• On UrbanBaby: Is it OK to breastfeed in public?
August 16, 2007 5:01 PM PDT

Floor Planner helps to plan your pad

by Elsa Wenzel
  • Font size
  • Print
  • 5 comments

Whether you custom order a sleek, suede couch or drag in a ratty, plaid one found on Craigslist, planning where to put it can be a pain. Floor Planner can help. This site from Dutch designers enables you to arrange what you have in your own flat or conjure up a dream home.

Add your home's measurements, maybe a background picture, and topic tags to help other users find your plan (or keep it to yourself), and you're ready to drag and drop sofas, plants, tables, countertops, and so on into your rooms. You get one plan for free, just enough to mock up an apartment. Should you become addicted--or need this tool for work--pricing ranges from $29 per year for five projects with the Plus account, up to $1,140 annually for an enterprise business. The animated how-to was pretty helpful for getting started, but I wish it had audio narration. Luckily, the site worked equally well in both IE and Firefox.

You can add textures, such as the grain of a hardwood floor or red velvet couch upholstery. You can even drop in a pinball machine, if it fits (you had to visit the basement of my childhood home to play ours). In addition to figuring out how to squeeze in our furniture, we need tools to help maximize the energy efficiency, available natural light, and indoor air quality where we live--such as a MyAbodo for grownups mixed with power sensors and software, such as Agile Waves's Resource Monitor or the Lucid Group's Building Dashboard.

Floor Planner is fun and easy overall, despite minor irritations, such as the inability to use shortcut keys; for instance, CTRL-Z to undo, or the delete button. Unfortunately, this service sent my username and password in a clear text e-mail.

My entomologist grandfather would use insect pins to map out his next furniture arrangement before moving. I prefer that concrete approach, having a model in hand, to the flat design enabled by a Web page. I'll probably be able to print a model of my home from some tool such as Floor Planner someday, once 3D printers become common appliances. For now, it would be cool if Floor Planner let you print and bend the plans into diorama-ready models, sort of like Paper Critters (also built using Papervision 3D open source software) boxy toys.

With Floor Planner, you can design a cozy, cool abode that fits your furniture.

With Floor Planner, you can design a cozy, cool abode that fits your furniture.

Add a Comment (Log in or register) (5 Comments)
  • prev
  • 1
  • next
by rockboybond January 3, 2008 9:53 PM PST
personal design
Reply to this comment
by programlar January 5, 2008 5:00 PM PST
Floor Planner is fun and easy overall, despite minor irritations, such as the inability to use shortcut keys; for instance, CTRL-Z to undo, or the delete button. Unfortunately, this service sent my username and password in a clear text e-mail.
http://www.new-software.org http://www.turk3.org
Reply to this comment
by sonsuznet May 16, 2009 8:30 AM PDT
thanks nice text
http://www.programlar1.com
Reply to this comment
by sonsuznet May 16, 2009 8:31 AM PDT
Thankss
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.programlar1.com" target="_newWindow">programlar</a>
Reply to this comment
by seo28 June 6, 2009 3:26 AM PDT
thanks.....
http://www.beymod.com.tr
Reply to this comment
(5 Comments)
  • prev
  • 1
  • next
advertisement

About Webware

Say No to boxed software! The future of applications is online delivery and access. Software is passé. Webware is the new way to get things done.

Add this feed to your online news reader

Webware topics

13 games for newer iPhones

So you've got an old iPhone or iPod and want to see what some of the latest games are doing with the newer hardware? We've checked out 11 titles to show you the differences.
• Images: Old vs. new

Intel to pay AMD $1.25B in settlement

Antitrust and intellectual property fights come to an end for now. AMD will drop pending litigation, and Intel will "abide by" a long list of prohibitions.
• AMD: Our claims are 'ratified'

Inside CNET News

Scroll Left Scroll Right