A simple program for designing a house. Paid and free programs for architecture. Attic and roof design

Well, who among the city dwellers does not dream of having a cozy place where they could hide from the bustle of the metropolis at least for a few days?

Today, making your dreams come true is not so difficult. You can find a ready-made cottage or simply buy a plot of land in a picturesque place and equip it according to your own vision, purchasing a standard project for its development from an architect or developing one yourself. House design programs will help you set up a garden, landscape your yard, and build original architecture and housing plans.

Why is individual design convenient?

First of all, because it allows you to build a house on a site of any geodetic complexity. In addition, it can be made of any number of floors and accommodate as many multifunctional rooms as your heart desires. Independent 3D modeling of houses is an opportunity not only to save a lot of money, but also to spend it effectively, and start doing this literally from the very first stages.

Self-designing houses allows you to save money

Technological progress has opened up a lot of opportunities in this regard. Now, designing houses does not require specific education or drawing skills. Anyone with a personal computer can start creating a model of a future masterpiece. Work can be carried out both online and without an Internet connection. In the latter case, you will need to download some version of the program onto your PC.

Computer design of houses: advantages

Programs for designing houses are not just architectural programs that help you draw out the box of a house and select the design of the facade. They make it possible to visually plan the entire site, that is:

• place outbuildings and additional buildings;
• arrange the local area;
• develop interior furnishings.

A house design program will help you plan the entire site

The main advantages of design programs are:

1.​ Possibility of planning houses in great detail.

3. Financial and intellectual accessibility.

4.​ The ability to correct deficiencies in a timely manner.

5. Availability of 3D options that allow you to view the drawing project as a fully constructed object.

The project is displayed as a fully-fledged constructed object.

Programs for architecture are presented in a wide variety, and they really make it easier to design houses, however, you must understand that even if computerized, this process can take several months, so do not expect lightning-fast results. On average, 3D modeling of a house takes about three months.

Autodesk Homestyler design software

The service developer is Autodesk. It is available on: iOS, Android and as a web application. Distributed free of charge. Has a Russian interface.

The developer company is famous for its professional 3D graphics programs, but only those who have mastered 3ds max can use them. Agree, there is no point in delving into all the vicissitudes of science just to see how a room will look after cosmetic finishing or when rearranging furniture, which is why ordinary people interested in architectural programs were offered a simplified version of a 3D editor working in a browser - Autodesk Homestyler.

Autodesk Homestyler Interface

This house design program helps you quickly visualize the layout of the property and immediately improve it by filling it with furniture and other items available in the attached library.

You can work on the box manually, trying out different interpretations of walls and partitions. For ease of work, users are encouraged not to struggle with 3D modeling of houses from scratch, but to use blank 2D plans that will become an excellent base.

Finding items of interest in the design software is not difficult, as the library is well organized. Everything you need for finishing, construction work, decoration and landscape organization is divided into separate categories of the same name. Each of them, in turn, is divided into subcategories.

All necessary elements are separated into categories of the same name

What does it look like? If you go to the “Finishing” section, you can find subsections: “Kitchen”, “Bedroom”, “Hallway”, etc., each of which contains everything necessary for the improvement of the premises. So for the kitchen there you can choose a sink, a countertop, a set, and other interior elements.

Multi-level design

Although this design program is available for free, it supports the development of multi-level objects, so creating a two or even three-story cottage will not be a problem. But simultaneous viewing of several floors will not be available at once, since the web application window opens only one of the floors at a time.

Another good thing about this program for designing houses is the ability to calculate the amount of material required for the implementation of the created object. All items added to the plan are immediately displayed in the “Shopping List”. And this is typical not only for objects representing the situation. The service will calculate everything: the footage of the baseboards, the square footage of the floor coverings, and the amount of paint. All you have to do is print out the finished list, and you can start asking prices.

The house design program will calculate the amount of material needed

Taking a photo

Another useful program option. The graphic file is available for saving at any design stage. The saved snapshot of the page can be shared by sending it to friends or posting it on social networks. The finished project is available for export in DWG format. You can create a circular panorama of it.

Example of saved images

Specifics of working with the service

Although the proposed program for designing houses is available for use without registration, it is nevertheless worth creating an account. This opens up access to additional benefits. Registered users will be able to save catalog objects as favorites, which will speed up access to them in the future. In addition, the architectural program will give the go-ahead for saving projects in the gallery, with the opportunity to continue working on them as desired.

