Bedrooms should be more than just a place to sleep. They can also be comfortable retreats from the world where you can relax, read a book and take your mind off the days activities. So when you are designing your bedroom, make sure that the room is exactly what you want it to be. Even if you hire a designer to help you with the process, it is s good idea to come up with a basic design outline for her to work from. While you can (and should) create rough sketches of what you have in mind, if you really want the designer to fully understand what you envision, you might want to create a 3D virtual version of your bedroom design using a freeware program like Google SketchUp.
Instructions
1. Sketch out on paper the basic shape and appearance of your new bedroom. Create drawings from several different angles. If you are not a great artist, you can just draw in blocky shapes for the furnishings and label them to identify them.
2. Download and install Google SketchUp to your computer, then start the program. You will see that the interface is made up of a large perspective view with a menu at the top and a toolbar on the left. You also have a small display at the bottom which tells you the length and height of any line or wall you create. It is best to try to get the size the same as you would want for your actual room.
3. Select the "Line" tool from the toolbar. Use it to draw on the ground plane the basic shape of your virtual bedroom. When you close the last edge by clicking on the first point again, the floor shape of the bedroom will appear.
4. Select the "Push/Pull" tool from the toolbar. Then click on the shape you drew. Use the tool to extend the shape upward until the display in the corner tells you that the walls are the height you want. Then close the tool. Change to the "Selection" tool and click on the top of the shape to select the polygon. Hit "Delete" on your keyboard to remove it. You now have an open view of the virtual bedroom.
5. Select the "Paint Bucket" tool from the toolbar. In the dialog that opens select a material you would like to apply to one of the inner surfaces and click on the surface to apply the texture. Do the same for all the other surfaces.
6. Click on the "Get Models" icon to access the 3D Warehouse (you have to have an Internet connection for this). Browse through the categories and thousands of models to find the furnishings and props your would like to place in . You now have a virtual model of your bedroom design.
Tags: your bedroom, bedroom design, from toolbar, tool from, tool from toolbar, your bedroom design, basic shape
