By: Mitch | Last updated May 19, 2021 
If you are someone in the home design industry or just someone who makes designs as a hobby, you may have heard about home design software. These are applications that can be used to translate your blueprints and design ideas into 3D models. These can be rendered with precise measurements, accents, and colors. These come with a lot of materials and architectural motifs that are sure to satisfy anyone’s creativity. These applications range in terms of their exact features, pricing, and names, but are all designed towards representing your idea into a 3D design.
Most applications come with a couple of steps towards creating your dream house. First, users will need to lay down the exact measurements of the walls, floors, and more. This will be easier if you have a blueprint planned out. Some applications even allow you to incorporate it in the interface so that you can easily browse through it while you use the application. These applications also come with smart tools that make inputting these measurements easier and more intuitive as it can naturally be a hassle if you want complex designs.
After creating this, you can then make special planning for rooms such as the kitchen and the bathroom. This includes putting the plumbing, the electrical wiring, and more. In this part, you can also put the paint for each room along with the tiles and special textures.
Next, you can then put the different objects per room. Interior designing is best done with a lot of variety in the objects in each room and with the right inspiration. Putting the objects in the room is very easy with these applications as you can simply scroll through the objects library or search for specific ones and then drag them to your design. You can then customize it a bit and rotate it to fit your specific vision.
Some home design software also comes with an outdoor designer. This includes designing the garden by putting different trees, brushes, and plants along with gazebos and pools to complete your vision. This is also handy for accommodating any unique topographical design of the location where the house will be put.
Once everything is settled, you can then choose the right lighting and angle for you to take a virtual tour of your finished house design.
There are always newer features released every year by developers to make their products stand out. Here are some of the best ones that we usually look for in an application:
Abundant objects library
When looking for an application to purchase, it should always be your priority to look for an abundant object library. Even if you are not an interior designer, you should still prioritize this as it also reflects on your choices for the materials of the walls, tiles, and accents. With a good number of available objects, you can realize almost any design and motif that you want.
A related feature is the presence of branded objects. This helps in making the designs much more specific. This also helps in realizing the final cost of the house in case you want to have everything planned.
Designing the house on paper may be easier for those who want a tangible measuring and drawing tool. Translating the design into the computer may be a lot harder especially if you are still new. For this, a good interface is your best hope.
A good user interface is basically one where you can easily design the house with less clicks and waiting times. This applies to the measurement process, designing process, and more. This can also be seen with helpful icons, plentiful wizards and guides, and tools that are intuitive. It is also good to have a minimalist design that does not contrast much with the designing area.
Designing a house is a complex and slow process. Because of this, it is only natural to change across different devices for more convenience. Some may also find it easier to drag and put measurements in the different parts of the device with their fingers which is only made possible with a touchscreen interface. For this, a good application will be one that can port your designs to a tablet or a mobile interface. The features should work the same.
It is also good if the final 3D design can be viewed in a website that can be accessed with any device so that you can easily present it to your customers without hassle.
Aside from a good interface, user-friendliness can be achieved by making the application easy to use even for beginners. This can be made possible having a lot of guides and wizards for each tool of the application. By simply hovering your cursor to these tools and seeing what it does, you can easily create your home design.
As some may find putting measurements for the different rooms very hard, it is also good to have a lot of available templates that you can insert at the beginning of the design process. Through this, you can already have pre-made rooms and measurements that you can just modify to fit your vision more, making the whole design process very fast.
Home design software are moderately priced, ranging from $20 to $100 depending on the specific application. Cheaper applications doesn’t mean worse designs, rather, it only means that its features are very simple and may be more suited by those who only want a 3D design of their blueprint. Typically, more expensive ones have better 3D display capabilities, a larger object library, and more.
Finding the right program to help you plan out , or bring to life, your ideas so you can see them before you start building can be a huge savings of not only time but of your money. Gone are the days when you would need to get test pieces of wallpaper or test paint to try to imagine how the rest of your house would look covered with the designs they offer. Even more flexibility has been given to your abilities with these programs as they even allow you to try putting in different types of furniture and accessories. Some of the better programs allow you to do decks and other aspects of your outdoors. We have done many home design software reviews , so if you are looking to buy one make sure you check out our list for the best of the best.