Not long ago, 3D modeling of houses became possible not only on a web service, but also on mobile devices, however, these platforms provide slightly different functional tasks. Here the emphasis is not on designing the building itself, but on developing the interior of a ready-made room.

3D interior modeling is also available on mobile devices

The program’s project feed, where the work of other service users is posted, will also be available for review. You can comment on them and save them as favorites. You can subscribe to your favorite designers.

Program projects feed

Planner 5D design software

One of the most popular online architectural programs specialized in planning urban and suburban housing. No registration required here. You can work with ready-made templates or design from scratch.

Planner 5D does not limit the user in the number of rooms he can create and the form of their layout. Here you can work on multi-story buildings. A wide variety of furniture and plants are offered.

Planner 5D program interface

However, not all objects available in the design program are used free of charge. To get one-time access to the full database of layouts you will have to pay about $5, so many users prefer to immediately purchase permanent access to the catalog, which costs $20.

The full database of program layouts is paid

Program sections

There are four of them, just like in the previous version:

1.Rooms. Section of the program where the type of rooms is selected, their number and the footage is determined. It is possible to change the color and structural parameters of objects.

2. Constructions. This part is responsible for designing windows, staircases, and doorways in houses.

3.​ Interior. Assistant in arranging interior items, including equipment.

4.​ Exterior. Contains a set of additional courtyard outbuildings and buildings.

5.​ The Planner 5D house design program allows you to view ready-made solutions in 3D format and save the resulting layouts in the memory of your PC.

Sections of the program for designing houses

One of the positive aspects is the speed of work. The downside of the resource is still its low realism and insufficient level of professionalism.

Designing houses in HouseCreator Online

This is also a representative of free programs for designing houses, which allows you not only to develop a construction layout, but also to calculate the approximate cost of its implementation. Despite the intuitive user interface, the site has a video tutorial that clearly demonstrates how to work in the application.

The program has a clear user interface

How does the design software work?

In order to start creating a house, you need to choose:

• foundation type;
• foundation width;
• number of floors;
• wall parameters.

You can find all this in the pop-up windows that appear when you go to the main page of the program.

The rest is easy to figure out:

1.​ The “Wall” section is the choice of dimensions and location of rooms.

2.​ The “Opening” section presents windows and doors, helps with their placement, selection of shapes, and determination of sizes.

3.​ Section “Roof” - select the type and shape of the roof.

An example of a project made in the program

This program for architecture does not have the option of 3D modeling of houses and the decoration service, so it will not be possible to furnish a home and immediately evaluate the final result. This does not prevent HouseCreator Online from being popular, since it is very good from a practical point of view. The program allows you to select building materials, adjust the thickness of walls and ceilings, and calculate the cost of consumables and work.

House 3D

“The program has convenient functions that allow you to design walls and lay flooring.”

The design program will work for free on 3D modeling of houses, apartment layouts, and interior filling. This is the easiest resource to learn, ideal for those who are just trying their hand at being an architect.

The House-3D program is the easiest resource to learn

The software is not too demanding on the system capabilities of the PC, so it functions perfectly even on low-power machines, which in turn does not bother users with a forced hardware upgrade.

Among the operating systems, the house design program recognizes new editions of Windows. Unfortunately, it is not compatible with the others at this stage.

To make the web resource competitive and the program's capabilities even more attractive, the catalog of models of furniture items has been expanded. Moreover, they were allowed to diversify with additional accessories that the user can easily integrate into the created interior.

The program has an expanded catalog of furniture models

Another interesting addition to the design program is the presence of an integrated architecture module. It is used for full-dimensional visualization of an object during the construction of walls, the formation of a roof, the drawing of door and window openings, and the installation of stairs. In a ready-made house layout, the user will be able to design the furnishings.

The program has convenient functions that allow you to design walls and lay flooring. A slight movement of the mouse and objects appearing in 3D space will line up into stylish interiors.

The program will help you choose wall design and flooring

Archicad

A prominent representative of professional programs for architecture. The utility is difficult to master, so it is rarely used by DIYers. And many architects prefer to avoid it due to lack of flexibility. 3D modeling of houses here happens right off the bat and begins immediately with working with three-dimensional images. If you need to create a wall, then take the “wall” tool, the doorway – “door”. The program itself will decide where and what to install.

Designing a house in ArchiCad

The most valuable thing about designing houses in Archicad is that, having correctly drawn a three-dimensional model, you can immediately see the layout of all tiers, facades and sections of the building, without resorting to additional manual drawing. It’s extremely convenient, so there’s no need to look for a better program for designing apartment buildings.

