a time in the history panel. Showing a partner two images of the same kitchen with only the doors changed gets you a far clearer answer than asking what they think of the whole room. Compare each result with the source photo and check that the window and appliances stayed where you asked.

4. Clear the worktop with Remove Elements and layers

The photo still shows the toaster, dish rack and tea towels, and they distract from the cabinets. Remove Elements takes them out, while Clone Stamp, Smoothing and Levels handle the small retouching around them. The CAD vectorization and site context workshop covers these retouching tools.

Layer extraction goes further. It breaks a flat image into selectable parts that you can move, rescale or remove, then prompt and regenerate. On Scheme B, try selecting the pendant lights or bar stools once they appear and shifting them so they read properly over the island. Treat it as a directed edit and look over the rest of the image afterwards, because it does not guarantee other pixels stay untouched.

5. Test the island with shapes and assets

Scheme B's island is the one real layout question, and kitchen designers have numbers for it. The NKBA Kitchen Planning Guidelines recommend a work aisle of at least 42 inches for one cook and 48 inches for multiple cooks, a walkway of at least 36 inches, and a work triangle totalling no more than 26 feet. Local codes may also apply.

To see the idea, draw the cabinet runs and island as linked shapes on the board, which lets you reshape the plan and turn it into massing and floor plan images. Set a scale with two points and a known length, such as the width of the window, to read area and perimeter from that geometry. Or sketch directly on the photo: use Lock Selection so it stays put, draw the island with Brush, and add a Smart Note with one instruction, as the Formas guide to sketching over a photo shows. Locking only holds the photo while you draw, so your prompt still has to say "keep the existing room shape and window position".

On a board, Arrangement Variations gives layout options, and items from the Interior Design Assets library can be placed into the photo to test stools or lighting. These are generated images, so they do not establish that those clearances work. Asset records may show estimated dimensions, but your measured room decides cabinet placement and whether an island fits.

6. Polish the favorite version

When you have a redesigned kitchen you like, open it in Design Chat for Enhanced Realism. Formas analyzes the image and suggests enhancements, including Surface Definition, Surface Realism and Light Quality. For a kitchen, Surface Definition helps show the difference between painted timber and butcher block, and you set each one's intensity before comparing. The Enhanced Realism tutorial shows the steps.

7. Build the material board from a custom style

A material board is what you take to a showroom or kitchen designer. Drawing Studio creates one from an interior image, showing surfaces, colors and finishes together. Start from a free template, or build a custom style if Scheme A wins and the adjoining rooms should follow it.

For a kitchen style, describe a top-down flat-lay of door sample, counter and backsplash, and upload your references. Add rules against text and invented elements, so the board shows only what you specified. Choose Draft the recipe, then Test style on your favorite image, and add an instruction like "make the sage door and butcher block the dominant samples". Keep the palette consistent so the living room board matches, then use a test quality while you test and move up when it is going to a client. The Formas material moodboard guide covers presets and custom recipes.

8. See the room from other angles

One view hides plenty, and a galley hides more than most. Generate Drawings can produce image representations such as floor plans, axonometric views and elevations from a render, as the Formas interior design workshop demonstrates. Panorama 360 lets someone look around the room on a phone through a link or QR code. On Pro and Pro Plus, Multiangle Viewpoint compares different directions, which is a quick way to see the far end of the run.

Starting from a floor plan or kitchen plan

Have no room to photograph yet? Upload a 2D floor plan to Freeform, render it and swap the tiles and flooring. Plain white massing is another documented start, which is handy for testing a functional layout such as a galley against an L shaped plan at the concept stage.

Use Vectorize when a sketch or plan has to go to CAD. It exports 2D PDF or DXF, and you should check the lines and rescale them in the receiving software. Kitchen companies and designers with an existing model can import it into the 3D model to image studio in any of 10 formats, including OBJ, GLB, FBX, 3DM, IFC and SKP, or use the direct SketchUp integration, then walk through the space, adjust the sun and generate views from a camera.

AI kitchen planner options next to Formas

Formas is a broad design studio, and other AI kitchen tools are more specialized. Here is a quick comparison of how they start and what they are known for.

A dedicated photo tool is a simple choice for a quick look at one style. Formas makes sense when you want control over specific surfaces, or when the kitchen connects to other rooms and to a client presentation.

What AI cannot check in your kitchen plan

AI visualizers can distort dimensions and overlook structural supports, and layouts in generated images are approximate. Some comparisons of AI kitchen tools put layout accuracy at around 80 to 85%, and that gap is exactly why you measure before you order. A beautiful AI generated design can hide a door that will not open or an island that blocks a 42-inch work aisle. So use Formas for the decision about the look, then have a kitchen designer or contractor measure the room, confirm appliances and services, and produce the clear plan you build from. Nobody should order cabinets from a generated image.

Keep that in mind and the images become genuinely useful in real life. Remodel planning goes better when everybody is looking at the same picture.

AI kitchen design questions

Can I take a picture of my kitchen and redesign it?

Yes. Upload the photo to Formas, use Smart Notes on the parts you want to change and compare the results. Many other AI kitchen generator tools also start from a photo.

Is there a free AI kitchen design tool?

Formas gives you a practical way to try: free templates in Drawing Studio and Style Transfer, plus free credits each month. Credit use in Formas depends on the operation.

Can AI suggest a kitchen layout?

It can offer ideas. In Formas, try linked shapes for cabinet runs, or use Arrangement Variations on a board for layout options. Check any option with a tape measure, or better, a kitchen designer.

What do I get on paid plans?

Formas paid plans start with Starter at 750 credits a month. Go adds full-resolution, watermark-free exports, and Pro and Pro Plus add 2K and 4K quality. Formas pricing has the details.

Bring your kitchen to Formas

You need one wide photo, one cabinet color and one counter sample from your own folders. Open Formas Studio, generate two options in Draft quality and use a Smart Note on the cabinets. Then spend some of your monthly free credits on a free Drawing Studio template to turn your favorite into a material board.

That gives you an image and a board to take to your contractor, your showroom or whoever is sharing the bill.