The 21st century, with its developed technologies, greatly simplifies life, both in everyday affairs and in professional activities. Architects have long stopped using paper, pencil or ruler to create plans. Moreover, this process itself has become much simpler, more productive and more interesting, reminiscent of a game rather than painstaking work. Now everyone can design their dream home using free interior design and apartment planning programs. Don't know where to start? We'll tell you!
1. Astron Design
You can start with the Astron program, which allows you to arrange objects in a room with the desired parameters. This is not a multidisciplinary design tool, but the installed functionality is quite enough to think through projects.
You can choose your own finishing option for key partitions by first specifying their dimensions. Having imagined a little or calculated everything down to the smallest detail, you can place furniture, decor, and also decide on the location of doors and windows in the created space. A relatively large catalog is quite enough for this.
2. SketchUp
There are two versions of the program: paid, with extended functionality for professionals, and free. But this does not mean that the second option provides limited opportunities to create renders.
With its help, you will be able to design high-quality three-dimensional design models, “playing” with the layout, colors, and furniture. The only negative is the small variety of objects, but they are easy to find on the Internet.
After downloading SketchUp, you can immediately start working, since the interface is very simple and intuitive. An important tool is the ability to sign the dimensions of individual elements.
The finished render is posted on the Internet, or vice versa - they look for inspiration there, studying other people's works.
Interestingly, this program is suitable not only for designing houses and apartments - it can be used to create three-dimensional models of a site, road, car or other objects.
3. Sweet Home 3D
This program may not satisfy serious designers, but average users may find it quite useful and, most importantly, simple. In building complex projects Sweet Home 3D will not help, but small experiments with this application are easy to do. For example, if you want to see what the closet next to the sofa will look like, and whether it is worth placing the TV against this wall. In just five minutes you can easily sketch out a floor plan.
Unfortunately, the established catalog of objects is not large enough, offering no variation in shapes, sizes or fittings. This could be a significant drawback if the missing items could not be downloaded from the official website, but this issue is easily resolved. Sweet Home 3D is a foreign program, but for users who do not understand English well, there is good news: There is a Russian version.
4. IKEA Home Planner
If you are thinking about buying Ikea furniture, then this free program will definitely come in handy. It is very simple and clear, it allows you to think through the interior of rooms using furniture from a Dutch manufacturer. You can select the necessary item from the catalog by selecting the size, style, fittings or color scheme.
The Ikea catalog is quite extensive - from large sets to various small items, which allows you to create a complete interior by calculating its cost. IKEA Home Planner provides the ability to save your work and complete the purchase of all selected items. A high-quality picture in 3D format will help you evaluate the selected design in detail.
Ikea also has a separate kitchen design program called IKEA Kitchen Planner. The principle of operation is the same, but the choice of furniture specifically for these spaces is much wider, so we recommend downloading this application separately.
5.Homestyler
An excellent program for interior design and apartment planning from the creators of 3ds Max and AutoCAD.
Having launched Homestyler, you need to choose one of three proposed functions: interior from scratch, use of a ready-made scheme or a ready-made project from an extensive gallery. At the same time, you will have many finishing options at your disposal, color solutions and real pieces of furniture that are included in the catalogs of famous brands.
6. Planoplan
Another tool for creating interiors with real furniture from stores, instead of fictitious models. There are three ways to work with the program: an online service, a free demo version or a paid version for professionals. At the same time, Planoplan continues to be constantly developed and updated. Another advantage is the presence of a Russian interface.
When working on the interior of an apartment, you can independently come up with a layout or choose standard options. There is a virtual tour function finished project with the ability to view on a smartphone.
Planoplan is suitable not only for thinking through the general layout, but also more detailed aspects. For example, to track how the shadow will move throughout the day, you can adjust the sunlight depending on the time of day. Many of the materials you use for your interiors have specifications. To understand all the functions, the site has video instructions that will clearly demonstrate the program management system.
7. PRO100
Unlike other online services and programs with a simple interface, you will have to spend a little time learning PRO100. This is a more professional application that allows you to transform every detail of the selected element: from texture to transparency. The demo version has limited functionality, but it is enough for planning or sketching.
