SketchUp was originally developed by @ Last Software of Boulder CO in 2000. It was bought by Google in 2006 and bought by Trimble Navigation in 2012. I've owned and used it since 2002. Its by far the best 3D sketching tool and the basic version its free but you have to tell it what you want like any other professional design tool.

Benjamin Moore website lets you upload a photo of your house and try out colors.

I am pleased with the quality of work they do at https://yousee.studio/ for apartment and home designs. They provided me with several design options and I chose the one that best suited my needs. Their 3D images were very convincing and I couldn't believe how realistic everything looked. They were professional and friendly in their communication, and I was very happy with the result.

Why do you think it is taking longer? TLDR: See millworkman's comment - It really goes back to economies of scale, all things being equal, your house is less attractive to a sub-contractor, than someone who represents continued work. This is an absolute certainty and there are largely three ways to combat this. Hire someone who the sub will see as an opportunity for continued work to represent you (that is usually a G.C.), or pay more money so that the sub sees your job as more attractive, or find someone that has limited opportunities to work with G.C.'s (this can either be someone who does high quality work at a high price or low quality work for a mid price). Without one of those three things happening you need to anticipate delays. It is possible that your build will happen without any sub-contractor delays, however in most of the U.S. right now, that would be the exception and not the rule. Note: only a few years ago the situation was quite different so be wary of stories where everything went right a few years ago. Those delays can and do add cost, and you should anticipate their arrival and work to minimize their impact. ----- The most important thing about self contracting a project, is being honest with yourself about your abilities. That supposed savings is seductive, yet for most people it doesn't materialize, and not because it wasn't available, simply because those people were chasing savings over creating savings. The things that create savings for self-G.C.ing homes are actually the exact same things that would lead to some success as a contractor were you to enter that business. For example, a large part of G.C.ing is managing your time and schedule well, if you are excellent at managing time and scheduling, then you may create value, and if you were a G.C. that would be a viable pathway to value creation for clients. Or maybe you or your spouse are incredibly talented with construction, having done it for years, or maybe you are incredible at visualization and design so you can communicate and achieve your design efficiently. With all of these things, you are still going to encounter the economies of scale problem, but may still create some savings because of your skill set. However, most people want the savings without any efficiencies to create savings, and attempt to simply cut out a step in the value chain. That rarely works. G.C.'s create value, denying that value is a foolish move. Working to substitute your value for theirs might pay off, and it might not. But either way, they are earned savings and not simply avoided costs.