Toward the end of the project, we were able to hold up the drawing and see that with the exception of cosmetic finishes it was virtually identical. The fact that every square inch was accounted for in the drawing allowed us to head off potential problems before they became issues. The contractor was able to work off my drawings too. I "built" a custom pantry unit in SketchUp and the cabinetmaker recreated it perfectly. I used a custom cabinetmaker and it was very helpful for them to "see" my vision. It was really fun doing 3D walk-throughs if the new kitchen from all directions of the house. I even went so far as to draw my TV and speakers in the adjacent family room. The next thing I know, I had the entire first floor all measured and drawn. Then as I was looking at various angles, I started adding rooms. Here is a link that might be useful: Challenging Layout Conundrum You can also see my sketchup "development" at my original layout thread linked below. I am on a Mac, and that influenced my choice, as there are not many of those available for Mac. I think if I had to do it over, I would have chosen a kitchen-design-specific program. However, I don't think a kitchen-design-specific program would have this problem. Obviously, this depends on what you download. Mine started small, but have grown to about 40 MB as you add and subtract items. I would have to subsequently move everything. Totally my fault, but the effort it would take to redo this does not seem worth it to me. For example, my initial drawings were off a few inches in one dimension. This is not sketchup's fault, really, but I feel a bit "locked into" my previous efforts. For me, the only solution was to delete the object and start again! (As a 2D representation of 3D space, the program has to guess what depth you are aiming for.) The object kept projecting to a different spot, no matter what I tried. Occasionally, I absolutely could not place an object in the 3D spot that I was shooting for. Perhaps there is a better way, but I couldn't find it. I could not find a way to do this except for to create a guide that was 2.25" away from where the cab was now, then move the cab to that guide. Most programs would have a "move" command. Say you want to move a cab over 2.25" to the left. I found certain things that would be trivial to do with almost any conventional CAD program to be very difficult to do with sketchup. There are instructional videos from google that make it pretty easy to get started. This can give you a huge leg up on producing a nice-looking drawing. For example, Kraftmaid has a lot of their offerings in the database. Many manufacturers upload their wares to make it easy for you to design them in, and lots of amateurs like to show off their creations. There is a huge database of premade objects that you just download and plug into your drawing. F'rinstance, creating a 3D object is as easy as pie. Certain tasks in sketchup are MUCH more intuitive than on other CAD programs. I used a different program for 2D CAD for layout, and then used Google sketchup for 3D renderings along the lines you are envisioning. I have looked at some of the Sketchup books and I'm just not sure if the whole thing is overkill for what i'm trying to do or if it is like so much software, where you just use the 10% you need and forget about the rest.Īdvice, experience, suggestions, alternatives? I like thinking about the details and visualizing moving around the space. We have an architect, and he's great, but I don't expect him to tell me where I should store the flour or the wine glasses. I'm not afraid to learn new software, but I don't want the software-learning part to take more time than the task itself! It is not a huge space, though, and I know it is the details of how the pieces fit together that will make it work satisfactorily for us.Īnd then put the aesthetics factor on top of that, and I realize I need something that allows me to do a lot of experimenting with variations. Comparing the space to our existing kitchen, we are confident that the space is adequate and the basics are right. Planning new construction and the footprint and general layout of the kitchen are done.
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