Archicad allows you to see the layout of all floors at a glance

3ds Max

A serious service designed for professionals. To coordinate with the client, the architect usually has to draw several sections of the object in order to determine the height of the ceilings, the location of rooms, windows and other nuances. If everything meets the requirements, then you can move to the 3 ds Max program, where you can dive into creating a three-dimensional layout. Designing houses in this utility is attractive because you can import existing working drawings into the program, rather than creating them first. This eliminates the generation of errors. Upon completion of the 3D modeling of the house, the object is visualized, i.e., a photographic image of it is obtained from different angles.

Visualization of interiors in 3 ds Max

Working with a house design program of this level is difficult even for specialists, as it requires certain skills and abilities, so beginners should not even try to get used to its vastness.

3 ds Max requires certain skills

Envisioneer Express

A not too sophisticated design program distributed free of charge. The utility was created to develop three-dimensional models of buildings, but you can start creating future houses with two-dimensional planning. The drawings of walls, doors, roofs, stairs and windows will subsequently be converted into a full-fledged three-dimensional model. Upon completion of the 3D rendering, the resulting creation can be viewed from different angles and heights, changing the viewing mode from a photorealistic view to a transparent frame.

In addition to “forcing” the box, the house design program has an interior design mode. Correction of the facade and architecture of the building by changing the choice of building materials is also available. The project is saved in a software format, but can be opened by a number of other applications from the 3D design category.

The program has an interior design mode

Google SketchUp

The unique software offers simple solutions for 3D modeling of houses and their interior furnishings. It has a lot of advantages that make using it as comfortable as possible.

Program interface

For greater ease of use, pre-configuration windows have been removed from the program. Now here all geometric parameters are set exclusively by the keyboard.

Another achievement was the Push/Pull option. The original tool allows you to move any of the planes to the side in order to install additional side walls along the trajectory of its movement. Foilow Me moves the plane along a pre-drawn curve.

Google SketchUp home design software

What else is possible in this program for designing houses?

1.​ Prepare macros in Ruby with subsequent output from the menu. They are needed to automate repeated actions. In the software you can find a lot of other developments created by the user audience of the program.

2.​ Support a variety of plugins that help you create, visualize and export objects by moving, rotating and making the created layouts interact.

Installing plugins in the program

3. View cross-sectional layouts and add callouts to them in the form of drawings.

4.​ Support the production of house elements that can be further used in the design program countless times, including editing.

5.​ Work with layers.

Designing a house in the program

6.​ Prepare various sections of objects.

7.​ Use the library of models, materials, styles, uploading interesting solutions to the Internet or replenishing its resources with your own developments.

8.​ Animate transitions from section to section, adjust the position of the demonstration camera.

9. Create dynamic effects, for example, simulate the opening of a sideboard door by clicking a pointer.

The program allows you to create dynamic effects

10.​ Engage in the design and planning of real-life buildings and create real-life objects.

11.​ Indicate the dimensions of the object in meter or inch equivalent.

12. When designing houses, highlight graphically correct shadows that fully correspond to the given time of day, year, and correspond to the parameters of latitude and longitude of the object’s location.

Programs for architects and builders are specially designed to increase the pace of construction of various buildings and structures. Many existing today, both computer and online programs for architects and builders help them do their work faster and better than before.

Program interface for architects for designing houses

All programs can be divided into the following categories:

1. Programs for architects and builders. These include programs for or and .
2. Programs for designers. This package includes indoors as well as .
3. Programs for furniture makers. These include calculation of materials, modeling of individual premises, such as a kitchen.

Main types of architectural programs

ArchiCAD

It contains all the elements needed for the professional development of projects in areas such as architecture, construction and design. The program is made specifically for experienced architects, builders and designers.

ArchiCAD program interface

It helps to maintain all documentation on floor plans, sections of buildings, types of materials.

K3-Cottage

It includes a whole package of programs for developing projects of wooden houses.

With the help of K3-Cottage, all the documentation for the construction of a wooden house is developed.

This package helps to quickly prepare design documents and increase quality for assembly.

Home Landscape Design

It is used in design developments. It has a number of advantages, for example, such as: ease of transferring a ready-made design to another object, a large selection of furniture and household appliances, design in 2D and 3D modes, ease of orientation in 3D modeling. It also allows you to calculate and evaluate all the materials used.

Kitchen Draw

This type of program is used in kitchen and bathroom design.

