Available for free: Although the Mac App Store and Amazon offers a $13.99 paid version with 1,200 pieces of furniture, check out the free version, which comes with 100 furniture pieces. Sweet Home 3D is an interior-design app that lets you create 2D floor plans, add and arrange furniture, and then examine your work in 3D.ProsAvailable for free. Although the Mac App Store.
Why use Mac home design software?
Mac home design software has all the tools you need to put your dream home down on paper, whether you want to build a brand-new house or renovate your existing one. This type of software can help you make detailed digital models of major landscaping projects and home remodels, and it lets you see how different wall coverings and upholstery look in new settings. You can arrange and rearrange furniture in your digital plan without breaking a sweat physically by moving the items around your home – just click and drag each piece to a new location to get a feel for what looks best.
The best home design software for Mac computers has a wealth of features, design tools, and customizable objects and materials to help you create your 3D floor model.
Best home design software overallHome designer architectural
A great interior design software for beginners and veterans
Simple design
Virtual camera has a learning curve
Home Designer Architectural is a good program for beginner and veteran designers alike. Arguably the best feature for both groups is the Plan Assistant tool. It provides thousands of preprogrammed floor plans as a jumping-off point for your home design. It also contains a library of customizable house plans, another great way to get started. You also have the option to start a design from scratch or import scanned floor plans into the application.
The automatic roofing tool makes easy work of choosing the roof style for your design. The program automatically calculates and displays all your dimensions while your design is in progress. The program also calculates the materials needed to construct your design and gives you an estimate of the cost.
Walls, roofs and floor plans are just the beginning when designing a home. You can use this program’s pre-programmed library of 8,000 objects to populate your home design with everything from doors, windows and cabinets to furniture, appliances, fixtures and more. If you want something in your dream home, there’s a high likelihood this application has it.
Read the full review here: Home Designer Architectural
Best home and interior software for valueHome designer suite
A home designer software that offers a great value for price and content
Free hand drawing tool
If you want to design your fantasy home but don’t have a lot of cash, you can pick up this program for less than $100. It’s a great deal considering other programs we reviewed can cost twice that. There are programs that cost as little as $15, but there’s not much to them. This program is both affordable and gives you the tools to make an effective design.
Home Designer Suite comes with much of what’s included in Home Designer Architectural, such as a wide-ranging library of home objects. App store snapchat for mac?. It’s not as comprehensive, but with 6,500 objects to choose from, you should be able to find what you’re looking for. You also get the cost estimator, so you’ll have a good idea how much it would cost to build your design.
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. Batch date stamp photos free app for mac. This is a great way to see exactly what you can expect and provides a better idea where you can make improvements.
Read the full review here: Home Designer Suite
Best home design software for beginnersPunch home design studio complete
A great interior design software for beginners
Excellent landscape templates
Simple for beginners
Great customer service
Although the two previously mentioned products are simple to use and learn, Punch Home Design Studio Complete scored the highest in our ease-of-use tests. So, if you’re a greenhorn, this is a great program to start with. You can begin your design by choosing one of the sample room templates, complete with appliances and furniture, then customize it until it’s exactly what you want.
You can choose to start from scratch with the QuickStart tool, which allows you to drag and drop rooms and snap them together. App store. This saves a lot of time and effort, because you don’t have to design the whole house at once. And it lets you shift your rooms around the house with ease until you figure out the layout that works best.
Punch Home Design Studio Complete comes with a library of 5,000 objects, including appliances and furniture, but far fewer choices than the best programs we reviewed. However, this program has more than 5,000 plants to place in your design. Other high-ranking products offer just 1,500 plant options. You can build custom fireplaces, cabinets, windows and doors. And the tools are all quite intuitive and easy-to-use.
Read the full review here: Punch Home Design Studio Complete
Interior design software: Mac vs Windows
These home and interior design programs work just as well as home design programs for Windows operating systems. The same tools and utilities are there and the functions are similar. In fact, many developers create programs that work on both operating systems.
What type of software do I need?
Home and interior design programs are all encompassing and typically used to creating new homes from the bottom up. However, if you have an existing home you want to update, either inside or outside, there are programs that are less cumbersome and have just the tools you need for a fraction of the cost of full Mac home design suites.
