Long gone are the days when architecture and interior design were limited to sketchbooks and physical floor plans.
Homebuyers, renters, and interior design professionals are using digital resources more and more to get a better picture of what they’re working with. Having the ability to see and plan out space through an online room layout planner site before having your contractor implement the plan cuts back the need for a million questions and is a lifesaver for designers who like to plan ahead and at home.
With everything in our living spaces shifting and moving to accommodate remote work options, smart home devices, and a growing open concept, with our spaces pulling double and triple duty, having an online tool for planning a room is practically a necessity these days. Planning a studio apartment? Starting a major home renovation project? These online tools are completely changing the way that we view modern interior architecture.
The Evolution of Digital Space Planning
With a simple and no-fuss design platform right at the average user’s fingertips, space planning is all too easy and accessible in today’s day and age. Floor planning was once something that required the input of a professional draftsman or an expensive talk with an architect. Now, it’s easier than ever to see just how well your Ikea furniture will fit within the confines of your space.
A great online room layout planner is offering users some truly valuable features:
- Ability to play around with 2D and 3D room dimensions
- Space for users to try a variety of furniture arrangements to find what works best in the space
- The possibility of playing with lighting options and decorations
- Finesse and dial in the optimal layout design that works best for how the space will be used and the home layout.
This rise in user-friendly planning is actually a reflection of what’s going on in the industry at large. Even architects are starting to use architectural design software to nail down the heavy-lifting part of the project so they can wow their clients with their colourful drawings and let the software manage the data.
Space Planning’s Growing Significance
Today’s living and working spaces have to be versatile. Living rooms need to be offices. Kitchens are social gathering places for guests and meal prep locations. Sometimes, a cozy workspace niche needs to be carved out of a bedroom. Without any indoor-outdoor sketch flowing along your walls or floor plan layout apps, all of these elements can quickly start to spill over.
Having looked at and designed a variety of urban floor plans and industrial design plans, we can tell you that a few different things start to happen, and all of them are addressed by simple online space planning:
1. Functional room layout and flow
Good walking patterns make life that much easier. Having the living room flow smoothly into the large dining room and then that one dining room flow into the bar might make for a good time for one party for the night. But it’s never convenient any other time. Right?
2. Leverage Square Footage
In city floor plans, every centimetre can count. Even in single-floor home plans in suburban areas with a little more elbow room, expanding your usage of the space within your four walls and seeing your furniture in a virtual 3D plan is incredibly helpful for making sure that you’re making the most of the space.
3. Storage Integration
If you need to make room for extra storage, the time to do so is when you’re making your initial design plans. Once the space is built out or the pieces are in place, your floor plans inside homes have either worked or they haven’t.
4. Energy Efficiency + Lighting Layout
In some energy-efficient and sustainable architectural practice circles, the elements of good indoor-outdoor flow and a well-designed ventilation and lighting design that brings the outdoors in, too, might be appreciated and expected on some urban development models and not come across in other flat design indoor floor plans.
Inside Interior Design + Home Tech Integration
As we add more technology, smart devices, and robotic systems to our homes, we also have to consider the plans for living spaces and where to put additional wiring. 3D models allow us to see where we can incorporate those in-wall lighting control switches, in-ceiling sensors, built-in touch panels, and more.
Take voice assistants, for example. They are relatively inexpensive and can be retrofitted into any room, but work optimally when you can put them in the most convenient location. Getting ahead of the plan allows you to have them pre-installed and hardwired to where they are out of sight, and you avoid having to fish a wire down the wall afterwards.