A curious property that is rarely found in free programs for interior design and apartment planning: the ability to independently draw any object, adjusting its shape, size or texture, especially if you have goods from the store in mind. Before starting work, you need to specify the parameters of the premises, after which you can design the house of your dreams.
8. Interior design 3D
This program offers a comprehensive catalog of furniture, finishes and colors. Of course, the trial version limits the real properties, but they are quite enough to create a high-quality render.
Create your own layout by specifying exact parameters or choosing standard ones that are constantly added to the program database.
A simple interface in Russian, which is important. You can “walk through” the finished apartment project using the virtual tour function. 3D planner offers to save ready plan, edit it or print it.
In general, the product is not much different from similar ones, but it is suitable for those who do not want to spend a lot of time mastering a new planner.
Official site:
IKEA home planner is not a tool professional designer, A professional tool for everyone who wants to feel like a designer. The program is designed for individual design of the space of your rooms.
IKEA home planner allows you to select and arrange furniture at your discretion, based on the given size of the room. Especially this one online planner will be useful to those who are planning to purchase furniture in the IKEA chain of stores, since the program catalog contains samples of furniture that are on sale. The program is easy to use, has an interface in Russian, and is an online application, i.e. does not require installation on a PC.
With IKEA home planner you can:
- choose furniture exactly according to the size of your rooms;
- experiment with different combinations furniture;
- move objects around as you see fit, trying out different styles;
- You can view and print your favorite interior options with all sizes;
- You can also save the created plans directly on the IKEA server to get more detailed information on them.
Consultation on the projects you have created can be obtained at your nearest IKEA store. They will help you perfect your plan and give you good advice about which products from the assortment to purchase so that your virtual room becomes real. Please note that in order to receive advice, the project must be saved on the IKEA server; it will not open from any other media in the store.
System requirements:
- Processor: 1000 MHz or higher
- Video card: 128MB
- Screen resolution: 1024 x 768
- Internet connection: 56kbit and above
Operating system:
- Windows XP SP3 and higher
- Mac OS X, Lion 10.7.2 or higher (Intel processors only supported)
Internet browser:
- Windows: Internet Explorer 8 or higher (except Windows XP); Firefox 22-24, Chrome 28-30
- Mac: Safari 6.0.5, Safari 7.0, Firefox 23; Chrome 29
IKEA home planner provides the possibility of planning: a kitchen, a wardrobe, a combination of furniture for storage in children's rooms and a combination of storage for the living room. In addition, IKEA has mobile app“Electronic catalog” in which you will find the same pages as in the printed catalogue, plus you will be able to try on some products from the catalog for your interior.
Who is not familiar with IKEA? For many years now, this network has been the most famous in the whole world. Ikea offers the widest range of furniture and other Swedish products, and the store is unique in that it allows you to choose full set furniture for absolutely any budget.
In order to make it easier for users to design interiors for premises, the company has implemented software IKEA Home Planner. Unfortunately, at the moment this solution is not supported by the developer, so it is no longer possible to download it from the company’s official website.
Before you start adding Ikea furniture to the room, you will be asked to draw up a room plan, indicating the area of the room, the location of doors, windows, radiators, etc.
Arrangement of the premises
Once the drawing up of the room plan is completed, you can move on to the most enjoyable part - placing the furniture. A complete set of furniture from Ikea, which can be purchased in stores, will come in handy here. Please note that support for the program ended in 2008, so the furniture in the catalog is current specifically for this year.
3D viewing
Having completed planning a room, you always want to view the preliminary result. For this case, the program implements a special 3D mode, which will allow you to view the room you have created and equipped from all sides.
List of products
All furniture placed on your plan will appear in a special list, where its full name and cost will be displayed. This list, if necessary, can be saved to a computer or instantly printed.
Instant access to the IKEA website
The developers assume that, in parallel with the program, you will also use a browser with an open web page of the official Ikea website. That is why in the program you can go to the site in literally one click.
Save or print a project
Having finished working on creating a project, the result can be saved to a computer in the form of an FPF file or immediately printed on a printer.
Advantages of IKEA Home Planner:
1. A simple interface designed for use by the average user;
2. The program is distributed absolutely free of charge.
Disadvantages of IKEA Home Planner:
1. An outdated interface by current standards, which is slightly inconvenient to use;
2. The program is no longer supported by the developer;
3. There is no support for the Russian language;
4. It is not possible to work with the color of the room, as is implemented in
DIY apartment design
installation and operation manual
IKEA planner
The IKEA Home Planner program or simply IKEA Planner allows you to independently develop the design of your rooms.
