Placing Objects on Shelves


Reference Number: KB-01047
Last Modified: July 23, 2021

The information in this article appliesto:

Home Designer Professional or Home Designer Architectural or HomeDesigner Suite



QUESTION

I would like to place objects on top of the shelves in my Home Designer plan. How can I accomplish this?



ANSWER

Decorative items can be arranged inside of cabinetry and on shelving in a few easy steps. To accurately place objects onto shelves, you may find that a combination of moving them in your 2D floor plan view as well as in a 3D Camera view will best achieve the results that you want.


To move objects on to Shelves

  1. If you have not placed shelves in the plan, select Build> Cabinet> Shelf  from the menu, then click in the drawing area to place a shelf at that location. 

    A selection of shelf objects is also available in the Library Browser at Home Designer Core Catalogs> Interiors> Furniture> Storage Furniture> Shelving. 

  2. Select View> Library Browser , browse to an accessory item that you would like to place on the shelving, and select it.

    • For the purposes of our example, we selected some accessories including bottles and a soap dish.


  3. Click in an empty space in your drawing space either on or near the shelves you will be placing the item on.

    • If you have only one shelf at that location, accessory objects will locate the shelf and rest on top; however, if you have more than one shelf at that location or if you want to place objects inside of a furniture object or a cabinet, it's often easiest to place the objects nearby and then adjust their heights and positions.


  4. Create an Elevation  view that shows you accessories and the furniture that they will be placed on, and select the object that you want to move.
    The Cross Section/Elevation camera tool is not available in Home Designer Interiors.  Instead, use a standard Full Camera  view in this version. 


  5. In the Elevation or Camera view, move each object to the desired height, using the same steps described above for precisely positioning objects in floor plan view. 


     

    The positions of these items can be adjusted to the left or to right in this view, as well.




  6. You can also specify an object's Floor to Bottom height, which is its height above the floor in its specification dialog. 

     

    You can easily determine the value to specify for the Floor to Bottom value for the object to be placed on the shelf by adding the height of the shelf and its thickness together.


  7. When the objects are at the correct heights, return to floor plan view and use the Select Objects  tool to select and make any needed adjustments to their positions.
     
    • Hold down the Control key down on your keyboard to override any movement restrictions, and place your cursor over the Move   edit handle at the center of the selected object.
      If working on a Mac hold down the Command key to allow for free movement.

    • If you move an object into the center of a furniture or cabinet object, or underneath a shelf, it will not be visible in floor plan view  when it is no longer selected.

      You can also hold down the Shift key on the keyboard and click on several items to select a group of objects.

      Groups of objects can also be selected by holding down either the Shift or Ctrl key when the Select Objects tool is active and then dragging a marquee around the objects to be selected.