6 Best Free Room Design & Floorplan Software – Moving.com

Moving into a new home and not sure how and where to place your things? Interested in redecorating but have no idea where to start? We feel you. Fortunately, there are lots of room planning tools that can help take the guesswork out of the task, including quite a few that are totally free to use. So before you splurge on a pricey app, check out our list of the best free room design software tools and get to work solving the puzzle of how to arrange the rooms in your home.

What is room design software?

Before we start breaking down the best of the free room design software apps, let’s first go over how these type of tools work in the first place.

Most virtual room planning software tools function by allowing you to create a dimensionally-accurate digital layout of your space which you can then use to test out different ideas, such as how you should arrange your furniture or what direction you should go in with décor. You can also play around with details like flooring, paint colors, and lighting.

Think of room design software as a DIY interior design tool for optimizing individual rooms or even your entire house. The best free room design software apps are super simple to use once you get the hang of them, and because there’s no cost to you, they’re definitely worth trying out first before investing in a more costly measure.

Quality counts when it comes to room planning. With that in mind, here are our picks for the top free room design software options, with a variety of tools that can help you make the most of your space (without costing an arm and a leg).

1. Floorplanner
   

   This purely online tool doesn’t require any downloading and can be used on any device, including Macs, PCs, and tablets. As the name suggests, its main purpose is as a floor planning tool, but it also excels in helping you play around with various interior decorating options. Work in both 2D and 3D layouts, and easily share your ideas with others if you’re looking for input or collaboration.

   Try it out: Floorplanner.com

2. Roomstyler
   

   If you’re in need of a no-fuss free room design software tool, then check out Roomstyler (run by Floorplanner, but a separate site). This 3D planning app works on all devices, and may just be as easy as it gets. Draw your room from scratch or choose from predesigned templates of the most standard room shapes which you can then quickly alter to your specific dimensions. From there, you can pick out everything from your floors to your furniture using popular items from around the web for a complete interior design solution all in one place. You can also create moodboards to guide your decisions later on.

   Try it out: Roomstyler.com

3. Planner 5D
   

   We’re big fans of Planner 5D’s user-friendly interface, which allows you to create and visual room layouts and design ideas with a minimal learning curve. Work (and effortlessly switch between) both 2D and 3D models of your home, and use the existing product gallery of more than 5,000 items to conceptualize the types of interior décor you want to incorporate in the space. Like the other picks on this list, Planner 5D is available on all types of devices and can be synced up in case you want to work on your plans on the go instead of just on your computer.

   Try it out: Planner5D.com

4. Sweet Home 3D
   

   Create 2D floorplans with the precise dimensions of your space, then fill it with furniture and view it in 3D for a more comprehensive look at how your layout will appear. One feature we really like with Sweet Home 3D is the ability to make your 3D rooms look as photorealistic as possible. You’ll be able to customize both interior lighting and sunlight so that you can see what the space will look like depending on where you live and what time of day it is.

   Try it out: SweetHome3D.com

5. SketchUp
   

   SketchUp is 3D room design software that’s built for collaboration. Build, visualize, and share your room planning ideas, and keep sustainability in mind with features that include the ability to analyze energy use, sunlight, and even HVAC system sizing for your space. The free trial only lasts for 30 days after which you’ll have to pay for a package if you want to keep using it. However, if you just want to sketch out some ideas before arranging your home, the trial should be all that you need.

   Try it out: SketchUp.com

6. HomeByMe
   

   Go room by room in your home and build out floorplans and style choices, with the ability to select and place furniture from some of the leading retailers, including Pottery Barn, Wayfair, and Restoration Hardware. Once you’ve nailed down the details in your 2D plan, turn your ideas into HD images that will help you get a feel for exactly what your room will look like. And while you’re there, be sure to peruse the HomeByMe community pages, which have tons of room design inspiration from other users.

   Try it out: Home.By.Me

Quick and helpful room design tips

Room design software can be a huge help when you’re figuring out exactly how you want to style your space. However, to really make the most of it, you’ll want to have some layout basics down so that you can navigate the features and create a well-crafted room—after all, the whole point of using free room design software in the first place is to create rooms that look professionally designed but without the professional help.

Here are some basic room design tips to follow as you work within the apps:

• • Consider traffic patterns – Just as crucial as making sure that everything fits together in a cohesive manner is making sure that there’s room to move about your space. We tend to choose the shortest routes when moving from room to room, so design your rooms in a way that allows for intuitive movement and doesn’t place any obstacles in the way of natural flow.
  • Allow areas of unused space – Similar to in paintings and photography, interior design requires unused space (also called negative space) for balance. Don’t feel like you need to fill up every available square foot in the room—sometimes the function of an area is simply to have no function at all.
  • Use feng shui principles – Look to the principles of feng shui for ideas on how to arrange your space. This ancient Chinese practice is all about balance, and will provide you with plenty of insight into how to lay out your furniture, how to work with texture and color, and how to design a room that exudes comfort and warmth.
  • Include a focal point – All well-designed rooms include a focal point. Think about where the eye will be drawn in a room and then arrange around it. It could be a picture window or fireplace, or it could be a piece of furniture. Whatever your focal point, let that be the guiding force as you work with your room design software and fine tune all of the details in a space.
  • Don’t neglect lighting – Lighting has a huge impact on the overall look and feel of a room. Use these free room design software tools to play around with different lighting choices, accounting for all three of the main types of lighting within a room: ambient lighting, task lighting, and accent lighting. Take a look at our guide on how to choose lighting for additional tips on selecting and layering light fixtures within your home.
  • Use rugs to anchor furniture – Rugs do more than provide comfort. A well-placed rug helps divide your space visually and functionally, and provides borders within which to arrange your furniture. As such, you may want to lay rugs first when working with your 2D and 3D room designs to anchor everything that’s to come. Rugs are particularly useful for when you’re designing a small room that you want to make feel bigger.

We recommend testing out a few of the free room design software options mentioned above so that you can figure out which best suits your needs and which has an interface that you most enjoy working with. These tools can be immensely helpful in narrowing down your options and determining the best layouts and design details in your home, and they’re a whole lot easier than constantly arranging and re-arranging your furniture.