Example of a Kitchen Draw program interface for kitchen design

It is not only intended for professionals, but is also suitable for ordinary users. With its help, you can quickly and efficiently make kitchen and bathroom projects, create entire catalogs from ready-made projects, make reports on them and put them up for sale. The program is also suitable for working on objects with complex configurations (stairs, rounded walls).

Aston design

This program creates a model of a residential building with all the interior furnishings.

Compass-3D V15 Home

This type of software product is used when developing large-scale projects. Work on the project, in this case, takes a minimum of time, and the number of changes made to the project is reduced to zero.

IKEA Home Planner

It is intended primarily for beginners. The program has a large selection of not only furniture, but also individual interior items.

An example of a bedroom layout in the IKEA Home Planner program

From them you can assemble any functional room (kitchen, bedroom). And here you can approximately calculate the entire cost of the created interior.

PRO100

A program for creating interior and furniture projects, with the ability to see them visually in three dimensions. Its advantages include: simplicity and ease of interface, maximum design tools, the ability to create your own catalogs or use ready-made templates.

With its help, you can get the entire list of necessary materials, make an assessment of the entire project as a whole, and also complete and print out the drawing in any form.

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Programs for drawing electrical circuits

Sweet Home 3D


With its help, interior design is created in 3D form. The program is a free product. It is mainly used for quick redevelopment of a private house.

Hints help you draw plans and place furniture there. You can draw a wall based on a ready-made plan, and then move furniture there from the catalog. Each update of the drawing in the 2D plane leads to changes in the 3D projection.

Ar CON

Refers to the complete architectural version of the CAD program. It is an ideal choice when creating virtual projects of interiors and exteriors of apartments, houses, offices, green spaces, etc. The program has all the professional tools at its disposal, but at the same time it is quite easy to master. It is well equipped with 2D and 3D catalogues. In this program, a virtual project can be viewed in real time with photorealistic viewing quality.

Outline 3D

The program is convenient to use when creating virtual objects. It is presented on the Internet, both online and offline versions.

Outline 3D program interface

The main advantages are ease and convenience in bringing your ideas to life.

Stolplit

Suitable for redevelopment of premises, carrying out repairs in it, when you want to see what the room will look like after the work has been carried out even before it begins.

In this program, projects of wooden buildings from logs or timber are created. By using the functions included in the program, you can also optimize the cutting of logs. Suitable not only for experienced professionals, but also for architects without experience.

Free programs for designing buildings and structures

Currently, the following types of computer programs are especially popular when independently developing a house project:

VisiCon

It is designed to make the design of any room as accurate as possible.

Building design in VisiCon program

The program is usually used by ordinary users without special skills and training. With its help, they make both a plan of the entire house as a whole, and a plan of individual rooms of the building, for example, a bedroom, living room or utility rooms. This is possible due to the presence in the program of special elements in its library, which help to bring all the details of the project as close as possible to the real size and shape. It also provides the opportunity to place all interior items in their places. The result of this program is obtaining complete information on the entire project as a whole.

FloorPlan 3D

This program helps with remodeling a room and changing its design. It is quite simple and easy to use, and also has all the characteristics of professional applications.

This is what the interface of the FloorPlan 3D program looks like

Anyone without design experience in this program is able to do an entire home project from start to finish. Its big advantage is the ability to visualize the project in 3D dimension.

It is equipped with a number of tools, with the use of which you can place furniture in the premises, selecting the desired texture, add household and plumbing fixtures to the interior, equip the premises with stairs, suspended ceilings and lighting fixtures.

This program also helps the area adjacent to the house by accurately indicating the location of the fence, gazebo, all flower beds and paths between them. All this is done taking into account the topography of the adjacent territory and all its features. The video shows the interface and work in the FloorPlan 3D program.

Free home design programs can help you save time and money. With their help, you can quickly and worry-free any configuration. There are several such programs, each of them has its own advantages. To choose the best and most convenient one, you should familiarize yourself with several options.

House design program

Designing houses using such programs does not require special abilities and skills. At the same time, there is no need to involve architects or designers in the work. Visi Con is a program for , which is highly accurate in visualization. Work can take place on projects of varying degrees of complexity.

This is what the Visi Con program interface looks like

The advantage of Visi Con is the ability to design and visualize all rooms of the house. At the same time, it is not at all necessary to think in a standard way, since new types of rooms can be created in a new house, the functional purpose of which may be different. Special program libraries will help with this.

Visi Con presents a huge number of functional elements that make it possible to carry out work taking into account real parameters and shapes.

With its help, you can get the entire list of necessary materials, make an assessment of the entire project as a whole, and also complete and print out the drawing in any form.

