Using the Space Planning Assistant in Home Designer


Reference Number: KB-00121
Last Modified: August 16, 2021

The information in this article appliesto:

Home Designer Professional or Home Designer Architectural or HomeDesigner Suite



QUESTION

How do I use the Space Planning Assistant to plan the layout of a new home?


ANSWER

The Space Planning Assistant allows you to start a new floor plan by creating and arranging 2D room boxes. Once the boxes are laid out, the Build House tool will convert them to walls and rooms that can be edited and detailed to completion.


To use the Space Planning Assistant

  1. Start with a New Plan  and select Tools> Space Planning> Space Planning  from the menu to open the Space Planning Assistant.

    Welcome screen of the Space Planning Assistant


  2. The Assistant will prompt you to enter the number of floors you want, the garage properties, as well the type of rooms you'd like for each floor level.

    Note: Each bedroom defined in the Space Planning Assistant will also produce a closet.

  3. After selecting Finish in the Assistant, individual room boxes will appear on each floor level based upon the properties you've specified.

    Space Planning rooms generated in the plan



  4. If additional rooms need to be added, select Tools> Space Planning  from the menu, select the room type you'd like to add, then click in the plan to place it.

    To delete a room, select it using the Select Objects  tool, then click the Delete  edit button or press the Delete button on the keyboard.


  5. Once all of the rooms you need for your home are on the plan, they can be moved and resized to your liking.

    To move a room, select it using the Select Objects  tool, then use the square Move  edit handle that displays in the middle to move it to the desired location. To resize a room, click on one of the side edit handles and drag it to enlarge or reduce the size.

    Note: Try and place rooms so their sides are just barely touching. Small gaps or overlaps are okay. Placing a smaller room inside of a larger room is also acceptable as long as the smaller room is sharing at least one edge with the larger room it's contained within. If two rooms overlap, the smaller of the two will take its space from the larger room.

    Space Planning rooms that have been moved and resized


  6. After the rooms are positioned and correctly sized, select Tools> Space Planning> Build House  on each floor level. The room boxes will be converted into walls and rooms, and doors will be created. If Auto Rebuild Roofs is enabled, automatic roof planes will also generate.

    Walls, rooms, and doors have been generated



  7. Select 3D> Create Camera View> Doll House View  to see the results.

    In Home Designer Pro, select 3D> Create Perspective View> Doll House View  instead.

    Doll House view of the structure


  8. Additional modifications can now be made to the generated walls, doors, and rooms. You can also add additional room boxes at anytime, then perform step 6 again to generate additional walls, doors, and rooms in the plan.