Better Homes and Gardens Interior Designer

Better Homes and Gardens Interior Designer [OLD VERSION] I was excited to get this product because I am going to be doing some painting, floors, furniture, etc., in a bedroom. I was anxious to get an idea… of room layout and furniture placement to get a visual of the project before I begin. It never brought up the registration page or let me indicate the CD Key. Consequently, I couldn't get the updates, etc. Amazon is very good about letting me return this product for a refund, but I am VERY disappointed.

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The product is very easy to use. You don't need to read the manual or do the tutorials to figure it out. There are a lot of things you can do. However, it is also very limiting. Things that should be… very simple are difficult. For example, you put an area rug in a room, and then you want to put furniture on top of it. That sounds like something simple but it is not easy. The program will not let you put any piece of furniture on top of something else. Instead you have to place the furniture off to the side, and then either edit its properties, or go into 3D view and lift the furniture off the ground a little, then slide it over the rug. Copying and pasting has a really stupid implemention. It is unconventional and clunky. Also, there is no way to copy multiple items and past them. For example, if you made a room layout you like, and you wanted to move all the stuff from one room to another, or from one floor to another, you cannot select all, copy, then paste. In fact, there is no easy way at all to do it. The frame rate was not so hot in 3D view mode either after filling it with furniture, windows, window treatments and everything. This makes it very difficult to have a smooth walk through of your virtual room. With frame hitching as you walk through the room, it is extremely distracting, and you cannot get a good feel for the space. I do not think it is my computer either. I do not have the most up to date computer, but I do have a Pentium 4 and a pretty good graphics card. They say this works with Windows 98. I'd like to see that actually happen. All in all though, I was able to get enough out of this program to have a good idea of what things will look like when I lay out my furniture in different arrangements, and it helped me figure out if I had enough space to place certain things. Mild thumbs up.

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I'm renovating a bathroom and decided to GC the project myself. This software allowed me to create an accurate drawing of the room (suitable to present to the municipal authorities for electrical and… plumbing permits). In addition, it was a lot of fun to try out different interior design elements (pedastal sink vs vanity, etc.) to create the desired final look. The materials list generated by the program was also very helpful. FInally, it was easy to point and click through and I mastered it quickly. Given that the overall cost of this project is many 1000s of dollars, it was worth the extra $50 to do be able to do the design work myself.

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