I've [i]kind of[/i] got my head round SketchUp, but just wondering if there's anything easier (i.e. quicker) to have a go at brainstorming some plans for our kitchen?
Ta in advance.
Nope! Especially as you've got the hang of it. Although I'd start with a pencil a several sheets of paper.
Crack on I'd say 😀
Agree, really easy programme to use and great to visualise your designs. Make use of all the programmes features, especially layers and making components.
You will struggle to find something quicker and easier than sketchup which gives as good results. Stick with it!
Try search the sketchup warehouse online - you will probably find a load of pre made kitchen components.
My top sketchup tip:
Keep your model 'clean' by purging components, layers and colours/materials. Sketchup remembers all these details even if you have deleted the component they were used with. Your file size can become huge if you dont, even for what seems a simple model.
I'll just crack on with SketchUp then. Cheers!
A dedicated kitchen planner like the online IKEA one is probably quicker and easier for a beginner but less flexible than sketch up.
IKEA - not used it for a year or two and it was clunky then but I would highly recommend putting in your room dimensions and getting a kitchen planner appointment even if you have no intentions of using their products.
Their advisors are up to date with the latest products and gizmos and can save you a lot of time and research - unless you're doing this a lot then you don't know what you don't know!
It's a bl**dy awful 3D graphics programme* you can't do anything useful engineering with but if you've got your head around it you can make some pretty pictures.
* From a regular 3D cad user
I used Ikea kitchen planner to plan most of my house.
Much easier than picking up and moving wardrobes about 🙂
The kitchen I designed was 95% what I built, but the lady in Ikea did tweak some vital bits.
If you do use it save regularly, it would crash or hang semi regularly
I just want to know where it's gone from my computer.
I built my whole house in sketch up, but it seems to have disappeared after an OSX update.
just wondering if there's anything easier (i.e. quicker)
I can't think of any task more suited to Sketchup than making rectilinear boxes within and around other boxes. I think if you're finding the process slow it might be your design approach/workflow is the hold up.
What aspects of are you finding time consuming?
I "designed" our extension and subsequent kitchen with Sketchup. It was enough to send to the architect so they knew what we wanted and use as a basic kitchen planner.
It's good although not a proper 3D cad program however for the average user its more than enough to get started with.
I "designed" our extension and subsequent kitchen with Sketchup
same here. It gives the professionals something to work with...
I design, make and fit bespoke furniture. All I use is a pad of fine squared A4 or A3 paper, a scale ruler, a 400mm transparent ruler and a Lamy ballpoint pen.
I use the scale rule to do the floor plan on A4 and then do an isometric diagram on the A3 (if it's too big for the A4).
I prefer it to using CAD because it forces you to think about the design before committing it to paper. So many designers just throw a lot of stuff at the screen and miss the best layout. And because I can do some fancy ins and outs to turn an eyesore in a room into an attractive feature it's a lot easier to do that freehand.
And my customers can see evidence that I'm a "craftsman" before I start the work.
I used the Howdens one. Very simple and helped me get the colours n stuff sorted. https://www.howdens.com/advice-inspiration/kitchen-visualiser/
IANAC
(I am not a craftsman.)
What aspects of are you finding time consuming?
The two kids under 5 aspect 😆
Just wondered if there was something I could use to knock up a rough sketch in less than an hour while the youngest is napping and eldest is eating.
And my customers can see evidence that I'm a "craftsman" before I start the work
Think you're missing a trick here, add another zero and claim 'artisan' status 😉
To be fair though I've never learned CAD (despite doing Graphic Communication at school, we were expected to self learn on the brand new computers in 5th year) and could probably knock up a paper copy fairly quickly.
I modelled my house and garage with Sketchup for an extension build and internal DIY changes.
It's very powerful, but I found there was a bit of a learning curve one you get past the simple "extrude a box" stage.
The Howden/IKEA tools will definitely be quicker and might be good enough if you don't need to design custom shapes.
If you are doing a kitchen, I'd recommend downloading pre drawn units from the Sketchup library. You can get a whole set of Howden units (cupboards, sinks, etc) ready to plug in.
I'd design it by hand and I spend my days modelling civil engineering projects.
Chucking ideas is faster with paper you should see my notepad.
bookmarked. ta all.