One of the most useful tools in this home design software for Mac is the virtual walk-through. This allows you to plot a path through your home, and the computer will show you, in 3D, what your design will look like. This is a great way to see exactly what you can expect and provides a better idea where you can make improvements. Anyone can create photorealistic 3D renders of the interiors they have designed. New My rooms Save Save as. You can upload 2 floor plans for free per year. Upload floor plan » » Search results for « » Filter. Use with shift to 'Save As.' Ctrl+Z Undo last action Ctrl+Y. Sweet Home 3D is a free interior design application that helps you draw the plan of your house, arrange furniture on it and visit the results in 3D. New version 6.4 of Sweet Home 3D with a new Online editor for smartphones, tablets and computers.
Live Interior 3D Pro. Features and functions This is freehome design software for Macwhich lets you design your home or interiors in 2D and 3D formats. It comes with a huge catalog of obxjects and also preset designs.
I recently wanted to buy a new work desk. However, almost every desk I saw online are either overpriced or not good enough. So, being a DIY guy, I wanted to make my own modular desk that can meet my specific requirements. Of course, I’m no professional. So, I took some help from YouTube videos and furniture design software to design the desk. If you are in the same position as me or if you are a professional and looking for good software that makes it easy to design furniture, then here are some of the best furniture design software you can try.
Read: Best Floor Plan Apps for Android and iOS
Best Furniture Design Software
1. SketchUp
SketchUp is a very user-friendly and feature-rich 3D design software. Though not a dedicated furniture design software, it is pretty good a designing the furniture. In fact, this is the software I used to design my own desk. One of the best things about SketchUp is that it is pretty minimal yet fully featured. This combination makes it quite easy to use and the learning curve is not that hard. Add to that, SketchUp has a huge 3D library which can be used to design your own furniture. Additionally, once designed, you can export the 3D models in a variety of formats like CAD and 3DS.
Of course, being software designed for professionals, all the measurements are precise. If needed, you can even try out different design variations of your current design with just a couple of clicks. Apart from Woodworking and furniture designing, you can also use SketchUp for 3D printing, construction working, interior design, etc.
Pricing: The base version of SketchUp is free but is limited in terms of features. For instance, you will not have access to the 3D library, 3D modeling options, support for 2D designs, style builder, etc. For advanced features, you need to subscribe to one of the paid plans. Depending on your use case, the subscription fee varies greatly. I recommend you check this page.
Platform support: Windows and Mac. If you want to, you can also use the browser version.
Download SketchUp
2. SolidWorks
When it comes to 3D modeling and designing, SolidWorks is one of the most popular and gives you a ton of options to design the furniture the way you want. Since SolidWorks is a CAD software, you can pretty much create any type of furniture design you want. Add to that, you can try out different materials, textures, and other 3D elements for your furniture designs.
What makes SolidWorks special is the amount of flexibility you get and the ability to use third-party software alongside or within the SolidWorks. In fact, SolidWorks has a whole catalog of partner products that tries to enhance and make it easy to create your own furniture. Of course, being a popular software, SolidWorks has a great community and some huge woodworking libraries to get you started.
As good as it is, SolidWorks is not for everyone. Compared to SketchUp, the learning curve is steep.
Pricing: As of writing this, there is no pricing information on the official website. You need to contact the developer and request a quote. Depending on what your needs are and who you are the pricing may differ.
Platform support: SolidWorks is only available for Windows.
Download SolidWorks
3. CAD Pro Furniture Design
If SolidWorks is too much for you, you can try CAD Pro Furniture Design software. Now, just like SolidWorks, CAD Pro, being a CAD software, can be used for a variety of needs. What makes CAD Pro special is that it has all the specific tools you need to design your furniture.
Features of CAD Pro include but not limited to autoshaping, drafting tools, sketch tracking, MS Office integration, a huge library of DIY projects and plans, smart dimensions, etc. All in all, if you are looking for a software that is simple to use but has all the essential features then do give CAD Pro Furniture Design a try and see how it works for you.
Pricing: CAD Pro Furniture Design is a premium only software that costs you a one-time fee of $99.95.
Platform support: CAD Pro is Windows-only software.
4. SketchList
SketchList is a purpose designed software that lets you create any type of furniture design you want. Being a purpose build software, it has almost everything a woodworker or designer needs to design good furniture. Those features include drag and drop objects, Snap-On objects, alignment tools, one-click contours, One click joints, drill hole emulation, wood types, custom materials, etc.
