If you like the idea of having a professionally designed room, but don’t have the budget for a professional designer, there are now tools that will help you get professional results on your own. Check out these free (or mostly free) online tools that will assist you in decorating your home.
Arrange-a-room is an online home design tool that allows you to create an online replica of your room and to re-arrange your room without lifting a finger… unless you count using your keyboard. You can create a save multiple rooms, choose your room size, add doors, windows, radiators, and other architectural items, and add all kinds of furniture pieces to your virtual room. This tool is courtesy of the Better Homes and Gardens website. It is also on the Ladies Home Journal Website.
Many Websites Tools for Home Design
Armstrong.com has two programs for online design. Design a room allows users to design a room using Armstrong products. This way you can get a better picture of how Armstrong products will look in your home. Design My Room allows you to makeover your room virtually from exploring room color, choosing furniture, fixtures, lighting, and more. Using this program, you can also get inspiration from professional designer created rooms.
See My Design is a tool is an online tool that allows users to play with paint colors, room layouts, and to create overall design plans. You can use this program to create baby rooms and office layouts for free. There may be a fee to design additional rooms. Google SketchUp is a downloadable program. That can be used as a design tool, to create, view, and modify 3D designs. This is much more than a room design program. Google Sketch-up users can design furniture or landscaping and can go as far as designing buildings and seeing them on Google Earth.
Considered Google ‘Sketchup’?
This program is good for everyone to the hobbyist to the architectural profession. To use Google SketchUp 6, you need to have windows 2000, XP or Vista and 80MB disk space. Your video card needs to 100% OpenGL compliant. You need at least Internet Explorer 6.0 and media player or Quick Time 5.0. (Some XP and Vista users report having trouble using it). It is also compatible with Macs. For outdoor design, you can try Bob Villa’s online decorating tools. Users can plan out a patio area in 2D and then take a 3D tour when they are done. This tool for creating outdoor living spaces includes the option of adding Hot Spring spas to your design. To use the program you need 800×600 Resolution, min 16 Bit Color, Windows 95/98/ME/2000/XP. IE 5.0+, Netscape 4.72+. (Netscape 6.0+ and Mac OS are not currently supported)