None special education not required. So, let’s start planning IKEA now, it’s simple and, moreover, interesting.
IKEA planner download and install
If you do not already have the IKEA Home Planner program installed, you will need to install it. IKEA Home Planner can be downloaded from the IKEA website, the link is on this page, and IKEA Home Planner can be downloaded for free. After the download is complete, you will receive an IKEA Home Planner exe file, like this: 
To install, double-click on IKEA Home Planner exe and follow all the instructions in the installation wizard.
After installing IKEA Home Planner, the IKEA Home Planner shortcut will appear on your desktop:
Double-click on IKEA Home Planner, and the IKEA Home Planner program opens.
Choosing a room area
We launch the IKEA Room Planner program. First we need to determine the area and shape of our room. From the “Select room shape” drop-down list, select a square: 
By default, the room area is set to 35.0 m2. In our apartments, such room areas are rare, so we will set the area to be more earthly, namely 15.0 m 2. To set such an area, move the right wall of the room plan, holding it with the left button, you can also move the bottom wall: 
You can additionally specify the position of windows and doors in your room; to do this, drag the corresponding picture from the bottom row onto the plan, or rather onto the wall of the plan, with the left button.
If you now click on the "3D" toolbar button,
then we will see a three-dimensional image of our room.
We will be doing a design project for a bedroom, but the IKEA planner also allows you to design kitchens, and any other rooms.
Choosing furnishings for the room
Now let's start installing furniture in the bedroom. Click on the "Arrange" button in the toolbar:
or press the F4 button.
In the object tree in the lower left corner, select Bedroom -> Beds -> Bed frames 
Select any bed 140x200 from the bottom row of pictures and drag it with the left button onto our plan. We rotate the bed on the plan using buttons with twisted arrows, they are located under the lower left corner of the room plan (and in the picture below): 
You can remove a bed from the plan using the "delete" keyboard button.
If we now click on the “3D” toolbar button, we will see a three-dimensional image of our room: 
You can move the bed with the left button directly on the 3D image.
We already have the first result. Let's install more furniture in the bedroom. I got it like this: 
There are many buttons located under the lower right corner of the plan; they allow you to enlarge and rotate the image. To return to the starting position, press the "Home" button opposite the right lower angle room plan.
Toolbar "List of Components" button
allows you to see a list of furniture items on the plan.
Our bedroom project in the IKEA planner is completed as a first approximation. There is still work to be done on it, which means the bedroom design project needs to be preserved.
How to save a project in IKEA Home Planner
To save the project in IKEA Home Planner, select File -> Save from the menu bar. In the same section of the "File" menu, it is possible to save the project on the IKEA server. You can use this courtesy of IKEA, but I prefer to save my projects on my computer.
Happy creativity to you!
Attention: Unfortunately, the IKEA Home Planner program has not been updated since 2010, so in 2018 we recommend using online 3D version of the planner, which is located on the official IKEA website - http://kitchenplanner.ikea.com. The service is entirely in Russian and includes all current products.
It is difficult to find residents of a metropolis who do not have IKEA products in their homes. Products of this international company is in demand among people of different professions and ages. And thanks IKEA Home Planner they will be able to see how the furniture of this company will fit into their interior before purchasing it. You no longer need to go shopping in search of the right product. This program will help you find the right furniture and Construction Materials, and also see their combination in a three-dimensional image.
IKEA Home Planner only available English language. On the left is the full catalog of products available in the store. The main part of the program window is a work area for creating interior design projects. All placed elements can be adjusted, rotated and moved. Products are made in color. Their proportions correspond to the sizes of real objects. This will allow you to plan the interior of a kitchen or other room with limited space.
A nice addition from the developers is the ordering and purchasing function. The IKEA planner will help you find out prices, automatically place an order from all the elements placed in the project, and then send it to the store. Employees will collect the goods and deliver them directly to your home.
Main functions of the IKEA Home Planner 2.0.3 program:
- Interior planning using IKEA products
- Catalog
- Price indication
- Possibility of ordering and delivery
Screenshots