Interior design software focuses on the decorative aspects of your home. You can use it to simply change the curtains and rearrange the furniture or for a project as extreme as knocking out a wall and creating a more open floor plan.
If your only focus is updating your home kitchen, there are specific program dedicated to this type of project. Kitchen design software has advanced tools for creating custom cabinets and plumbing lines.
Why Trust Us?
We spent more than 160 hours using 12 home design programs to help you decide which is the best for you. We designed dozens of homes and hundreds of rooms. We carefully combed through all tools, and every program was subjected to a series of tests to measure utility, versatility, ease and user experience. Personal experience was also calculated into the scores. We took meticulous notes during our testing phase recording likes and dislikes. These were all weighed in reaching a final verdict for each product.
Every Mac home designer application we reviewed was either provided by the manufacturer or bought outright. Furthermore, the manufacturers were not provided with our testing methodologies, nor had any influence in our evaluations.
We also reached out to professional designers and asked their opinions about casual users designing plans. Trevor Broughton, lead designer of Mountain West Architecture, expressed some concerns about DIYers' abilities to make workable plans. “My biggest concern with anything brought to me is it scalable and accurate,” Broughton said, but he added that the products we reviewed can help.
“Consumer grade software could allow someone to really grasp how much space is absorbed by each architectural element,” Broughton said, while still cautioning that users need to understand how plans come together before trying to bring them into the real world. “From a bathroom to a stairwell, people struggle to understand the square footage required to make these elements function properly in any given plan,” Broughton said.
What to Look For
Home and interior design software has three main functions that we looked at closely during our review: construction design, interior decorating and landscape planning. Here is what we found helpful while using these programs.
Home and floor plan design
One of the main reasons to use a home design program is to create 2D floor plans that can easily be converted into blueprints. These plans include marks for windows and doors as well as separate levels with their own measurements.
Photo import features are really useful because they allow you to open one or more pictures of a home you like and save them to use as inspiration while constructing your own plans. These can be images you find online or pictures you snap with your camera when you see a home you like.
You can also use this feature to upload floor plans or copies of your current home’s blueprints. Programs like Live Home 3D include a tracer tool you can use to copy the images’ lines while the software automatically creates both a 2D image, or blueprint, and a 3D image to help you visualize how the two concepts mesh together. If you open a blueprint of your home in the program, the trace feature can help you attach a room addition that scales nicely to your existing home.
A cost estimator is another valuable tool. As you design your home, it provides you with a list of materials and the average cost of each, along with an estimation of the total project cost so you have an idea of what kind of funding you need to secure. Not all the programs in our review have this feature, but Punch Home Studio Design is one that does.
Other features we looked at closely while testing Mac home design software are roof wizards and electrical- and plumbing-planning tools. Most of the programs we tested included some variation of these tools, though some included extra feature that gave them an advantage over the rest.
For example, all the program we reviewed, except for Interiors Pro, have tools to place a roof over your home. However, most of the apps create a standard-looking gable roof over the entire structure. You must then use a cutaway tool to remove sections of the roof that overhang too much because of odd extensions, such as a garage, that aren’t exactly square with the rest of the house. Additional steps are required for more elaborate roof designs or to fuse several roofs over different home sections. Live Home 3D has a smart perimeter tool that instinctively knows if your home design has several different sections and places a perfect roof over your home so you don’t have to take extra steps to make it look perfect.
Electrical and plumbing planning tools also vary by program. Each interior Mac program we reviewed includes fixtures such as outlets, bathtubs, hanging lights and faucets. While this is helpful, especially when designing your home’s decor, more advanced tools let you indicate exactly where to place pipes or run electrical wires. If you are only using design software for interior decor updates, these advanced planning tools are not necessary. However, they are important if you need to make changes to a room, such as a bathroom or kitchen, where it may be necessary to move pipes and electrical wiring.
Interior and room design
Some interior design tools are used for structural changes – for example, when you want to open a room by knocking out a wall or to add or update stairs. However, most are fun tools that allow you to add custom-designed kitchen cabinets, textured walls or tiled hallways.
