How to Create a Floor Plan in SketchUp
Creating floor plans in SketchUp involves drawing shapes that represent the top view of the main structures you want the design to represent. For most floor plans, these structures will be the walls, doors and windows of the design. You can use SketchUp's "Rectangle" and "Line" tools to draw the top views of other objects you want to include in your plan, including furniture and fixtures. Creating floor plans in SketchUp lets you visualize clearly the space you're designing.
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Instructions
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1
Open SketchUp, then click the "Camera" menu. Click "Standard views," followed by clicking "Top" to switch the current viewpoint to top view. Floor plans are drawn in top view.
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2
Click the toolbar's "Rectangle" tool, then drag on the ground plane to define the outer walls of the room or building you're designing. Release the mouse when the room has the shape you want.
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3
Type the dimensions of the rectangle in this format: length dimension, width dimension. Press "Enter" to make the rectangle the size you typed.
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4
Use the previous two instructions to draw rectangles representing each interior space of the main plan. For a house plan, draw rectangles for the bedrooms, bathrooms, living room and kitchen.
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5
Click the "Tools" menu's "Text" item, then click inside one of the rectangles. Drag a short distance, then click again. SketchUp will highlight the text box's text.
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Type the name of the room in the text box. For example, if the rectangle containing the text box is the kitchen, type "kitchen."
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7
Click outside the text box to complete the text entry.
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8
Repeat the previous three steps to label your plan's remaining spaces.
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9
Press the space bar to release the "Text" tool and pick up the "Selection" tool.
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10
Click the edge of a rectangle where you want to draw a door.
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11
Right-click the selected edge, then click "Divide." Drag the mouse until the width of each segment that SketchUp is dynamically dividing the edge into matches the size you want for the door. If you're not sure of the width you want, drag until the edge has four divisions. You can change the door width later if needed.
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12
Click the segment located where you want to draw the door, then press "Delete" to delete the segment.
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13
Click the toolbar's "Line" tool, then click one end of the opening you made in the last step.
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14
Drag a short distance inside the room to create the door, then click to finish the door.
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15
Click the toolbar's "Arc" tool, then click the unconnected end of the door.
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16
Click the other end of the door opening, then drag until the arc bows outward toward the room's interior. Click again to complete the arc, which represents the door's pathway.
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17
Repeat steps 10 through 16 for each door in your plan.
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18
Click an edge where you want to draw a window.
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19
Right-click the selected edge, then click "Divide."
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20
Drag the mouse until the number of segments is as large as possible.
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21
Click a segment where you want to draw the window, then press "Delete."
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22
Delete the segment two segments away from the one you just deleted. This creates a dotted line, which represents a window.
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23
Repeat steps 18 through 22 to draw your plan's remaining windows.
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References
- Photo Credit PhotoObjects.net/PhotoObjects.net/Getty Images
