Interior Design Software Suggestions

[sancho]

Just curious if there is anyone that likes to play around with interior design software. I'd like to "dream" up new ideas for my current house and was wondering if there was software out there that was easy to use that would allow me to put these ideas together. I'm not at all artistic or talented in this area, but just want to see what I can create. The more realistic the picture the better. They always have these great renditions on the HGTV home shows. What software do they use? or is that TV magic?

 

[Gayle]

I've messed around with one of IMSI's products in the past. I can't remember if it was DesignCAD or TurboCAD, but it wasn't very easy. Anyway...from the research I did, none of the good ones are easy to use.

I think the HGTV renderings take a long time to put together.

Something that might be useful, but a little limited, are the design planners on IKEA's web site. I've used the kitchen planner to design our kitchen. It is limited to only furnishing with IKEA products, BUT it's FREE and easy to use (drag and drop), lets you position walls, windows and doors, AND gives you a 3D rendering.

Here's a link to it:

http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_US/rooms_ideas/splashplanners.html

Hope this helps!