I'm not even sure where to start looking or what to look for.  Your suggestions are welcome!

Application:  I will be using the software as I finish our basement theater (the bar area specifically) and would like something that allows me to place pieces of furniture (i.e. speakers, theater seats, etc) in various places in the room as well as enter the existing data such as wall lengths, ceiling heights, etc.  It would be helpful if the software would allow data input for furniture design as well.  (I need to design a center speaker cabinet with drawers, etc).  I'm not sure what other information would be useful to you.

BTW, I say, "cheap/free," as I see this as either a single-use or very limited use piece of software for me and don't want to spend an arm and a leg on something that will not be used very much.

Thanks!

-David

Try Arrange-a-Room.  It's free and lets you choose your room size, place walls where you want, select their thickness, rotate them and so on.  It has a selection of furniture, office equipment, plus home entertainment gear that you can drag and drop into your room.  Then you can size the pieces to show their size to within an inch and rotate them to any angle.  It even has windows, baseboard heaters, fireplaces, you name it.

You can name and save up to 25 rooms.  However, it can be a little annoying when you try to add a piece and a previous one disappears.  I don't know whether there's a limit to objects in the room or what.  Save your design!

It's on the Better Homes and Gardens site at http://www.bhg.com/bhg/category.jsp?categoryid=/templatedata/bhg/category/data/arrangearoomtest.xml

Here's how my living room and dining room look, right down to the throw cushions on the sofa and arnchair.

Wow, great free software, I think I might have to get this program, looks great. How is the user interface? Thanks Islander!!!!

Thanks, Islander.  I'll try to get it downloaded over the weekend and give it a test drive!

-David

 Report back if you would. I saved that link islander provided the other day but haven't messed with it yet.

I don't remember if there's even anything to download.  I've just got the site bookmarked.  When you save a room, I think it's saved on their server.  On your own machine, it saves as an .htm file, so it's not a typical program.  It is very easy to use, though.

To post that room layout, I printed from the screen and then scanned it.  There may be a more direct way to do it.

I actually use Microsoft Word 97 for stuff like this...but this program looks to be a bit more intuitive...

So has anyone tried this program yet?  Let's see some of your layouts!

Islander:

So has anyone tried this program yet?  Let's see some of your layouts!

I have not yet had the time to look at it.  Does it allow for additional viewing angles like, rather than top/down, side to side (as if you were standing in the room, looking at a wall, etc)?

-David

dkp:

Islander:

So has anyone tried this program yet?  Let's see some of your layouts!

I have not yet had the time to look at it.  Does it allow for additional viewing angles like, rather than top/down, side to side (as if you were standing in the room, looking at a wall, etc)?

-David

Google Sketchup will do this and is free.  It takes a bit to get the hang of it but might be useful.  There are also a fair amount of library elements (windows, doors, furniture, appliances, building materials etc.) and you can save your own libraies and drawings. 

Thanks, Oblio.  I'll take a look at that, too.

-David

Thanks for the info!  I'll be checking out both Arrange A Room and Sketchup as we're currently rebuilding one of our bathrooms, even thinking of rearranging things a bit.  And there's other projects for which this could be useful....

I should write something that has Klipsch speakers already in it and release it.  I have some gui drag/drop software I wrote for work....

Hrm... are there any Visio Elements for Klipsch products? AMYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!! !???

:)

I'll give the google sketchup program a try this weekend.  The first one is not quite sophisticated enough for what I need (show riser/ceiling heights, etc)