The greatest asset of SketchList is its ease of use and the detailed how-to articles and videos showing usage and tricks of the software.
If you are looking for a purpose-built software that is straightforward to use, then go with SketchList.
Pricing: SketchList is a premium only software that costs $149.99 per license.
Platform support: SketchList supports both Windows and macOS.
5. Woodwork for Inventor
The name says it all, doesn’t it? Woodwork for Inventor is designed by AutoDesk to specifically meet the needs of woodworkers and furniture designers. Of all the software in this list, Woodwork for Inventor has the most features for furniture designing. In fact, the software comes with some interesting features like automatic mortises and tenons, box components, automatic measurements, material generator, size calculations, etc. As a bonus, the software can also work with a CNC machine, if you have one.
Now, with all these features, it is no wonder that it is a paid product. However, the deal breaker for most might be that you need to purchase the software from the local vendor. Depending on where you live, the website will give you the details of the vendor from whom you can purchase the software. Other than that little hiccup, Woodwork for Inventor is a pretty good software to design furniture.
Price: As of writing this, the website did not list the pricing. You need to contact the local vendor to find out. You can use this link for that purpose.
Platform support: Windows only
Hope that helps. If you think I missed any of your favorite furniture design software, comment below and share them with me.
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QUESTION
I would like to design a sun room, solarium, or conservatory with skylights. What is the best way to do this?
ANSWER
A sun room features large windows and skylights to let in plenty of sunlight. Creating one is easy using the Skylight tool and the steps below.
To create a sun room with shed roof
- Open the plan file in which you would like to design a sun room or select File> New Plan from the menu to open a new, blank plan.
In this example, a simple 30' x 40' rectangular structure is drawn, and a 9' x 12' addition will be turned into a sun room. - Click the Select Objects button, then click in a blank area inside the sun room to select it and click the Open Object edit button.
- In the Room Specification dialog:
- On the Structure panel, specify the desired Ceiling Height and the desired Floor Height.
In this example, the Floor Height is set at -7' to create a sunken room and the Ceiling Height is set to 102 1/8'.
Uncheck the box beside Flat Ceiling Over This Room if you would like to have a vaulted ceiling. - On the Moldings panel, select any moldings that you would like in the room. If you unchecked Flat Ceiling Over This Room, be sure to remove anyCrown Molding.
- Click OK to close the dialog and apply your changes.
- On the Structure panel, specify the desired Ceiling Height and the desired Floor Height.
- Select Build> Roof> Build Roof from the menu.
- In the Build Roof dialog:
- On the Roof panel, specify the roof Pitch. In this example, the pitch is set to 6 in 12.
- On the Materials panel, click on Skylight Frame to select it, then click the Select Material button.
- In the Select Material dialog, browse the Materials library category and select a material for your skylight frames that will match your roofing as well as your window trim.
- Click OK to close the dialog and build your roof.
- On the Roof panel, specify the roof Pitch. In this example, the pitch is set to 6 in 12.
- Select one of the side walls of the sun room and click the Open Object edit button.
- On the Roof panel of the Wall Specification dialog, select the option beside Full Gable Wall and click OK.
Repeat this step with the other side wall of the sun room to specify it as Full Gable as well. - Select the back wall that the shed roof will rest on and then click the Open Object edit button.
- On the Roof panel of the Wall Specification dialog, specify a Pitch for the shed roof plane.
- In this example, a Pitch of 2 in 12 is used.
- In this example, a Pitch of 2 in 12 is used.
- Next, select the adjoining wall that is part of both the main structure and the sun room and Open Objectit to specification.
- On the Roof panel, check the Upper Pitch box and specify the upper pitch to be the same value as the lower pitch. If the roof does not update, select Build> Roof> Build Roof, check the box beside Auto Rebuild Roofs, and click OK.
In Home Designer Essentials, open the Build Roof dialog and hit OK to re-build the roof.
- On the Roof panel, check the Upper Pitch box and specify the upper pitch to be the same value as the lower pitch.
- Select 3D> Create Camera View> Perspective Full Overview from the menu to see the results so far.
To add a doorway
- Select File> CloseView from the menu to return to floor plan view.
- Select Edit> Default Settings from the menu. In the Default Settings dialog, click on Plan, then click the Edit button.
