Kitchen Design Software

Americans love to improve their homes, and they know that one of the most high-value improvements they can make to a home is a well-done kitchen. However, a kitchen is probably the most complicated room in most homes. What other room needs so many utilities, so many large, hard-to-move objects, and so much planning in advance?

Today, there is just no reason to tackle this challenge without a computer. There are too many choices of not only home design software, but specifically kitchen design software. Let's look at a few.

One of the more popular kitchen design software packages available is called SmartDraw. The basic SmartDraw program is actually a very professional and versatile design program. There is a purchase price for the SmartDraw, but you can download a trial version, and the kitchen design add-on software is free. Their website at www.smartdraw.com does a great job of explaining the software and demonstrating what you'll get.

It's not hard to find other programs like SmartDraw - and you'll want to compare - but they belong to a class of software offerings that must be purchased. How many kitchens are you doing to remodel? Most people only have one! Is buying a program to use for one project a good decision? Maybe... but there are alternatives.

KitchenDraw, at www.kitchendraw.com, has a novel idea: pay for your kitchen design software by the hour. Your first 30 hours are even free. After that, you pay hourly charges. One nice facet of this plan is that there's never a charge for software upgrades with KitchenDraw.

On the other hand, how would you feel about software that's completely free? My Virtual Home (www.mvhlive.com) is a no-charge download for personal use. Their website also boasts that My Virtual Home is easier to learn than many of its competitors because while the competing programs are often based on CAD software like professional architects use, My Virtual Home is designed more like a video game. Ease of learning becomes an important issue with software that you are only going to use for one project. If it takes three kitchens for you to really get good with a program, then the program might not be much of an advantage!

Another free possibility is Google SketchUp. If you're not the sort of person who diddles endlessly with computers, this may not be the choice for you, because by itself SketchUp is not really kitchen software. In fact, it's barely even home design software - it's more of a 3D drawing program. If you're computer-handy, though, the advantage of Google SketchUp is that you can learn from and trade tips with a huge fan base of SketchUp users. Google actively encourages programming geeks to devise "plugins" that can specialize and enhance the SketchUp experience.

If you're planning on using IKEA kitchen cabinets, then the IKEA Kitchen Planner is a great choice. You can download it here:
IKEA kitchen planning tool

Poorly planned home improvement projects can become nightmares. Make your kitchen improvement mistakes on a computer first - they're so much easier and cheaper to fix while they're still just pictures on a screen! Then, proceed with the real thing, and your new kitchen will be one that will add value and enjoyment to your home.

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