Free Self Home Design

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Free Self Home Design Rating: 3,6/5 9274 votes

Autodesk as a company is well known for producing some of the best 3D design and architecture software in the world including AutoCAD, Revit, 3DS Max and Maya. Now they are eyeing the home consumer market with the launch of DragonFly – a web based do-it-yourself home design and interior decoration tool.

DragonFly, in simply English, is like an online version of Google Sketchup that’s free, intuitive and very powerful. Anyone with a web browser (DragonFly is written in Adobe Flex so you need the Flash player) can draw floor plans and impressive house designs in minutes.

Step 1: You start with a blank drawing canvas, build the basic structure in 2D space (using walls, doors, windows, etc.) and then do the interior design by dragging furniture, floor decor, lights, etc. on to the canvas.

Step 2: Once the basic drawing (or plan) is ready, click the 3D button to view your drawing in perspective. A professional architect and an interior designer may charge a few thousand bucks for a similar service but here you are free to design (and discard) as many virtual plans as you like until you get the look you have in mind.

Step 3: You can export the completed drawing in the DWG (a universal format accepted by most architectural software) or in RVT so that your architect can open your drawing inside Revit.

Alternatively, you may print the design in either 2D or as a 3D realistic image along with exact dimensions (feet or meters) of each and every object used in the floor plan.

Autodesk DragonFly provides a vast library of 3D objects and textures similar to SketchUp’s 3D warehouse. Kitchen appliances, Bath fitting, light fixtures, appliances, doors, windows, paintings, flooring patters.. name a thing and you are likely to find that in the online gallery. All these items are resizable so everything on the drawing stays in proportion.

Whether you are looking to remodel & refurnish your existing home or building a new house from scratch, DragonFly is a perfect design tool for visualizing your ideas in realistic 3D images. The only missing component are walk-through videos that help you take a fly-around tour of the home from inside as well outside. I think the pro version of Google Sketchup can do that.

Related: Design Your Home Online with Room Visualizer

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Home improvement and home design are big deals. They can cost as little as a few bucks and a few hours. Sometimes, they can cost upwards of thousands of dollars and take months to implement. Your smartphone can’t spend the money or do the work for you. However, smartphones can help you with some parts of the process. Here are the best home improvement apps and home design apps for Android!

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Build.com

Build.com is one of the newer home improvement apps. It's essentially like Amazon but for construction stuff. It has various tools, supplies, and other stuff for sale. The app is a fairly basic shopping app. You can track orders, buy stuff, create wishlists, and more. You can also consult project advisers on various things. There are tons of stores that sell this kind of stuff. This is the only one that is only online. The app is free. Obviously, the stuff on it costs money.

Home Design 3D

Home Design 3D is one of the more stable home design apps. You draw your room spaces in 2D or 3D. You then populate the space with furniture and other decor items. It has a database of over 1,000 items. You can also edit objects to change their shape. That helps you decide if that weird shaped couch actually fits. There is a bit of a learning curve. Otherwise, it works fairly well. It also works offline.

Homify

Homify is one of the newer home design apps. It is a source of ideas for home improvement projects. The app boasts a library of over 1.5 million photos of various interior and architectural designs. You can save your favorites, see the latest trends in home design, and more. The app can even recommend home decorators, interior designers, or other professionals to do the work for you. You can save stuff for future reference as well. The app is completely free to download with no in-app purchases.

Houzz

Houzz is one of the most popular home design apps. It gained a decent following for its excellent design. Thankfully, it also works well. It boasts a collection of over 11 million photos. You can save your favorite ideas for future recall. The app also includes a sketch feature. It lets you draw and annotate photos with your own ideas. Some other features include five million products, product reviews, and more. Its View In My Room feature is pretty neat. The app works well, is free, and has no in-app purchases. It does have ads, though.

IKEA Store

Everybody knows IKEA. They have a bunch of basic stuff for not a lot of money. They have stores everywhere. Their app is kind of an extension of that. You can view their inventory, shop for stuff, keep a wishlist, and more. It can also store your loyalty card for quick access, find nearby stores, and find stuff faster in store. Unfortunately, their app experience isn't great. We might recommend that you use the mobile site or visit a location if you can. The app works for some, but it's still rather buggy. IKEA also has an augmented reality app for fitting furniture in your room as well. It's new, but it works okay.
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Pinterest

Pinterest is one of the wildcard home design apps and home improvement apps. The app essentially contains a ridiculous amount of ideas in a variety of topics. That includes DIY home improvements or home design ideas, architectural stuff, furniture ideas, and more. This is where most of those neat bookshelf photos you see on Facebook come from. It does stuff other than home improvement. However, it's not difficult to find just the home stuff. The app is completely free to use as well.

Planner 5D

Planner 5D is one of the more hardcore home improvement apps. It works a little bit like Home Design 3D. You can draw your rooms in 2D or 3D. You can then populate it with furniture, decorative items, and other stuff. It includes support for offline use, syncing between devices, a catalog of textures and items, and more. It can get rather expensive. However, you pretty much have to be a full-blown professional to need everything the app offers. It's a good place to start.

YouTube

YouTube is an excellent resource for DIY home designers and home improvement. You can find a wealth of information in the form of tutorials, how-tos, tips and tricks, and more. Some home improvement stores maintain basic tutorial channels. There are also some that go more in-depth. Simple searches can find videos on building things, repairing stuff, and more. There is even a tutorial on how to build an entire house from nothing. You can use YouTube for free. There's an optional subscription for $9.99 per month that removes advertising.

Local home improvement professionals

Some jobs are just too big for one person to do. Thankfully, hiring professionals is fairly easy. There are a bunch of apps that can handle the task. Google Maps is a good way to find stuff in your area. Angie's List, HomeAdvisor (linked), and many others find professionals that do various things. Most apps let you check out the people and the prices. These apps are excellent resources for those looking to do bigger home improvement projects.

Your local hardware store

Many local hardware chains have their own apps now. Home Depot (linked) and Lowe's are some of the larger general purpose stores. Stores like Target, Walmart, and others sell things like home decor and basic furniture. Even apps like Sears can help with things like AC installations. Some furniture outlets like Wayfair have their own apps as well. You may need to search for some of these home improvement apps and home design apps. Virtually every person doing DIY will likely need at least one of these.

Thank you for reading! Here are some final app list ideas for you!

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If we missed any great home improvement apps or home design apps, tell us about them in the comments! You can also click here to check out our latest Android app and game lists!

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