HOME SPECIAL....Useful Tools for Home Redecoration

Useful Tools for Home Redecoration 

Use technology to your advantage before you start your home improvement project. There are several free and easy-to-use tools available for your tablet or computer which will make the job a lot easier.

    Remodelling is never easy. You may choose to involve architects and interior designers to get the look you're after, but there's often a lot of guesswork involved. What colour will look best on the walls, what kind of furniture you can fit into an existing space and which walls should be moved around could be just some of the questions you have. Seeing how it looks like virtually before making any changes will help you make up your mind, reduce the time spent on guesswork and also reduce costs in the long run. Now, thanks to innovative software, you can do just that and without spending a single Rupee either. Play around with various combinations, layouts and once finalised, you can save a hi-res image or PDF file, making it easy to explain what you want.  

WEBSITES
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To create your layout here, you can choose to start from scratch and add everything individually or pick up an existing layout using the wizard to get a layout ready quickly. The site then shows you a 2D layout that is rendered in 3D in the sidebar in a smaller window. The 3D render is refreshed in real-time as you add furniture and decorate it using items from the website’s exhaustive collection. To save the layout as an image, you need to sign-up for a free account.
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Apart from creating a new design or using a predesigned layout, Autodesk’s Homestyler also lets you upload an existing floor plan and then trace it for use online. They offer a vast collection of furniture & fittings from multiple international brands to decorate your layout. You can switch between 2D or 3D layouts with a single click and after completion, you can export images, take high-resolution screenshots or save a 360-degree panorama of the design (free signup required).
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Floorplanner requires a one-time free signup where one project with three floor levels can be created. The interface initially shows a 2D layout where furniture & other elements can be placed and moved using drag and drop. Then, you can choose to view your layout in 3D. Once finished, your layout can be saved as an A3 size image, PDF or shared on Facebook and Twitter. Floorplanner is also available as an iOS app and Google Chrome browser extension.  

DOWNLOADS
G o o gle S k e t c h u p
Available for Windows and Mac OS X, this free Google software lets you create 3D models with 3D terrain images from Google Earth. You can either create a layout from scratch or simply download a layout model from the Sketchup 3D Warehouse. The 3D Warehouse is constantly updated with models of buildings, furniture and so on —all created by other users and shared online. A paid version called Sketchup Pro (US$ 495) adds numerous features for advanced detailing, rendering and high resolution output. Get it from: http://sketchup.google.com APPS
Home Decorator
This free iOS app allows you to see what a different wall colour will look like in your existing room. Just take a photograph of the room from within the app, choose the colour you want and tap the wall to replace the colour with the new one. The app automatically excludes furniture, lights and any other fittings on and around the wall. In case the app colours something by mistake, you can use the eraser tool to remove excess paint. If the app missed a spot on the wall, tap on the area you want painted.
MagicPlan
If you need a floorplan with exact measurements of your rooms, give MagicPlan for iOS a try. It uses the camera and gyroscope built into your iOS device to measure the distance from one point to another — and it does this simply by taking photographs. It then creates a floorplan using the photos, which can be saved as a PDF file, image, html or in the AutoCad design format.
Houzz Interior Design Ideas
The Houzz app takes a different approach — it presents stunning images of interiors and exteriors from across the world, right on your iOS device. You can view photos by style, by room or by a type of product. You can even view designs done by professional architects and then share anything you see on social networks or email. Any image you save automatically gets added to your 'Ideabook' — a sort of digital scrapbook with easy access to your favourite designs.
Design Dimensions
This free Android app is useful for referencing — it includes a constantly updated catalog of common items placed in a house or office (such as chairs, speakers, microwaves, refrigerators and even construction materials like bricks). It shows a 3D illustrations of each item along with average dimensions — this makes it easy to find out if you have enough space to accommodate a new piece of furniture.

Karan Bajaj ET120813