How to Choose the Best Floor Plan Software and App for Accurate 3D Home Design

A dream home is more than just walls, doors, and a ceiling. It is an extension of your personality and lifestyle. It is a place where aesthetics and functionality should be in perfect sync to offer you comfort and pride in ownership. Whether you are building a new home from scratch or remodeling your existing home, designing it involves a lot of planning. When you plan to design a home or work on a floor plan in today’s day and age, you aren’t going to pick up pencils and a ruler? In today’s tech-driven age, floor plan software lets everyone from architects to the average homeowner work on floor plans. Its fast and its easy.

A floor plan app provides you with a lot of creative freedom to work around the available space. You can try different floor plans and design options to find one that best suits your functionality needs and lifestyle aspirations. However, with hundreds of software and apps available, each boasting unique features, choosing one is easier said than done. Try a Google search for floor plan software, and you will be overwhelmed by the sheer number of options available. How do you navigate through this “choice of plenty” and find the floor plan app that is best suited for your goals? Let’s find out -

Know Your Needs

If you start comparing the specs and features of the software, chances are you may end up with a complicated tool that pushes you through a steep learning curve, though you may have a few added features. If you are an architect, interior designer, or real estate developer, you might require advanced tools to address the challenges of big projects. However, if you are a homeowner undertaking a once-in-a-lifetime project, ease of use and flexibility should be the key features you look for in a tool. Hence, you must start by defining your goals, which will help you narrow down your choices. 

Mobile-Ready Tool

CAD tools have been in use for home floor plan designs for more than two decades. These computer-based tools are great for professionals who have to prepare floor plans stretching tens of thousands of square feet. These tools have advanced features, but most of them work in a desktop/laptop-only environment. However, these tools aren’t the best choice for homeowners in a mobile-first world. You need a tool that you can carry in your pocket and one that allows you to create floor plans on the move. Floor plan apps are a good fit for not only homeowners but professional architects and interior designers as they allow users to generate a floor plan in minutes without having to navigate complex features and specs. 

Key Features to Look for in Floor Plan Software

Now that we have covered the very basics that should be your starting point for choosing the best floor plan software, let us now turn our attention to the essential features you must focus on. Here are the features that a floor plan app must have to help you design floor plans and give you the comfort and space management options you need - 

• 2D & 3D Visualization – Your app must let you create both 2D floor plans and realistic 3D visualizations. Switching between these views can help you better understand space, depth, and layout. With 2D plans, you can easily judge a space, while the 3D visualization offers you a more immersive experience and detailed perspective.
• Accurate Measurements - Measurement is non-negotiable in any home design. Getting the dimensions wrong by a few inches can turn into a nightmare during construction or interior design. Make sure the app you choose offers exact input of dimensions to ensure flawless construction.
• Scan and Design Feature - Modern apps offer LiDAR-based scanning and AI-powered floor plan generation. It can drastically reduce the time and effort needed to map out existing spaces. With this feature, you don’t need to input manual measurements and can generate accurate measurements of any space by simply scanning it with our LiDAR-powered phone or tablet.
• Furniture Placement – A room isn’t just the walls, doors, and windows. It will have to accommodate furniture when you move in. Opt for a floor plan software that allows you to experiment with different furniture placements and interior styles, maximizing space utilization.
• Export Options – Creating a floor plan is only the start of the process. You need to share it with others, like construction contractors, interior designers, and architects, to turn your plan into a functional home. The software you choose should allow you to export the plans in different formats, editable on popular design tools like ArchiCAD and Blender.
• Desktop Editable Files – The expert files must be editable on desktop on other CAD software. This editing feature allows you to fine-tune your floor plans and accommodate any afterthought or inspiration you have after generating your original floor plan.

The best floor plan software must tick all these boxes and allow you to create floor plans without investing in expensive hardware or software. At Room Scanner, we are proud to introduce our cutting-edge floor plan software that has all these features and much more. With our app installed on your iPhone Pro or iPad Pro, you can walk through a room and generate a 2D or 3D floor plan in minutes.

The software is designed to offer instant and accurate plans that allow you to turn your dreams into reality. We cater to the needs of homeowners, architects, construction contractors, and other professionals. You can design on the go and share immersive 3D walkthroughs in real time for collaboration and better project management.

Download Room Scanner today and see the difference we can make to your room design project. The possibilities are limitless with Room Scanner. Try it now!