- In the General Plan Defaults dialog that displays next:
- Check the box beside Ignore Casing When Resizing Doors and Windows, then click OK to close the dialog.
- Click the Done button to close the Default Settings dialog, as well.
- Check the box beside Ignore Casing When Resizing Doors and Windows, then click OK to close the dialog.
- Select Build> Door> Doorway from the menu, then click on the wall separating the sun room from the rest of the house to place a doorway at that location.
- Click the Select Objectsbutton, then click on the doorway to select it.
- Click the Center Object edit button.
- Click inside the sun room near the wall that the doorway is placed in.
- The door will become centered along the wall in the room.
- Click the Center Object edit button.
- With the doorway still selected, use the end edit handles to resize it so that it fills the entire wall section.
- You can also place a Hinged Door instead of a doorway opening.
- When a Hinged Door is 48' wide or more, it automatically becomes a double door.
- You can also place a Hinged Door instead of a doorway opening.
- Select 3D> Create Camera View> Full Camera from the menu, then click and drag to create a camera view inside the house looking towards the sun room.
- If you want, you can click on the casing, or trim, of the doorway to select it and then click and drag its edit handles to resize it or raise its top height up until it bumps into the ceiling height of the sun room.
- If you want, you can click on the casing, or trim, of the doorway to select it and then click and drag its edit handles to resize it or raise its top height up until it bumps into the ceiling height of the sun room.
It's not uncommon for skylights to be aligned with the windows in a room.
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To add windows and skylights
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- Select File> CloseView from the menu to return to floor plan view.
- Select Build> Window> Window from the menu, then click on an exterior wall to place a window at that location. Continue clicking to place as many windows as you like.
- Don't worry about placing the windows accurately now - you can move them into place in a moment.
- Don't worry about placing the windows accurately now - you can move them into place in a moment.
- Using the Select Objects tool, click on a window to select it and use the temporary dimension lines that display as guides to move it relative to a wall corner or another window.The Center Object edit button can be used to center a window or group of windows along a wall inside a room. Select the window(s), click the Center Object edit button, then click inside the room near the wall that the windows are placed in to center them along that wall.
- Select Build> Roof> Skylight from the menu, then click and drag to draw a rectangular skylight.
- Be sure that it is drawn entirely within the edges of a single roof plane.
- Don't worry about the exact size, shape or placement of the skylight as it is drawn: it can be edited precisely in a moment.
- In this example, three skylights are drawn.
- Be sure that it is drawn entirely within the edges of a single roof plane.
- Click the Select Objects button, then click on the skylight on the left to select it and display its edit handles.
- If you select another object such as the roof plane or the room instead, click the Select Next Object edit button or press the Tab key on your keyboard.
- If you select another object such as the roof plane or the room instead, click the Select Next Object edit button or press the Tab key on your keyboard.
- Click and drag the edit handles of the skylight to resize it and move it into position relative to the walls and windows of the room.
- Use the temporary dimension lines that display to help you resize and move the skylight precisely.
- Use the temporary dimension lines that display to help you resize and move the skylight precisely.
- Repeat steps 5 and 6 with each skylight so that they are evenly spaced.
- Select 3D> Create Camera View> Full Camera from the menu, then click and drag a camera arrow inside the house to see your work.
Once the structure of the sun room is designed, it's time to decorate the room using furnishings, accessories, and materials.
To decorate your sun room
- Select View> Library Browser from the menu to open the Library Browser.
- Select furniture for your room by browsing to the Interiors and Exteriors library categories.
- Browse a selection of potted plant images in the Plants library category.
- Select 3D> Create Camera View> Full Camera from the menu, then click and drag a camera arrow inside the house to see your work.
- 3D views are a great place to experiment with different materials for floors, trim, furnishings and other objects in your plan. While in a 3D view, select 3D> Material Painter> Material Painter from the menu.
- In the Select Material dialog, browse the Materials library to find a material that you would like to apply to an object in your plan.
- Select the material and click OK to return to the 3D view. Your pointer will display the Material Painter icon.
- Click on the surface of an object to apply the selected material to that surface.It's not recommended to use the Material Painter on walls as it may produce undesired results. Use the Wall Specification dialog to modify a wall's material instead.
- In the Select Material dialog, browse the Materials library to find a material that you would like to apply to an object in your plan.