Home Designer 2024

Home Designer 2024 is now available! Whether you have a PC or Mac, a single license will run natively on either platform. Scroll down the page to learn more about the new features in Home Designer 2024.

Front elevation view of green and grey farmhouse

Purchase Options

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Home Designer 2024 New Features Summary

Detailed Features List (PDF)

Presentation Features


House Elevation show depth cue and new Home Designer 2024 features
Exterior render showing procedural grass, sun and moon control in 3D, and other sky and horizon features new in Home Designer 2024
3D Dollhouse top down view with multiple floors

Building-Construction Features


House with exposed framing with roof trusses, dormer and skylights

Productivity Features


3D deck rendering with exposed deck framing and materials list framing listing new Home Designer 2024 features

Drafting & Project Management Features


Powder room and bathroom floor plan with a wall elevation listing new Home Designer 2024 features

Visualization Features


Use VR Headsets to experience home designs virtually

Product Feature Comparison


Home Designer Suite Home Designer Architectural Home Designer Professional
+ New Feature
-- Not Included

Display Coordinate Axes. Show the XYZ axes indicator and the project origin location in 2D and 3D views. Use toolbar toggles to display the Axis style and Origin Indicator.

+ + +

Room Size. Reference room information like dimensions, perimeter, area, and volume from the Room Specification Dialog.

+ + +

Virtual Reality. Leverage HTC VIVE and Oculus Rift Virtual Reality Headsets to view your Chief Architect Designs. In addition to experiencing the 360° area of a scene, teleport from point to point in a model to experience multiple virtual spaces. Choose to view your models in VR from a First‑Person orientation or from and Overhead view; interact with each view type to experience the details of your design.

+ + +

3D Overview Floor Levels. Show multiple floors when creating 3D dollhouse views.

+ + +

Sky Model. Control settings for the sun, moon, horizon and their impact on a scene's lighting from within the camera's specification dialog.

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Artificial Terrain. Use the Extend Terrain to Horizon feature in the Camera Specification dialog to display the ground in 3D beyond the boundaries of the plan view's terrain perimeter.

+ + +

Procedural Grass Areas. Use Grass Region tools to create areas that simulate 3D grass; specify the length, density, color, and other parameters to achieve more natural‑looking grass in your scenes.

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Focal Blur. Turn ON Depth of Field in perspective views; set focal points using the camera tools and set the intensity of the blur with F‑Stop settings.

+ + +

Depth Cueing. Assign a 'foggy' or shaded effect to areas that are a specified distance from the camera to differentiate the foreground from the background of a scene. Define gradient values to control the intensity range of Depth Cueing.

+ + +

Opaque Glass Color. Specify the color used for glass in Rendering Techniques where Opaque Glass is an option.

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Control Materials List Formatting. Use defaults to control fonts and table styles for Materials Lists and Reports.

Limited Limited +

Replace Fonts. Use the Replace Fonts tool to substitute font types throughout your plan.

+ + +

Hyperlinks in Rich Text. Embed hyperlinks in text objects; open the URL path using CTRL + click.

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Attach Electrical to Partitions. Electrical objects like outlets and switches will snap to cabinet partitions in addition to cabinets.

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Control Cabinet Hardware. Use the Center option to adjust cabinet drawer hardware location, also specify cases where two knobs will be used.

+ + +

Control Partition Toe Kick. Choose to include or exclude a toe kick on cabinet partitions.

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Door Size Controls. Define doors smaller than the doorway opening, perfect for shower and saloon‑style door installations.

+ + +

Library Browser. Use various filter tools based on User-Defined Tags, Object Properties and Types, and Favorites to find and manage objects in the Library Browser.

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Search Online for Available Catalogs. Use the search tools inside Chief Architect's Library Browser to discover and download content from the 3D Library.

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Update Catalogs on Demand. Reference a catalog's library browser icon to determine if an update is available. Use the context menu to update selected catalogs or use the Update Library Catalogs command to update all at once.

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Unified Symbol Specification. Merged controls to manage imported 3D Symbol data and general specification options are accessible in a single dialog box.

Limited Limited +

Offset Railings. Control post, newel, and railing locations; extend posts and and balusters below floor platform.

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Radius Controls for Stairs. Input exact values for arcs in curved stairs.

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Toggle Between Flat and Vaulted Ceiling. Use an edit tool to quickly change a room's ceiling type from flat to vaulted.

+ + +

Skylights. Accurately define the size of skylights through the specification dialog. Set up skylight defaults to standard dimensions. Edit skylight shape using the skylight detail view tool.

Limited Limited +

Ridge Framing Control. Choose whether a ridge is automatically generated with a check box to turn it ON or OFF.

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Automatically Build Trusses. Set up your defaults and use parametric features to automatically add floor and roof trusses to your design when you build framing.

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End Truss Control. Specify whether an end truss will be generated over a wall in the Wall's Structure Specification.

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