Room designer app / website for custom built-ins

5 years ago

We're going to hire someone to put in some built-in shelving / storage in our entryway and thought it would be helpful to see some 3D images and play around with it a bit so we don't end up going back and forth with the contractor too much. Any good sites for this? I tried homedesigner and spent a good deal of time creating the floorplan before realizing that their furniture catalog is (mainly) limited to name brand products (i.e. not what we're looking to do). Any suggestions for a site that will have, like, "generic wall shelving" or "generic desk area" that I can then modify instead of Pottery Barn yadda yadda?

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Comments (5)

PRO
JAN MOYER
5 years ago
A good cabinet maker/ custom wood worker and a drawing and elevation is all you need. Stop surfing. Unless it is to provide him with the look and feel of the final result you desire. ....

Google mud entry storage if that is the issue and it will be replete with photos. As will Houzz. .

If storage is the issue, consider a good kitchen cabinet shop as well.
PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
5 years ago
I sure hope you mean cabinet maker not your contractor is making and installing these. As mentioned the cabinet maker will give you drawings of what it will look like. Is this a mud room, a main entry ?
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sam_ny
Original Author
5 years ago
PC - Yes, of course. I guess I meant 'the cabinet maker I will contract to do this job' vs. what most people think of as "contractor" (ie a GC).

It's more complex than a mud room...actually more like a long foyer (14' x 7') and the wall will incorporate a desk area, piano, wall shelves and cabinets.

Anyway, maybe you're both right that I should just pick out a cabinet maker and see where it goes. I guess I'm just worried that without a better idea what we're after, a designer / cabinet maker is going to get irritated if we present the space, needs, and look we're after, but then after seeing the design realize some flaw that really is only obvious from looking at a picture. Also, for what it's worth, it's nice to have 3D renderings so you can see what it looks like from different vantages, etc. and not ever cabinet maker works things up in sketch-up or whatever...

Still interested in any suggestions to the original question re. apps....
PRO
JAN MOYER
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago

When you try to have everything, you end up with NADA.There is no app that will make that look good. An upright piano is 63 inches . ( little over 5 ' of your available space ) . A useful desk isn't less than 48 to 60 inches. . Buy a tall cabinet, put the desk to one side, and the piano to another . A waste of money to "build" anything. Better yet, get an interior designer to evaluate all the possibilities in your home. For storage, desk area, piano....etc.

Or go one step further, draw the space, measure it accurately.........and post a photo.Otherwise, from the sound of it, app or no app, the road to a great result isn't looking great from here : ) Sorry.
sam_ny
Original Author
last year
Many-years-after follow-up:

We postponed this project because of the pandemic, but then recently started it up again. In the meantime, our 12-year-old daughter learned Sketchup through her architecture classes (!). We had some basic ideas and were able, with her help, to play around a little bit with the design and see what it would look like in 3D. It was extremely helpful to have the ability "in house" to explore designs and get a feel for how it would impact the space.

Our cabinet maker DID have some helpful feedback and we made some changes together with him. His detailed renderings were very useful, but I can't imagine how long the process would have taken if we didn't start with a partially-formed plan before going to him. I think lots of back-and-forth on design ideas would have driven him crazy and we, as a result, might have settled for something short of a final draft. I'm pleased to report that our final design does accomplish all of our goals and we're very happy with it.

After our positive experience, I wanted to return here and recommend Sketchup to others who may want to mock-up ideas for themselves and don't have the budget for a designer. It may seem daunting (and doesn't come with a kid to learn it for you), but having now seen it in action, I think most people who have ever used a drawing program can learn the basics. And then you can supplement with pictures from the internet. I would especially recommend this approach to people (like us) living in small, urban spaces who need to think carefully about every detail. Buying pre-fab cabinets would not have made best use of the space and "Googling mud room" would have yielded ideas great for someone's suburban house, but wouldn't work for a family trying to make the best of 1,100 sq. ft in NYC. Sketchup, of course, doesn't substitute for a professional who's good at thinking about spaces, but in our case, it did help us work through some design challenges on our own.

Thanks again to those who responded to my original post! Hope this is useful to someone.

Room designer app / website for custom built-ins

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JAN MOYER

Patricia Colwell Consulting

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Room designer app / website for custom built-ins

Comments (5)

JAN MOYER

Patricia Colwell Consulting

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sam_nyOriginal Author

JAN MOYER

sam_nyOriginal Author

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sam_ny
Original Author

sam_ny
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