But this is not all the program’s capabilities. Based on it, house plans are created online. In addition, each user has the opportunity to decorate the interior of all rooms. In this case, all the little things can be taken into account.

Programs for room planning

Floor Plan in 3D

• You can use the 3D Floor Plan program for free. It is designed to perform the following functions:
• redevelopment;
• carrying out design work;

carrying out reconstruction of the premises.

Project of a house created in the Floor Plan 3D program

The option under consideration is distinguished by its simplicity. Many users note that this program is convenient to work with. This is due to the clear interface and the presence of a large number of professional-level applications.

If you use the services of the Floor Plan program in 3D, you can get a real model of any room, for example, a house, apartment, garage, office, etc., in a relatively short time.


The advantage of Floor Plan is the ability to obtain 3D models of apartment layout. At the same time, they look complete and real. The program is characterized by the presence of special libraries, the use of which makes it possible to expand its functionality. As a result, it is possible to provide for the furnishing of rooms and the choice of texture, lighting, etc.

Floor Plan in 3D is also an excellent opportunity to create various structures that work automatically, for example, a ceiling or. The area near the house does not go unnoticed.

Other 3D design programs

House-3D is a program for performing design work to create premises. The peculiarity of this proposal is the visualization of the project (3D measurement). At the same time, you can do not only, but also furnishing rooms. This option makes it possible to work on changing the materials that are used to create facades, walls and other surfaces used both indoors and outdoors. The Dom-3D interface is simple and intuitive; it will take a minimum of time to understand the options.

3D Designer

3D-Designer is designed for professional modeling. He can also bring animation ideas and rendering to life. Designer is equipped with a large number of functions that are designed in a template manner.

With its help, you can get the entire list of necessary materials, make an assessment of the entire project as a whole, and also complete and print out the drawing in any form.

Foundation design and calculation program

Hints make the job much easier. This allows each user to design their own idea online. In this case, the work is based on 3 types of drawings.

Total 3D Home

Total 3D Home can be downloaded and used for free. This program is also aimed at working with 3D format, which is very convenient and practical. It is equipped with a huge number of applications that allow you to implement a project of any complexity.

This will be helped by a variety of functions and tools, the action of which is aimed not only at design work, but also at the implementation of ideas regarding the future interior.


With Total 3D Home it is easy to work on the layout of rooms. You can improve the created layout by using other options that are aimed at equipping rooms with furniture. At the same time, the user has a wide choice of color palettes.

Multifunctional and simple options

Home Plan Pro

Home Plan Pro is designed to help you create your own plan. These can be various rooms that differ in scale and complexity. The program includes the necessary graphical tools. Particular attention is paid to interior details.

They are easy to work with and simplify the design process. The program has a built-in fax and various servers.

Xilinx Planahead is a whole system of powerful architectural projects. This offer has enormous potential in the field of creating models of buildings, apartments, houses, offices and other premises.


Its use allows you to solve multidirectional problems, and at the same time. Work can take place with large volumes of data. Xilinx Planahead is developed in Russian, but if you wish, you can use the language panel and select another option, for example, English. The program contains numerous details that contribute to the implementation of the most interesting ideas. This option contains a whole collection of different projects that can already be implemented. Xilinx Planahead is used by both beginners and professionals.

To create a project for your home yourself, you need to sift through a lot of information. This can take a very long time, because you will have to study the intricacies of construction technologies. What will happen as a result is unknown, since there is no guarantee that you will not miss something. Everything is much simpler when using software. During its creation, all standards and features of materials were laid down and taken into account. In most cases, the program for designing houses itself generates a list of necessary materials, and even produces a plan, and sometimes a 3D image.

Home Designer by Chief Architect

There is a whole line of English-language programs for designing and creating houses, apartments and rooms, which is suitable for both professionals and personal use - Home Designer. They are easy to work with thanks to a clear interface; minimal knowledge of English is required. You can design a house from start to finish. Starting from the foundation, walls, roof and ending with finishing materials, plumbing and furniture. The results can be obtained in the form of a general and floor plan, with a list and quantity of necessary building and finishing materials, furniture and plumbing. You can work in the house modeling program in three modes:

• standard 3D view (3D image);
• view without a roof (doll's house);
• flat two-dimensional image (plan).

The program is really good, there is one drawback - there are no official Russified versions.

