A couple years ago my husband and I bought a house that was built the same year we were born, and it had never been updated. Original burnt orange shag carpet everywhere, mustard yellow trim–you get the idea. Man, would I have loved to have known about Google SketchUp back then when we were renovating.
SketchUp is a totally free 3D drawing program for Mac or PC users. It’s easy enough for hobbyists and even kids to use. The website includes free tutorials, so you can turn the starting home page, which looks like this:
Into a robot, chess set, or the world’s coolest backyard tree house:
My son will love designing his own Star Wars-esque battle ships, but I love the idea of using this to plan a home remodeling project. In fact, check out how bloggers have used the program to show before and after shots of their kitchen remodel. Amazing. I’m already thinking about my own unfinished attic space.
Bonus for schools: SketchUp has created a grant program making their Pro package (priced at a cool $590.00) available to any K-12 public school absolutely free. They even provide a link for you to contact your school administrator so they’ll fill out the paperwork. Good job, Google. I’m impressed. –Kate
Download your free copy of SketchUp today and start creating something awesome. Watch the SketchUp video to learn about it step by step.
