Lesson 1: Prompt Structure Fundamentals

Okay, here’s where we get into the good stuff. You know how there’s a formula for a great cocktail? Or how every good room has a mix of ambient, task, and accent lighting? Well, AI prompts have a formula too. And once you learn it, you’ll never stare at a blank prompt box thinking “what do I even say?” again.

Here’s the secret: Great AI-generated interiors aren’t about writing paragraphs of description. They’re about hitting the right elements in the right order.

The 7-Part Prompt Formula:

1. Room Type – What space are we creating?
2. Design Style – What’s the aesthetic vibe?
3. Materials & Textures – What is everything made of?
4. Furniture & Objects – What’s in the space?
5. Lighting – How is the space lit?
6. Camera & Composition – How are we viewing it?
7. Artistic Medium – What should the final image look like?

Let me show you this in action. Here’s a basic prompt:

“Living room”

Okay, AI can work with that. But it’s going to give you something generic and probably not what you’re imagining.

Now let’s apply the formula:

“Modern Scandinavian living room with white oak flooring and a cream boucle sofa, minimal black metal accents, flooded with soft natural daylight, eye-level view, photorealistic architectural photography”

See the difference? Same room type, but now the AI has clear direction for every major decision it needs to make.

Let’s break down what each part does:

1. Room Type (living room) – Establishes the basic function and layout expectations

2. Design Style (modern Scandinavian) – Sets the overall aesthetic direction

3. Materials & Textures (white oak flooring, cream boucle, black metal) – Gives specific tactile quality

4. Furniture & Objects (sofa, minimal accents) – Places key elements in the space

5. Lighting (soft natural daylight) – Creates mood and atmosphere

6. Camera & Composition (eye-level view) – Determines how we’re seeing the space

7. Artistic Medium (photorealistic architectural photography) – Defines the rendering style

Here’s what’s beautiful about this formula: You don’t always need all seven parts. Sometimes you want to leave room for AI to surprise you. But when you’re not getting what you want, you can go through this checklist and see what you’re missing.

Think of it like baking. You don’t need to follow the recipe exactly every time, but when your cake doesn’t rise, you check if you forgot the baking powder. Same thing here.

The order matters too. AI pays more attention to words at the beginning of your prompt. So start with your most important elements—usually room type and style—and build from there.

Pro tip: Don’t write your prompts like sentences with lots of connector words. AI doesn’t need “a beautiful living room with comfortable seating and lovely lighting.” Just write: “beautiful living room, comfortable seating, lovely lighting.” Commas work great. Fewer words = each word has more impact.

Try this exercise: Take a room from your Pinterest board. Now describe it using these seven parts. Just mentally go through the checklist. What room is it? What style? What materials? You’ll start seeing every space through this lens, and your prompts will get so much better.

Next up, let’s dig into each part, starting with Room Type…