How to Use Home Design and Planning Software

Want to release your inner architect and plan your dream home?
Software applications can help you design a house, choose paint
colors, place your furniture, estimate construction costs and even
choose appropriate plants for your future garden. It can also provide
3-D views to help you visualize your finished project.

Difficulty:

Moderately challenging

Instructions

1. Decide what sort of software you want. There are different programs for decorating and furniture arranging, landscaping, painting and ground-up home design. Some are available in bundles that have it all.

2. Read the software's system requirements to make sure it'll work on your computer.

3. Take your time learning the software. The best design programs are complicated, and you won't be drawing plans the day you install them.

4. Think about the features that are most important to you. For example, do you want to see a 3-D view of your sketch, build a rough construction budget or add landscaping to your design? Different programs have different features.

5. Measure the lot you'll be building on, if you've already selected it. You'll need the contours of the land as well as its dimensions.

6. Ask paint dealers if they have paint-simulating software. These programs let you apply various color schemes to a digital photo of your house.

Tips & Warnings

• Prices range from $30 to $100 for basic home design software. Costlier programs generally have more features and take longer to learn. The CAD (computer-aided design) software used by professional architects can cost thousands of dollars.

• All plans you draw up must be reviewed by an architect or engineer to ensure code compliance, safety and construction feasibility.