Sweet Home 3D is a free interior design application designed for Mac. This program comes in handy to average and advanced computer users who are looking for an intuitive tool for creating their own interior design plans from the comfort of their homes.
The app comes with an integrated help manual which might prove to be of good use if you're new with this type of programs. After you read the guide, you can easily create the designs you need. On the main toolbar of the app you will find the floor and wall tools and the panel from the left side of the screen shows a list of the project elements. You can drag-and-drop the items you wish to include in your project, easily move or delete them from the design, etc.
You also have access to a 3D view of your project. The 3D display mode is shown on the bottom side of the screen. Every time you make a new change to your project, the alteration is immediately seen on the 3D view screen.
You need to download and install the Java SE 6 Runtime tool in order to use Sweet Home 3D. Also, the project elements (furniture, windows, doors, etc.) need to be grabbed from the homepage of the developer and imported within the app. Unfortunately, the program didn't let me load the downloaded ZIP archives, even though on the interface it says that the archive format is supported by the app.
Still, the utility comes with several design elements which, to me, seem to be good enough for creating home design project I need. Plus, Sweet Home 3D is free and allows you to export your projects to numerous file formats. So, I think it's worth a shot if you're looking for an easy and intuitive interior design tool.
Pros
- Gives you access to multiple elements for your projects
- Allows you to export your projects to various formats
- You can print the project plan from the app's interface
- Available in various languages
- Provides you with a 3D view of your project
- Free
Cons
- You need to download and install a tool to use Sweet Home 3D
- Unable to load downloaded project elements
This program is very easy to handle. You can quickly make a plan of furniture placing in your flat.
The given set of furniture was enough for me to illustrate where each object will be placed in my future flat. Besides, the program is definitely helpful when you are moving to a new flat or building a house. Even if you are not a professional designer, you can visualize your ideas and discuss them with the designers later.
Found it useful when I was moving furniture around the house. The plan in 3D allows you to see how your room will look like with chairs, shelves, etc. and to think of possible changes before you've began moving your real wardrobe. Yet I found it rather uncomfortable to have a narrow set of furniture available to operate with.