The good life can be wherever you decide to make it

February 13, 2009 9:48 AM

I would like to build a house . . . just for fun . . . on paper or online.

I can't make my dreams a reality, so I thought I'd at least have some fun with the ideas bouncing around in my head. Is there a website or program (free!) that I could use to create my dream house?

posted by Sassyfras to home & garden (6 comments total)

Google's SketchUp perhaps
posted by hungrysquirrels at 9:50 AM on February 13

Having just modeled my actual house in SketchUp to plan for some additions I can heartily recommend it. Mefi mail me if you have any questions. It's a very nifty piece of software.
posted by odinsdream at 10:28 AM on February 13

Seconding Sketchup. It's incredibly intuitive, even if you have no experience with 3D design programs. I used it for an assignment in computer class a few years ago, and built a reasonably complex model in just a few sessions. It has doubtless only improved in its capabilities since then.

One caveat is that it's not explicitly meant for home design, and doesn't come with many of the tools and templates more focused programs offer. So it's great if you want to play around with unusual architecture, less so if you want to try out different types of furniture or model crown molding or do some virtual landscaping.
posted by Rhaomi at 10:29 AM on February 13

a lot of people find it really, really fun to build houses in The Sims 2. It will set you back around $30 though. some examples here: http://modthesims2.com/browse.php?f=143
posted by Xianny at 10:33 AM on February 13

FloorPlanner
posted by mattbucher at 11:10 AM on February 13

Try www.mydeco.com - it lets you create room plans, and furnish them. I spent some time playing with it a couple of weeks ago (prior to writing an article about it) and it's fairly powerful, easy to use, and good fun.
posted by WPW at 12:36 PM on February 13