Why we're building a renovation planning app in the UK

Last updated: June 12, 2026

We started building Reno because we kept running into the same problem.

Both of us had renovated before. We like planning. We use software and apps all day. We are not scared of a spreadsheet, a design tool or a floor plan.

But when it came to planning our own renovations, the process still felt awkward, frustrating and really easy to get wrong.

We found ourselves mocking up ideas in Figma and Keynote, trying to make drawings to scale in different tools that were never really built for renovation planning and then hitting up against something that made the plan do more damage than good. If you can't cover everything in *the* plan you design, you're leaving yourself open to really simple miscommunications.

You can make almost anything work if you are patient enough.

There are plenty of floor planners out there. Some are good for furniture layouts, some for quick 3D views, some are fun if you want to play around with how a room might look 'scandi-chic'.

Most floor planners feel more like game tools than renovation tools.

You can drag in a sofa, add a plant, move a table around. Then the real questions start.

• Where does the light switch go?
• Where does the socket sit in relation to the bed, the desk or the kitchen unit?
• What height is the splashback?
• How much of that wall is tiled, in what pattern?
• Is the radiator centred on the wall or aligned to the furniture?
• Does the vanity actually fit once the door swings open?
• What is the builder supposed to quote from?

There is nothing wrong with dream-home software. It can be inspiring. But Reno is built for the bit after that. The bit where everything needs dimensions, where someone asks where the soil pipe is, where a small misunderstanding can become expensive.

Reno is being built in the UK because UK renovations have a particular kind of awkwardness.

A lot of us are not working with huge blank spaces. We are working with:

• Victorian terraces
• Edwardian terraces
• 1930s semis
• Ex-local authority homes
• Converted flats
• Maisonettes
• Cottages
• Post-war houses

Homes that have already been altered three times by previous owners.

That means chimney breasts, alcoves, old extensions, pipe boxing, narrow hallways, small bathrooms, awkward soil pipe positions and rooms that are almost rectangular, but not quite.

A generic dream-home planner does not help much when you are trying to squeeze a toilet, basin, shower, towel rail and storage into a tiny UK bathroom. Sometimes every centimetre matters. Sometimes every millimetre matters.

In the UK, a lot of renovation work starts with the homeowner trying to explain the plan to a trade - a builder, bathroom fitter, electrician, plumber, decorator, tiler or joiner. Sometimes you have an architect or interior designer involved. Often, you do not.

So the homeowner ends up responsible for communicating the brief clearly enough that the work can be quoted and built. That is a lot to ask when your plan is spread across screenshots, Pinterest boards, WhatsApp messages, product links, paper sketches, supplier PDFs and a half-finished moodboard you made in Keynote at midnight.

A lot of renovation planning becomes written very quickly - lists, spreadsheets, quotes, specifications. Those things are useful. But most people understand their renovation visually first. They need to see:

• Where the bath goes
• Where the sockets are
• Where the tiles stop
• How the furniture fits

The written brief should come from that. Not the other way round.

Reno is not a 3D modelling tool. That is deliberate.

Right now, Reno focuses on 2D planning because it keeps the app simple to use across devices and browsers, while giving you control over the details that actually matter during a renovation:

• Socket positions
• Switch positions
• Tile layouts and grouting
• Wall panels
• Splashbacks
• Skirting board heights
• Radiators
• Towel rails
• Fixture positions

3D can be useful for visualising a space. But for most renovation decisions, 2D is clearer. It helps you work out what fits, what aligns, what needs to be decided and what someone else needs to understand before they start work.

Even so, we know people still want to get a feel for the finished room. That is why we introduced AI Photo Preview. Instead of asking you to build a full 3D model, it can give a sense of depth, scale, materials, textures and lighting from your plan. Accurate 2D for the decisions. AI preview for the feel.

One thing we felt strongly from the start is that Reno should feel like it understands UK homes.

That means metric planning, small rooms, real bathroom constraints and the kinds of products and finishes people are actually choosing here. The paint colours from Farrow & Ball, Little Greene, Coat, Earthborn and Mylands. The skirting, architrave, coving and panelling. The socket plates and switch positions. The towel rails, extractor fans, shower niches, tile trims, bath panels and pipe boxing.

The things that seem small until someone needs to fit them, price them or explain them.

The more we renovated, the more obvious this became. It is for everyone who needs to understand the work. For homeowners, that means being able to explain what you want clearly. For interior designers, it means turning ideas, layouts, finishes and client decisions into something practical enough to share. For trades, it means understanding what is included, what is excluded, what has changed and what needs to be priced.

The plan needs to answer practical questions:

• What is moving
• What is staying
• What has already been chosen
• What is still undecided
• What needs to be quoted
• What affects first fix

We started with our own renovation frustration, but the problem is bigger than homeowners. Homeowners need a way to explain what they want. Interior designers need faster and easier ways to communicate layouts, finishes and practical decisions clearly with clients and trades. Trades need enough detail to quote accurately - and easily create quotes that homeowners can compare meaningfully with others - and avoid guessing what is included. Reno sits in that space between idea, plan, brief and build.

Reno helps you:

• Create accurate 2D floor plans and wall elevations
• Add furniture, fixtures and fittings to scale
• Plan sockets, switches, lights and radiators
• Show tiles, panels, splashbacks and finishes
• Collect product choices
• Build briefs and shopping lists
• Share plans clearly with homeowners, designers and trades
• Keep decisions connected to the plan
• Make changes without losing the thread

We are building it for UK renovations because that is the problem we know. The small bathrooms. The awkward terraces. The existing soil pipes. The light switches that never quite seem to be where you want them. The builders who need a clear brief. The homes that were never designed around the way we live now, but somehow have to work.

Reno came from our own frustration with trying to plan real renovations in tools that were never quite made for the job. So we built the tool we wanted.