The object library houses 3D furniture and décor items you can set up to visualize what your new rooms will look like decorated in the latest craftsman, vintage or sleek stylings before you head out to the store. We really liked the object-placement and editing tools in MyFourWalls. They were the easiest to use and the most intuitive. With this software, you don’t have to highlight an object and then choose a resizing or rotating tool from the dashboard. Instead, you can grab the object, edit and rotate it freely in one step.
Each app comes with a set number of objects in its library, but you can add additional programs to increase it to an unlimited number of items. Most of these objects are found through Google’s SketchUp and the Trimble 3D Warehouse programs. In these third-party databases, you simply download and save an object file to your desktop, then import it using the home design software’s import feature. We note which home design software accepts objects from which database. Most only work with images from one or the other, though Home Designer Architectural is compatible with both.
Landscape and garden design
Landscape tools help you design the gardens and lawn surrounding your home. Look for a program that has a plant encyclopedia. This tool lists plants that thrive in your specific growing area to ensure you have a beautiful, healthy yard all year long. It is important to note that while each of the programs we reviewed has some plant objects available, not all of them are outdoor plants. You can always increase the plant object library by uploading additional items from various third-party object databases and creating an outdoor plant list.
Price of landscaping software
The best home and interior design software for Mac can cost as much as $200. And if you’re going to use the application regularly, we recommend getting the best product you can afford. However, if you’re planning on tooling around with a design from time-to-time or simply want to see what your dream home may look like, you don’t have to go with the top-of-the-line software. The cheapest program we reviewed, MyFourWalls, costs less than $30 and has a surprisingly large feature set for the price. If your ambitions are small, it may fit your needs.
We found that it took a long time to download the Mac design programs we tested because they contain thousands of objects and components. Some programs took only a couple of hours, while others took five or more. Once installed, though, there weren’t any issues with lag or function during testing.
Saving and sharing your designs
As you look at floor plan software for your Mac computer, you should try to find one that is easy to use but also renders your designs in a format you can share with professionals. Architects and contractors typically use professional Computer Aided Design (CAD) programs that create official blueprints. These blueprints are used to secure permits and licenses and also serve as the official instructions for building your dream home. The best 3D floor plan software for Mac computers lets you have fun creating designs and shows a good visual representation of what your dream home will look like as well as creates a 2D design that includes measurements for contractors to refer to.
Something to be aware of when choosing a program is the file types the finished designs can be saved as, especially if you intend to export and share your ideas with an architect, general contractor or interior decorator. Professional software is compatible with only a few types of files, and even then, it depends on the program. If you know the format your builder uses, you can look at our comparison chart to ensure the program you purchase creates a compatible file. Typically, CAD software accept DXF and DWG file formats.
Our final thoughts
Don’t let your lack of interior design experience keep you from undertaking a remodeling project. Even with minimal experience, you can plan kitchen renovations, bathroom makeovers, bedroom refreshes and color-scheme changes throughout your home using one of the packages we reviewed. You can even design landscapes, potentially changing the look and feel of your outdoor space and the exterior of your house. Using one of these programs, you can turn your digital designs into reality.
Contributing Reviewers: Renee Shipley, Noel Case, Linda Thompson, Danny Chadwick
Related Product Reviews
Designing cabinets used to be a tedious process normally done by professional designers. But now, there are already cabinet design software applications that can let you create any cabinet like a pro. The best part is, you can use them for free! Here are some of the popular options you can choose from.
10+ Best Cabinet Design Software For Woodworking Pros & Enthusiasts
Cabinet designing was never been easier before the arrival of software which made it super-easy. There are many free cabinet design tools as well as the paid ones. We handpicked some of the best among them. So, without further due, here is the 13 best cabinet design software.
13. Pro100
Pro100 is a professional tool to design cabinets utilizing several available features such as 3D Rendering, Cut Lists, Photo Realism & Panorama, Price Estimate, etc. This is a premium software which you can use to build amazing cabinets for your kitchen. If you don’t like any of the below-listed tools, the Pro100 cabinet software is also a solution.
12. eCabinet Systems 3D Design Software
eCabinet System 3D is a program for the custom cabinet makers to effortlessly design cabinets. The program is feature-rich and can help the users to create good looking cabinet designs within a matter of minutes. However, it is not that great.
