When working out what to do with your home, there are lots of different approaches to designing how the finished article will look. Paper, models, textual descriptions – there are lots of different approaches, but if you really want to take things up a notch and enjoy home design made for the 21st century, CAD is where it’s at. In this guide, we take a look at what CAD is, and some of the home design projects it’s best suited to.

What is CAD?

CAD is short for computer-aided design. It is a term for the use of computers and CAD design software to turn 2D digital drawings into 3D models. In using these technologies, CAD designers can work faster and more efficiently, creating and iterating more advanced and effective designs. At the end of the process, the designer can also export a list of components required to produce the design, plus documentation on how it should be build, speeding up production further.

What home projects can use CAD?

There are all sorts of home projects that owners can improve with CAD.

Floor plans

If you’re building your own home, or completely renovating a property, then having a digital, easily editable view of your floor plans can help ensure you know the exact measurements and the space you have to work with. And if you have decided to totally remodel the space you’re working with, you can do that in CAD too, highlighting immovable elements like support joists, pillars, plumbing and electrics, so you can quickly plan the remodel and compare options.

Interior design

There are all manner of ways that CAD is improving the area of interior design, but for home users, the main benefit is to do with furnishings. It can be hard to imagine furniture in your house from the showroom, but mocking up a 3D model in CAD can help you get a scale image of what pieces would look like in your home and how each would interact with other colour schemes and pieces.

Personalised projects

Maybe you’ve got a particularly awkward space in your home that’s tough to design around? Or perhaps you’ve got an idea that just doesn’t seem to be available on the market? CAD design can give you the freedom to create plans for tough and dream DIY projects which would otherwise being complicated to design in a non-digital setting, helping to bring them to life.

Have you ever used CAD in your home design projects? Perhaps you’re on the fence and have a question for other, more CAD-friendly users? Whatever you want to share or know, pop it in the comments section below.