Operating principle and wall design capabilities

First you need to draw the walls of the future house, and then create the rooms. It's easy to do. Walls in Home Designer are collected in the corresponding menu (walls). There are several types of walls: external, internal, which can be straight or curved. All of them consist of several layers. For example, an exterior wall with siding consists of: siding, insulation, frame, drywall. This cake can be changed, both the materials themselves and the thickness of the components. What is important is that all materials are displayed in the estimate. When changing the thickness or type of material on the plan, the estimate is adjusted automatically.

Select an external wall from the catalog and create the desired shape of the house by simply holding down the mouse button. Home Designer home design software automatically creates dimensions, so you're in control. Immediately when creating walls, the program calculates the foundation. If the proposed option does not suit you, choose your own from the list. The new type is immediately calculated by the program, and changes are made to the corresponding section of the estimate. If some parameters do not suit you, you can force them to change.

To move and change walls, you do not need to delete them and recreate them, just click on the desired wall, hold down the left mouse button and drag the wall in the desired direction. There is a second option - click on the resizing tool (on the numbers that stand next to the object whose parameters you want to change) and enter the desired parameters. These rules apply to absolutely all subjects in the program. Then create the interior walls of the room using the same principle.

During all changes, the walls, foundation and roof also change, their parameters are adjusted. This is a really good program for home design.

Windows, doors, roof

Windows and doors are also separate menus that contain different types of these devices. Select the appropriate type, click on the place where you are going to install the doors/windows, the program will automatically create openings. To resize or move, select the object and move or drag it to the desired size.

In the changes tab, you can select the window or door type, size, position, frame, shutters, shape and materials. They can also be changed at any stage of the design. All changes will be reflected in the estimate. To avoid the hassle of positioning a door or window exactly in the center of the wall, there is a special tool. It is located at the bottom of the program window. Select the object that needs to be placed in the center of the wall, press the button, and it is centered. Very fast and convenient.

We install windows and doors

The roof base and frame are created automatically. After you have planned out all the walls, marked the windows and doors, you can get to work on it. In the corresponding menu (Roof) enable the display of the roof. Don't like the type suggested to you? Select, in the menu, select from the list the type that suits you best. The replacement occurs automatically, and the corresponding section in the estimate also changes. Changes can be seen immediately in 3D viewing mode. Home Designer software automatically installs roof accessories: gutters, belts, etc. Naturally, each of them can be changed.

As work progresses, the planning results can be seen in a 3D volumetric image. This mode allows you to evaluate the shape of rooms and houses. If you don’t like something, you can immediately, in 3D mode, change the design, move walls, insert/move/remove windows, doors, etc.

Possibilities of internal planning and estimates

The Home Designer program for designing houses allows you to do the “stuffing” of the house. There is any furniture, plumbing, accessories, household appliances, sinks, sinks, toilets, baths, tables, chairs, sofas, armchairs, TVs. There are also finishing materials: tiles, brick, wood, metal, glass, wallpaper, plaster. There are curved, spiral, angled, and straight stairs. The parameters of the stairs can be flexibly changed, including the number of steps, the height and style of the railings, material, color and many other options.

Do you want to install a closet? Select the Wardrobe tab from the menu and place it in the desired location. You can easily change sizes, change door types, materials, handles. The list of options is huge.

Another great feature is the ability to change the color and texture of the material. You can choose from those that are in the program catalog, but you can upload something of your own. You will need digital photographs, which you can find on the Internet or on your camera. These textures are loaded into the user library and saved. After this they become available.

Home Designer has another interesting tool called the “glass house”. In this mode, you see the house you created in 3D mode, in which all the walls are transparent. This way you can evaluate the proportions and the created environment before everything is implemented. There is also the opportunity to “walk” through a virtual house and record your walk in video format. This is also a separate mode.

The function of generating estimates is very useful. You can view the planned cost of materials. The estimate is divided into categories with a description and quantity of materials in the form of a table. Home Designer saves all the information for each item in a category and adds it to the materials list.

To understand how the Home Designer home design software works, watch the video. It is in English, but even without knowledge of the language you will be able to understand what and how to do, how to work, and appreciate the capabilities of this software.

Envisioneer - simple, with extensive capabilities, but in English

Another simple English-language program for designing houses is Envisioneer. The interface is similar to all office programs, the principles of operation are the same as described above. All tabs are at the top of the screen. Through them you get access to tools. There are these tabs:

In the catalog panel, we can select any walls and materials, doors, windows, roof, porch, stairs, etc. The program has several viewing types, you can quickly switch between 3D and 2D. The scale tab will allow you to change it as you need. The navigation tab allows you to walk around the house in 3D view, look around and even fly!