11. Proboard
Proboard is a free kitchen planner and cabinet designer. It has various functions to help users to make amazing designs for the cabinets. For those who seek a free cabinet maker, Proboard is a good software to start with. However, if you need better functions, you may have to switch any other paid tools.
10. Google SketchUp
With Google SketchUp, you can create detailed 3D cabinet designs complete with shelves and attachments. You can design almost any type of cabinet including base cabinets, wall-mounted cabinets, and closets.
Although it has numerous powerful features, the interface of this application remains simple and easy to use.
9. Cabinet Vision’s Solid Ultimate
Solid Ultimate by Cabinet Vision is a comprehensive premium application with powerful features for cabinetry and woodworking. With this app, you can easily create or draw detailed cabinet designs and then render them in 3D.
Once you’re done, it will also let you generate a list of required materials and cutting lists necessary for building your design.
Kitchen Layout Tool For Mac8. Cabinet Cruncher
You can now build thousands of custom cabinets, storage cabinets, built-in cabinets and bookcases with ease using Cabinet Cruncher. This application can help even first-time designers eliminate errors in designing.
One of its prominent features is that it will automatically make a list of materials and cabinet cutting lists for your designs. Also, you can utilize your existing cutting list to create new cabinet designs.
7. KCD Software for Cabinet Design
KCD Software for Cabinet Design is an application that is ideal for designers and woodworkers of closets and cabinetry. You can use it to create cabinets for kitchens, bathrooms, and entertainment centers.
KCD has a simple user interface so that users can quickly choose different materials and pieces to use in the design. You can also input desired sizes and measurements of cabinet parts. Additionally, it has hundreds of door styles to choose from.
6. Edraw Cabinet Design Software
If you are looking for an application that will make you create complex cabinet designs, Edraw might be just for you. It comes with predefined symbols for elevations such as frames, doors, dividers, drawers, baskets, suitcases, lattice, lighting and hooks among others. You can also choose the color of the materials to use.
5. SmartDraw Cabinet Design Software
SmartDraw is a cabinet design program that you can use to make any type of cabinets, closets, furniture, and shelves for the kitchen, garage, rooms, bathrooms, and for other purposes.
It contains more than a dozen cabinet templates for a quick startup. You can then integrate hundreds of visuals used in cabinetry. It also has automatic formatting features which will help you in arranging and aligning your design to come up with a masterpiece. Mcat study app for mac.
4. SketchList 3D
SketchList 3D is a premium cabinet design software that is more ideal for cabinet manufacturers who want to build cabinets for various clients. You can use this to design vanities, closets, built-in cabinets, and base cabinets among others.
Kitchen Layout App For Mac Free
After making your design, it will automatically generate a list of parts needed, the cutting layout, and the drawing.
3. Woodcraft
Woodcraft is also a useful tool for cabinet designing. It combines 3D modeling and CAD elements to help you design different woodworking projects including furniture, benches, and cabinets. It has tools that will help you know the total bill of materials for a certain cabinet design.
Once you are done, you can view your output in 2D or 3D. Woodcraft also provides accurate measurements in imperial or metric units for your cabinet design.
2. Cabinet Creator
If you like to build cabinets, vanities, and cabinets, Cabinet Creator is a good tool to use. Save time in designing using Cabinet Creator’s huge collection of cabinet types that you can choose from and customize. It also has a wide range of drawers, doors, and fonts you can use in your design.
Cabinet Creator will also automatically produce a list of all the pieces you need for building your cabinet. Additionally, you can use it to design cabinets from scratch with your preferred dimensions and elements.
1. Polyboard Cabinet Designer
Free, intuitive and easy to use, Cabinet Designer by Polyboard is a terrific tool for designing cabinets and other woodworks. This application allows users to make detailed assembly structures using dynamic materials and styles. It has a wide selection of division structures to choose from which includes different styles of shelves, drawers, frames, and doors.
Additionally, you can calculate the cost of building your cabinet designs in real-time. Cabinet designs will be drawn in both 2D and 3D.
Your Turn
Although most of the cabinet design software applications listed above are premium applications, you can still use them for free through their trial versions.
Kitchen Layout App For Ipad
Please let us know which software is most helpful to you. Also, please don’t forget to share your views in the comment box below.
Comments are closed.
|
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |