Office Planning Software for Beginners

If you are planning design changes to your office, we all can appreciate the level of detail and amount of time this project can consume. If you are responsible for the initial suggestions and changes to the current physical layout, you might end up overwhelmed by the planning and not know where to even begin the process. It is important before meeting with an Interior Designer or Architect, to have a fairly decent idea of the changes you would like to make. This will make the initial briefing a much smoother and simple activity.

When meeting with a Designer, not only will you be discussing your plans for the layout of the space, but you will also be discussing finishing’s and fixtures and how all these relate to the workflow and office environment. With so much on your mind, it might be helpful to spend some time in advance of the meeting, to create a mockup or general idea of some designs you are interested in. This time spent planning will arm you with the questions you will need to answer for the hired professional. In the long run, this should only save you time and money as it will provide a benchmark for scaling up or down and whether your ideas can actually materialize.

Here are a few affordable suggested software systems to design an office space and help direct you through your planning process.

Homestyler

HomeStyler is a free software, which can be used to create your office floor plan, select the interior, and save your design for future use or editing. The benefits of this software are the wide array of items that can be drag & dropped into your design and then be customized according to your needs. You can even change the width of the walls! Homestyler also has a huge product catalog to choose from when decorating the space, after the layout is complete.

SmartDraw

SmartDraw is a professional tool that you can start using for free, but if you want to explore the more extensive features, then you need to buy the software. The benefits include a downloadable version that you can use offline, and they have a large variety of templates to simplify the designing process.

RoomSketcher

RoomSketcher is a software with a number of cool features that can be used by both professionals and amateurs and best of all it is free to start. Some of the great features include 2D & 3D Floorplans, 3D Photos and 360 Views, as well as drag & drop items to make the most efficient use of your time. One of the favorite features is the office floor plans and office layout ideas, to help those with little or no experience customizing and designing an interior.

Aside from these three, there is a number of other software programs available, these are just some of the favorites that will make presenting an idea to a designer much easier and time-saving.