Nah, I do things the old-fashioned way (using the internet). ;)

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.

My suggestions as a tech guy & TKO type: Better Homes & Gardens Home Designer for designing spaces. It has a small learning curve and costs money, but it's flexible enough and more user friendly than other options. Pinterest.com to manage ideas / inspirations / products. Addicting. Simple. Genius. Excel Spreadsheets can not be beat for managing other information. A tab for vendor contacts and notes, a tab for budget, a tab for appliance comparison shopping, etc.

hahaha mushcreek. I can relate as I used to do paper sculpture. I suppose I could do a scaled model of my house. Hmm, maybe I should? Nah! Lindsy, I did use my computer program (photoshop) to sketch up what I wanted at first. I didn't work with an architect which is probably why it took me so long. I worked with a draftsman. Big Mistake! If I had it to do over, I would have brought my ideas to an architect. This is the very first sketch I brought the draftsman. Notice I didn't really concern myself with actual sizes etc but only with an overall general feel of which rooms I wanted where. For example, I knew the garage had to be where it was and I was required to have the front door on the other street (it's a corner lot). I also knew I wanted a "courtyard feel to my back yard and I wanted my kitchen near my garage. I also knew I wanted the master, DH's study (labeled den) and the great room to open to the yard. The problem was as some here alluded to, was that he then got stuck on the idea of the stairway where I had it, etc. He couldn't visualize anything on his own. I have a design background, so wound up designing it completely by myself WITH the help of the folks and especially with the help of the architects on this forum. And this is what we wound up with: