The Planning Phase: Sketch Up

We went under contract for our house at the end of March. Our closing date was June 3. If you have ever bought a house, you know that giddiness you get when you find the one and your offer is accepted. Then you wait. And in the waiting, the ideas pile in.

Where will I put the sofa? Do we need new furniture? That bathroom would look so much better with a coral mirror. And on. And on.

I filled my time with SketchUp -  a free 3D rendering program. It's super easy to use, with only a few tools along the top; enough to get 'er done without being confusing or overwhelming. Although I should mention that I was an architect at one point...

Initial plan for the kitchen, living, and dining rooms

Even better?? The SketchUp 3D Warehouse!! I have found almost every piece of Ikea furniture there, plus all the appliances for the house, and standard chairs, cabinets, accessories, etc. That means that you don't have to guess about sizes. Just draw your room to scale and bring in the furniture. (Bringing in the furniture means downloading the file, opening it, selecting all, copy, paste into your model).

I had almost the entire house modeled before we closed and had already decorated and made sure that things would fit. There are other free floor plan site out there, but I find SketchUp the most user friendly and you get a better sense of the space. You can even do a virtual walk through!

I guess this is your first sneak peak of the house. I'll let you in on a secret: aside from accessories, this is EXACTLY how it looks right now!