Autodesk Homestyler - anyone used this free web app?

12 years ago

I'm trying to decide whether this is worth spending time to learn.... a relatively new online home design app for laying out floorplans and 3D visualization of furnished rooms, as well as exteriors if you need that. There are lots of home design apps, and most I've used quickly reveal their limitations as soon as you try to use it. But this one is from Autodesk, who has decades of expertise with professional design and drafting software (AutoCAD), so my expectations are raised a bit. Oh, and it's free.

It looks interesting, and the level of detail you can get regarding flooing or carpeting, cabinetry, appliances, and furniture goes beyond what I've usually seen. But I still don't see an obvious way to, say, make the wood flooring planks run diagonally instead of horizontally. You can plug in generic furnishings, fixtures, and appliances, as well as specific models from a small range of brands (which I assume is their source of income). Not many manufacturers have signed up yet though, i.e. there are only two appliance brands accounted for.

It runs on your laptop, iPhone, iPad, or just about anything with a web browser. You can share or collaborate on new designss, drag-and-drop parts of other users' designs into your layout, print, email, or share your plans, and export into AutoCAD .DWG files that the pros use.

What, if anything, do you use for floorplans and design? And do you like it?

Here is a link that might be useful: Autodesk Homestyler

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (9)

beekeeperswife
12 years ago
I used it when trying to figure out furniture placement in our bowling-alley-like basement. It really was helpful because seeing it in 3D really put it in the right perspective.

Plus you can email yourself the photos you "take" of the room from certain angles.

It was very easy to learn too.
TxMarti
12 years ago
I use it. It's not the greatest, but only takes about 5 minutes to learn and I like the 3d too. Very limited on sizes of components though.
Related Professionals
Clarksburg Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · St. Louis Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Reedley Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Feasterville Trevose Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Normal Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Clovis Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Park Ridge Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Republic Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Toledo Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Vista Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Wilmington Island Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Cranford Cabinets & Cabinetry · West Freehold Cabinets & Cabinetry · Ardmore Tile and Stone Contractors · Charlottesville Tile and Stone Contractors
shmeal
12 years ago
Thanks for mentioning this! I am having so much fun exploring my new house. I've been looking for a decent 3D program with more options than the IKEA room planner. That program did a better job of letting me really dig into my kitchen layout and cabinet plans but I couldn't put in furniture. This works so much better for actually getting into the rooms and walking around to make sure that it correlates and there is enough room for everything we want / need to include. And with DH traveling he can actually see what I am talking about when we discuss changes. So far, I've created our great room & kitchen, our master suite and will focus on my craft room and DH's office next. I'll have our whole house planned out in 3D before we even start digging.
codymaxx
12 years ago
I was excited about your post when you mentioned HomeStyler will run on the iPad. Unfortunately, it requires Flash and therefore will not run on the iPad. Should be great on the laptop though. Thanks for posting!
lee676
Original Author
12 years ago
I stand corrected. A slew of iPod/iPhone apps have been issued for other Autodesk programs recently but not for this one - there's lots of requests for it on their support board and hopefully one is forthcoming, and soon. The other hangup seems to be there's no way to adjust the height of the walls. But otherwise its capabilities are impressive. Like how light from your windows or lamps reflect off the glass on the oven door if you adjust the 3D view to the right angle - wow!
a2gemini
12 years ago
Thanks - We just switched to Mac and couldn't find any that really worked on the Mac - so will give this a try
Anyone use it with Lion?(newest Ma OS)
writersblock (9b/10a)
12 years ago
You will need to install flash, a2gemini. It doesn't come included on macs anymore.
lee676
Original Author
12 years ago
Most Windows PCs don't ship with Flash installed either, but it's a free download for Windows, Mac, or Linux at adobe.com. It will never be available for the iPad though (Steve Jobs hated it), and it has proven difficult to implement on Android as well. Most software developers took that as a cue to move away from Flash, usually to HTML5 or other open standards, since they want their apps to work on tablets and smartphones.
lee676
Original Author
9 years ago
Well it's two years later and they now have an iPad version available. It still looks appealing - I mean you can take a picture with your tablet or phone, and with just a little help will figure out all your room dimensions, window placements, and the like rather than having to draw up everything from scratch. And great-looking visualizations. Anyone here use it? Is there something of this sort that's better?