Best Free Interior Design Software for Designing your Home this Year

When it comes to designing the interior of your home (kitchen, living room, bathroom, dining room, exteriors etc), most people freak out as they cannot visualize the best design in their mind. The process does not however have to be that hard as all that is required is a bit of research, great creativity and maybe a software tool that will help you along the way.

You do not need a lot of money to bring elegance into your interior rooms; you can use what you have. With a touch of creativity and with the proper software tools, you can create nice looking rooms that everybody will stand with awe in front of them.

Nowadays, the process of designing your own home interior has even been simplified further and all you need is to log in to your computer and you will find numerous online software programs that can help you with the design.

This however does not mean that your creativity is not required. It will come in handy as all the software can do is give you an idea of how the room will look and also visualize the items and dimensions.

For those who are not very familiar with interior design software programs, it is advisable to start as beginner before proceeding to the advanced levels.

As beginners, there are interior design tools that allow you to upload premade looks and designs. The best thing about using these interior design application tools is that you do not have to worry much about their technical aspects. They are easy to use for both professional designers and for novice users as well.

Below you can find a list of free interior design tools that you can use to visualize and DIY the design of your own home’s interior or even design your home’s outdoor areas as well.

The software tools below come either as online tools (you don’t need to download and install anything) or as Desktop applications whereby you need to download the software and install it on your home computer. Some other tools have also mobile application options as well.

So let’s have a look at the top free interior software applications below:

1) Planner 5D

https://planner5d.com/ (available as online tool and also as mobile app)

Designing and planning out a dream home has never been easier than with Planner 5D. It is a multi-platform software tool that enables switchable 2D and 3D views of a high-quality computer generated home. Users can easily add floors, walls, furniture, windows, décor, and so on very quickly and easily.

The default 2D mode makes it very easy to plan an entire home layout and the 3D mode allows a user to look through their design from a first-person point of view. Floors, walls, and so on can all be added, and there is support for many different textures, including stone and wood.

Users can easily take a snapshot of their home and the software will generate an attractive 3D render with lighting and shadows. This photo can be uploaded and shared with an active community of users.

2) Sweet Home 3D

image source: www.sweethome3d.com

http://www.sweethome3d.com/ (available as online tool and also as desktop application)

Supporting Windows, Linux, and OSX, Sweet Home 3D is a comprehensive interior design software. Every single aspect of a home design can be customized, including textures, materials, and colors. The size of any object can easily be adjusted freely.

Moreover, you can create 3D visuals for every room (interior, garage, exterior areas etc) so that you have a comprehensive picture of all views of the house.

Once walls, floors, windows, and doors have been added, it’s easy to customize them to suit any vision. Sweet Home 3D also supports industry standard files types on both import and export, including SVG, OBJ, and PDF.

Once a user is happy with the design, it’s possible to have a virtual walk-through of the home and even choose the time of day so that it’s possible to see how light and shadow affect the home.

3) DreamPlan Home Designer

http://www.nchsoftware.com/design/index.html (Desktop application)

DreamPlan is a great piece of software for those who want to design not just the interior of a home, but the garden and landscaping as well.

DreamPlan makes it possible to reshape outdoor terrain, import plants, and set up a garden in any manner possible. It’s even possible to add outdoor decking and a pool. The fact that DreamPlan includes a tool set for designing outdoor areas makes it ideal for people who want to redesign their garden.

DreamPlan is also comprehensive interior design and home planning software and allows 2D and 3D views. Trace mode allows for a user to have existing blueprints in hard-copy format imported by the software also.

4) SmartDraw

http://www.smartdraw.com/floor-plan/interior-design-software.htm (Desktop application)

Where SmartDraw is different is that it prioritizes ease of use and convenience. SmartDraw includes lots of starting templates, so coming up with a home design from scratch is a simple affair.

Furthermore, the drag and drop interface either on Windows or a tablet makes it a cinch to design a home without having to dig into arcane instructions and menus.

SmartDraw also makes it very easy to line everything up in a design because drag and drop graphical items just snap into place. This means no fiddling endlessly trying to get everything pixel perfect on the screen.

5) Space Designer 3D

https://www.spacedesigner3d.com/en/ (online tool)

Unlike some applications, Space Designer 3D is thoroughly modern looking and attractive. It is an online application, which means no downloads are necessary. This also means that any business, such as a real estate concern, can easily purchase a license and integrate it into their website offerings for customers.

Being online, Space Designer 3D can also be accessed from any web enabled device. This makes it very easy to share floor plans with people. It also supports Google Cardboard, so it’s easy to generate a three-dimensional virtual walk-through of any design.

6) Homestyler

http://www.homestyler.com/ (online tool)

Often the included furniture and other items in interior design software simply look generic and dull. One of the most outstanding features of Homestyler is that there are hundreds of items, including furniture and fixtures, that are to-scale replicas of real brands on the market. That means no more generic looking home design.

Every single detail of a floor plan can be designed in pixel perfect detail to ensure the highest accuracy. Furthermore, a three-dimensional virtual walk-through is rendered in high definition so that the experience is very attractive and as true to life as possible.

7) HomeByMe

http://home.by.me/en/ (Desktop application)

HomeByMe is a design platform that is completely online. Anyone can have a HomeByMe design drawn up with accurate measurements by experts, or they can do it themselves.

HomeByMe is easy to use, and though it may not have the comprehensive interface of competing platforms, it does cater to people who don’t have any experience with home design.

Once a two-dimensional floorplan has been completed, it’s possible to furnish it with furniture and so on. Many of these items are actually from the HomeByMe catalog, so there is a level of realism.

8) Roomtodo

http://roomtodo.com/welcome/ (online tool)

Roomtodo has been designed from the ground up to be both powerful and intuitive. It’s an online application that offers free and paid plans.

Where Roomtodo really shines is in how easy it is to get started. If a user already has a floorplan or blueprint available, all they need to do is upload a scanned image and then trace over the lines using Roomtodo. From here, the plan can easily be scaled and changed.

Roomtodo makes it easy even for beginners to use. All of the walls are added using the two-dimensional view, but this can then be switched to a three-dimensional view so that extra things can be added, such as furniture and décor. It’s even possible to change the materials used on the furniture.

Additionally, placement of every graphical element is made simple because things just snap right into place. Easy sharing of project links, screenshots, and support for social media sharing also make this a great platform for beginners.

The above list is not exhaustive but it shows the most popular free interior design tools available for home owners or professionals.

The most important thing that one will learn when using these software tools is planning. The application allows the user to move around furniture that is both 2D and 3D.

This enables you to choose the best designs of the seats as per the room’s size and scale. It also enables the viewing of the plan to see how good it looks.

Another great thing about using software design tools (including even kitchen cabinet design tools or other home decor applications) is that you are able to customize the room the way you want using different colors.

This is important even when it comes to the actual design as colors count a lot in bringing that ambiance to your room.

After you have done all the interior room designing, you have the option of saving the work for printing. In most applications, there is the share button that allows you to send the work for instance, emailing it to friends etc.

Although these applications may not offer the best designing experience, they can act as guidelines on what you may need in designing your home. Using them, you can create different simulations and from these you can choose the one that appeals to you best. They are worth trying.