Better Homes and Gardens Home Designer | 
| From: Chief Architect
Category: Software
List Price: $29.99
Buy New: $19.48
You Save: $10.51 (35%)
New (4) from $19.48
Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 4783
Format: Cd-rom
Platforms: Windows Me, Windows 98, Windows Nt, Windows Xp, Windows 2000
Media: CD-ROM
Operating System: Windows NT
Shipping Weight (lbs): 4
Dimensions (in): 9.6 x 8.2 x 2.2
MPN: 045-50
Model: 045500
UPC: 750839012100
EAN: 0750839012100
ASIN: B0006AAOLE
Release Date: November 1, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Brand New! Software CD in DVD case..Not big package with book...Super Fast Shipping !!
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| Features:
| • | Software for home remodeling, design, landscaping, and decking projects | | • | 500 sample home plans; House Wizard for a customized design | | • | Library of over 3,000 items to create a 3D Model in minutes | | • | Automatically generate a materials list for project-cost estimating | | • | Getting Started tutorial; 30+ videos for step-by-step instructions |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Better Homes & Gardens Home Designer makes it easy to concieve and design the dream home you've always wanted. Powerful building tools like automatic roof generation, stairs, decks, framing, CAD, dimensioning, realistic 3D models, and Plan Check makes it easy for anyone. Now you can handle all your remodeling, building and decorating and needs from one simple program. Materials List for project cost estimating Plan Check tool validates the design against standard building principles
Amazon.com
Home Designer is the best home-design software tool for your home remodeling, design, landscaping, and decking projects. Better Homes and Gardens Home Designer combines the leading-edge home design software from Chief Architect with the number-one home and garden publisher Better Homes and Gardens. All products are fully compatible with 3D Home Architect version 4.0 and earlier as well as the Chief Architect professional product line. With Home Designer you can add as much or as little detail to the design as you want--it's fun and easy. Home Designer makes it easy to create your dream home: - * Get started quickly and easily: The "getting started" tutorial will guide you through basic design projects. Watch more than 30 videos for step-by-step instructions. Select from over 1,500 sample home plans or use the House Wizard to design your house.
- * All-in-one home-design solution: create your dream home today with the look and feel before it is built with styles, colors, wallpaper, flooring, and materials.
- * Create your dream home: Design your dream home today with Home Designer. Quickly place and arrange walls, windows, doors, cabinets, choose colors, place furniture, create decks, and landscaping. Design and visualize your home with 3D models and virtual tours--it's easy, it's fun!
- * Choose from design templates: begin your design by choosing from one of six Better Homes and Gardens home-style templates that range from traditional to contemporary, complete with colors, cabinets, and moldings.
- * Powerful home-design software: Enjoy the same building and design tools the professionals use--Home Designer is made for the home enthusiasts. Powerful building tools like automatic roof generation, stairs, decks, framing, CAD, dimensioning, realistic 3D models, and Plan Check makes it easy for anyone.
- * Create floor plans: Select from over 1,500 sample home plans or use the House Wizard to design your house. Open sample plans and customize to your specific needs.
- * Customize designs from the library: Quickly place and arrange walls, windows, doors, cabinets, and architectural objects from a library of over 4,300 items to create a 3D Model in minutes. Use the library content to size your rooms, evaluate traffic flow, and create a visual model of your design.
- * Design tools: Inspire and enhance your designs with the Better Homes and Gardens Design Planning Center. Use Material Painter to create a virtual look and feel of the design before it is built with actual colors, wallpaper, flooring, furniture, windows, and window treatments.
- * Building tools: Complete automatic building tools for roof generation, framing, dimensioning, foundations, and more. Automatically generate a materials list for project-cost estimating. Includes a complete set of CAD (Computer Aided Design) tools to detail designs and Plan Check--automatically validates the design against standard building principles.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
You get what you pay for! June 14, 2006
Meg (Salt Lake City, Utah USA)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
The good news is if you are wanting to design basic ranch type homes or simple two stories with no interior balconies, then this program is for you. It's pretty easy to use if you are patient enough to listen to the tutorials. It gave me a good idea of what my ranch home is going to look like inside.
But it definitely has it's drawbacks. The color palette and furniture is very limited, so don't think you are going to be doing a lot of decorating. The "3-D" views are impossible to control and often give a distorted view of the home. Recording a 3-D walkthrough was a joke. It won't even go through doorways or turn corners without distorting the look of the home. Furthermore, there is not a lot of advice from the help section on this subject. You can't do vaulted ceilings or two story homes with the upstairs looking down over a balcony to the floor below.
The landscaping component of the program is severely limited. There are less than 500 plants to choose from, mostly from the East and mid-West. You cannot customize plant beds, but have to choose from their oval or kidney shaped templates. The fences have no gates and there is no way to create curved walkways.
The exterior of the home looks nothing like what I was trying to achieve. It won't do wainscoating brick or stone and it was hard to create covered porches or decks. The roof is auto generated and does not allow room for modifications.
But the program is only 40 bucks, so you can't really complain too much. If it was a really powerful program, I suspect it would cost a lot more. Bottom line: it's great for simple projects, a good value for the money and it's pretty easy to use. Just don't expect too much out of it.
Better than the last Designer package February 23, 2006
Tom C. (New Mexico)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Colors are not very faithful when painted on walls and have a rather limited palette. I could never find bookcases or adequate fireplaces. The roof is automatically generated so you can't really replicate your own roof,if you are doing a remodel,(unless it's really simple). Viewing tools are ok, measurement tools lack versatility. You can get a floor layout and view the 3D construction rapidly, but it really wasn't adequate to model my rather simple house. It's a good package if you only need to run some simulations to get rough ideas of what things might look like after a remodel.
 Nice for layout... sucky for Design October 24, 2005
D. Hunter (San Diego, CA United States)
7 out of 10 found this review helpful
I had high hopes buying this product... but the more I use it, the more bugs I find and the less I can do. Take for instance today, I am building some built-in bookshelfs in my house and want to try different designs. I spent hours converting soffits into shelves (b/c I could not find a flexible enough component in the program that allows me to build this). Finally after mucking around, I get it... great. Now I want to try different colors on different elements... and it crashes... repeatitively. I now have to scrap all my work. I've also had major issues trying to get my roof created, painting cathedral ceiling & walls. I've used this program for 4 months now... so this is not a one off problem I'm voicing about.
It was a good program for laying out the dimensions of our house including the interior walls. But thats where the simplicity ends. I am a UI designer by trade, and I can definately recommend that this company higher a usabilty expert to review the program. I would also highly recommend much more flexibility in what can be imported (graphics, colors), and what can be created (i.e. non standard furnature).
 Helpful only in designing boxes with roofs July 16, 2005
J. Dunn (Homer, Alaska USA)
4 out of 22 found this review helpful
This product was a horrible waste of my money.
There is no option for log houses, which I find surprising. This is afterall, far from an alternative building style.
It seems as though this product was made for those with little or no creaativity, seeking to create another ugly box like all those that already exist all over the nation.
Don't waste your money!
Lots of work, little reward July 14, 2005
Scooter (New Orleans, LA)
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
I was very anxious to recieve this product. I reviewed various products and this seemed to be the one to buy for the price. At this point I'm not disappointed I bought it, just disappointed at some of the limitations. I was looking to do basic, accurate floor plans, i.e. kitchens. With this product you're forced to design a house and then focus on a specific room. I live in an area where there are alot of raised houses. A raised foundation/house on piers is not an option. I will say that it has a nice selection of finishes, though many of them look too similar to tell a difference. Overall, it's a decent product and not a bad buy.
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