For the design of wooden houses made of timber and logs

In most programs for designing houses and cottages, such building materials as logs and beams are completely absent. These are such specific materials that you need to write your own calculation algorithms for them. Therefore, separate software is created to simulate a wooden house. In most cases, these are Russian developments, but there are also foreign ones.

KZ Cottage

KZ Cottage is a construction program in Russian. Intended to help with the design of a wooden house or cottage made of cylindrical logs or profiled timber. You can create walls, beams, openings, pillars. In the program you can select the shape and size of the log section, build and move walls, beams, install windows and doors. There is also the opportunity to create a drawing of a log, calculate material for one wall or for the entire house, and create a floor plan.

When you start the program, you select the type of material and specify the size. For example, the type of section is a log or beam, specify the size in millimeters, as well as the location of the beams, the type of joint of logs/beams, its parameters in millimeters. When planning partitions, you can specify their type: with or without a projection. By default, the program uses the same material as for external walls.

The program for designing wooden houses “Cottage” can easily calculate even such a rather large house made of logs.

When choosing the sizes of windows and doors, their height must be indicated in the number of rows of logs, and their width in millimeters. This is the difference. Since window and door openings in a building may have the same dimensions, there is a copying tool to avoid creating them again. The copied parameters are simply installed in the place where you click with the mouse.

After creating the walls and partitions, they design the roof for the wooden house. You just need to select the materials (parameters of the boards for the rafters), the step of their installation, and indicate the angle of the roof slopes. The program will calculate the shape and size of the cutouts itself.

The last stage is viewing. If everything suits you, go to the reports tab, select from the list those that we need (plan, wall layout, estimate, log table). Their program generates everything according to your request and includes an approximate cost in the estimate.

The interface is easy and accessible in Russian. Your task is to create a model of the house you want, and the drawings of the logs, wall layouts, etc., will be done for you by the program itself. At the end, the software will give you a preliminary design with documents for production and assembly. You will be able to evaluate the finished model in 3D format and walk around the house yourself.

Home Constructor software

For modeling buildings made of timber (regular, laminated veneer lumber), logs (rounded), there is a program in Russian called “House Designer”. The interface looks similar to similar software. We select the designed parts one by one:

• walls;
• window;
• doors;
• stairs (if the house is two-story).

Each tab has several options; select the one that suits you best - it is transferred to the plan. Identical components are copied in a couple of mouse clicks.

As you make changes to the plan, they are all displayed in a window at the bottom of the screen. A three-dimensional model is simultaneously built there. This is very convenient, since there is no need to switch from mode to mode and you can immediately make adjustments.

The program for designing a house made of logs or timber “House Designer” provides an estimate for the stages of construction

To move on to designing the second floor, go to the “floors” section. After installing the ceiling, the second floor appears on the plan. The “2nd floor” tab appears on the screen in the upper left corner. Here we install walls, windows, doors in exactly the same way, and the program itself will create an opening under the stairs in the ceiling. Next, move to the “roof” tab, select its type and angle of inclination. The last thing to be designed is the foundation. In the corresponding tab, select one of the possible options.

The finished project can be viewed in full. You can look at it as a whole and floor by floor. By going to the “estimate” tab, we get a list of materials with an estimated cost. If the prices shown differ from the actual prices, you can change them. You can also look at the estimates one by one: foundation, first floor, second, roof - you can estimate the cost of construction of each stage.

Google SketchUp

Google SketchUp is one of the few universal programs in which you can model a house made of logs or timber. When creating a project, you can select the type of measurement system - decimal. After this, the program will put down dimensions in millimeters (rather than in feet). The next stage is choosing the type of building material - logs/beams and setting the dimensions (in millimeters).

Well, then you’ll have to manually draw tenons and grooves and set their parameters. Each of the crowns is a separate layer. They are drawn separately or copied already created, making additions. It is better to make each crown in a separate layer. This will give you the opportunity to see at the end of the project how much and what materials you will need. But everything is done manually, there is no automatic counting, and there are no bills of materials either. This is better than nothing, but not nearly as convenient as in the previous program (see “House Designer”).

Software for calculation and design of frame houses

Unfortunately, there are no free programs for modeling and calculations yet. They can be created on platforms such as SolidWorks, SketchUp and ArchiCad. It is easier to work in the second program, since it is a construction program, it contains many parameters and standards, it generates final reports, which contain a list of required materials. But complex projects in this program are a headache. But for a relatively simple frame house it is convenient.

