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With today’s kitchen design software, anyone can create a brand new kitchen design for his or her home, without having to consult an architect or draftsman. Unless of course they plan to reposition walls, windows and/or doorways! And some companies, such as Ikea, offer integrated kitchen design software that tracks what cabinetry is selected in order to provide users with an up-to-the-minute cost estimate.
A quick search online or through the software aisles at the local computer software store yields a large selection of kitchen design software programs. A consumer can either purchase the product of their choice from the store, or download any number of programs from the Internet and use them free of charge, usually for 30 days. But what do these programs really allow a homeowner to do, and how do they work? All the mainstream kitchen design software programs allow homeowners to select cabinets and place them in a mock-up of their kitchen. This includes top and bottom cabinets, drawer units, pantries and more. Usually, the kitchen design software also comes preloaded with a number of different cabinet heights, depths and widths to suit as many potential users as possible. Kitchen design software works by prompting the user to enter specific information about their kitchen space, including the measurements of walls, where appliances are located, as well as any windows and doors – basically creating a three dimensional shell of the room. From there, a homeowner can place numerous cabinet styles (height, width and finish) in the online space to design a new kitchen. The kitchen design software generally follows a drag and drop format that lets a homeowner place cabinetry and even appliances against any wall space, as if it was hanging there. The benefits of these kitchen design software programs are that they allow anyone to redesign their kitchen with their computer. And, they let the user create any number of possible configurations and layouts. Plus, the three-dimensional imaging means that they can look at each wall straight on, or the entire space from above, to gauge the success of their traffic pattern(s). Although, there are some limitations with these kitchen design software programs, as they are designed to cater to the greatest potential numbers of users. The cabinetry choices don’t generally allow for higher than average base cabinets for those who are taller, nor do they offer commercial appliance selections – such as stoves, ovens and refrigerators, which are larger – and that are making their way into more and more homes. However, for the homeowner who is on a budget, programs such as Kitchen Design for Everyone 2.0, or KitchenDesign.com offer all the bells and whistles that they need. Or, homeowners can even download a number of free kitchen design software programs from the Internet. To see what is available, simply use a search engine such as Yahoo or Google and type kitchen design software. |
