This new startup lets you try out furniture before you buy it - and it changed the way I see my home

I live in a San Francisco apartment, words synonymous with having "character" of a 100-year-old building and paying thousands for no air conditioning, heat, laundry, parking, or dishwasher.

My living room is not only a space for my couch and TV, but it's also my dining room, my office, and my closet all rolled into one. After a recent trip to IKEA to try to get more seating for friends to come over, the only thing they said was how "crowded" my living room was with the addition of one more chair.

To put it plainly, redecorating - no matter what size your space - is frustrating.

That's what motivated Shanna Tellerman to start her own company, Modsy, a startup that lets you try out furniture in your own virtual house before you buy it.

Early in her career as an intern, Tellerman had worked on the game "The Sims 2" where you can build virtual houses and arrange furniture as easy as dropping it in a room.

"I got really obsessed with seeing the world in 3D," Tellerman said.

Her first startup, though, wasn't about designing, but taking a 3D game platform. It eventually sold to Autodesk, but Tellerman only stayed for a few years as the entrepreneurial bug caught up to her again. She joined Google Ventures as a venture capitalist, but her idea for Modsy was always nagging at her and distracting her from pitches. When she moved into a new house, she found herself in all-too familiar situation of wanting to re-do a room but having no idea how furniture would fit in the space.

"This is a really big emotion purchase and there is no way try it on," Tellerman said. "Then furniture is such a pain to return."

For the last year-and-a-half, Tellerman has been working on her solution, Modsy. The company is launching to the public on Friday, but it gave Business Insider an inside look at how its technology works - and changed how I see my house.