In SolidWorks and ArchiCad you have to do almost everything by hand, but you can draw complex roofs or decorative elements. Unfortunately, manual work takes a lot of time.

There are several other programs that were created for specific design organizations. They often have no names, are distributed exclusively for a fee, and the price they ask for is quite high. But, since the software is specialized, working with it is a real pleasure. Two such programs are in the following videos.

To design your own home, you no longer need to be an architect, or even have perfect drafting skills. Technological progress provides a lot of opportunities. And, among other things, you can start drawing the layout of your house right now, without having any special tools for this, using only your PC and online tools created specifically for designing houses. Another good option are programs that you can install on your computer and work with them even without an Internet connection.

Online services

Online programs will help you install the walls of a virtual house and paint them in the desired color, place additional buildings, decorate the yard and fill the house with furniture. Their main advantages:

• The ability to independently plan your home down to the smallest detail;
• Relatively small time costs;
• Timely correction of any deficiencies in the layout;
• Free, in most cases;
• The ability to use 3D options to see a drawn house as if it had already been built.

Planner 5D is one of the popular online programs for planning houses and apartments. You don't even need to register to get started.

You can choose a ready-made template and work with it, or start your project from scratch.

The program allows you to create any number of rooms of different shapes, several floors in the house, has a wide variety of furniture, garden plants, models of people and animals, everything your heart could desire. But not all objects are available in free mode. A monthly subscription to access all layouts costs $5, and you will get forever access to the full catalog for $20.


How to create a house in Planner 5D:

1. In the “Rooms” section you need to select the number of rooms, their shape and size. You can also change the color and structure of all objects.
2. Using the “Construction” section you can install windows, doors and stairs.
3. The “Interior” section helps install all the necessary furniture, appliances and interior items.
4. Additional extensions in the yard are contained in the “Exterior” section.
5. You can look at the finished project in 3D mode.
6. Using the “Save” option, you can save the layout on your computer.

The good thing about the program is that it takes a minimal amount of time to create a house, but its downside is that it is not professional enough and realistic.

HouseCreator is a program that allows you not only to model a house, but also to calculate its approximate cost. The site has a video tutorial showing how to use the application, but the user interface is clear and simple.


How to create a house in HouseCreator Online:
Select the type and width of the foundation, wall parameters, number of floors and start designing. All this can be done in pop-up windows when entering the program.

1. In the “Wall” menu, select the size and location of the rooms.
2. The “Opening” menu will help you install doors and windows, choose their shape and size.
3. In the “Roof” menu, select the type and shape of the roof.
4. You can submit an application to calculate the cost of the project.
5. View the finished house in 3D mode.
6. In order to save the house layout you need to register in the system.

The advantage of this application is the ability to calculate the cost of construction, select the thickness of the walls, the height of the floor, and the materials from which the house will be built.

Big minus: the program does not provide a decoration option; it is impossible to furnish your future home to your liking.

If you download and install the program on your computer, you can approach the matter much more thoroughly and professionally, creating your dream home not in half an hour, but in weeks or even months. In addition, this method is more reliable, since there is less chance that the Internet will go down and all the work will “fly” at the most inopportune moment. The disadvantage of such programs is that you have to pay for them, but there is almost always a trial (free) period during which you can manage to build the project.

The advantage of Autodesk software is that students and university teachers can download it for free. The project also has a free demo version.

This program is very professional, in it you can create not only a house, but also the car of your dreams, as well as interior items.

To work in it you need to get good at it and practice designing, but there is a chance that the created house project in this case will not be inferior even to a professional one. This software has many varieties of applications for modeling, design, animation and even mobile applications, but for creating houses it is better to use one of the AutoCAD versions.



How to use the Autodesk program:

1. Download the demo version of AutoCAD from the official website and install it on your computer.
2. Select the size of the plot on which the house will be built.
3. Adjust the terrain of the area as close as possible to the real one.
4. Outline the foundation and walls of the future building.
5. Build a roof, windows and doors.
6. Choose the interior decoration of the rooms.

Enjoy the hard work of several weeks of work by printing out the project in two copies: one to build a house on, the other to frame and hang in a place of honor.
There are also many instructional videos on how to use the AutoCAD program.

Designing a house yourself is not an easy job, requiring sufficient perseverance, diligence and the desire to acquire new knowledge and skills. You can't do this kind of work in 30 minutes. However, if the goal is simply to better convey your idea to professionals involved in home development, or to have fun, you can use one of the online programs.
The following video shows an example of working with one of the programs for designing houses.