Better Homes and Gardens Home Designer Suite 8.0

Other products by Chief Architect

Product Features

• Home Design, Remodeling, Decks, Landscaping, Kitchens & Baths, Interior Design, Cost Estimating
• Automatic Building Tools--Roofs, Stairs, Doors, Windows, Framing, Foundations and more
• Design Planning Center
• Material Painter--point-and-click colors for walls, floors, countertops and more
• Create Your Custom Kitchen with 1,000's of Cabinet Combinations

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0013MCZRK
• Item model number: HS80-DN-0AZ1
• Date first available at Amazon.com: February 27, 2008
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #243 in Software (See Bestsellers in Software)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #1 in	Software > Home & Hobbies > Gardening & Landscape
  #2 in	Software > Graphics > CAD
  #2 in	Software > Home & Hobbies > Home Design

Product Description

Amazon.com
Design or Remodel Your Home Today--Better Homes and Gardens Home Designer Suite provides a fun and an advanced yet easy to use set of tools for Home Design, Remodeling, Interior Design, Kitchens, Baths, Decks, Landscaping and Cost Estimation.

The all-in-one home design software solution. View a Product Demo.

Design for your lifestyle and personality--change colors, add lighting and choose furniture to accent your new room.

Design in 2D and 3D. 3D Views are automatic with a point-and-click of the camera tool.

Powerful, Fun and Easy Home Design Software

• Exclusive Better Homes and Gardens Design Planning Center for expert design advice
• Choose from over 1,500 Sample Plans
• Design Inspiration Galley contains photos by type for design and inspiration design ideas
• Choose from built-in home style templates or create your own custom home design, or use the House Wizard
• Powerful building tools like automatic roof generation, dormers, stairs, framing and foundations

House Wizard and Tutorial Videos Make it Easy!

• The Quick Startup Options Guide will help you begin with "How-To" tutorials based on the type of your project
• Use the House Wizard for quick and easy layout of your rooms
• Select from the pre-designed Home Design, Interior and Landscaping Style Templates complete with colors, cabinets, decks and more
• Exclusive Design Planning Center for up-to-date How-To and Design Tips from the experts to help in your design process
• Includes Step-by-Step Tutorial DVD Packed with over 30 easy "step-by-step" tutorial training videos that will quickly get you started on your next home design project

Choose from over 1,500 plants with the Plant Chooser.

Design the Kitchen of your dreams--move walls, create new cabinets, add appliances--Design your perfect workspace!

Doll House View, a 3D overview without the roof, is an effective tool for space planning of furniture placement and traffic flow.

Kitchens, Baths and Custom Cabinets

• Design the Kitchen of your dreams--move walls, create new cabinets, add appliances--Design your perfect workspace!
• Plan the new layout of your bathroom with custom cabinets, sinks, showers and garden tubs. It's easy to visualize your ideas in 3D.
• Create custom cabinets in minutes by choosing your own colors, countertops, door styles and more
• Design your new kitchen or bath using the Cabinet Designer Tools
• Use the Cabinet Designer tools to create unlimited cabinet styles. Choose your own colors, countertops and door styles.

Interiors and Exteriors

• Use the Better Homes and Gardens Design Planning Center to help guide your designs with guidelines, tips and expert advice
• Design Inspiration Gallery--Our gallery of photos will help you to jump start your design and decorating style ideas with inspirational photos by rooms
• Material Painter¨ lets you apply colors and materials quickly and easily
• Choose from thousands of colors and textures or create your own materials using a digital photograph
• Design for your lifestyle and personality--change colors, add lighting and choose furniture to accent your new room

Decks and Landscaping

• Powerful deck and patio tools allow you to design and visualize your new deck with 3D models and can help you estimate the costs
• Design single or multi-level decks complete with automatic deck framing
• Quickly lay out your deck with stairs and arrange furniture
• Deck foundations automatically generate to match sloped lots
• Exclusive Better Homes and Gardens Plant Encyclopedia
• Choose from over 1,500 plants with the Plant Chooser
• Pathways--Use the Pathway tool to design curb-appealing landscaping using stone, pavers or sidewalks--line with trees, shrubs, flowers and more

3D Models and Virtual Tours

• Design in 2D and 3D. 3D Views are automatic with a point-and-click of the camera tool.
• Glass House View provides a full translucent view of your design
• Doll House View, a 3D overview without the roof, is an effective tool for space planning of furniture placement and traffic flow
• Create a Virtual Tour--draw your record line to Automatically Generate; or record your camera movements
• Visualize your home with day and night views
• Assemble a scale model of your design with Model Maker
• Generate shadows from the sun for realistic 3D views
• Point-and-click to remove wall surfaces, or use 3D Cross-Section Elevation Slider to quickly create a 3D slice of your desired view

Site Planning & Estimating

• Use Automatic Build Terrain and Terrain Perimeter tools to create flat, irregular shaped or sloped lots--use a GPS to import or enter elevation data
• Create plot and perimeter plans; automatically generate a 3D model of your actual terrain
• Make your backyard design come alive using several easy-to-use terrain and landscaping tools. Add a pool or pond and visualize in 3D.
• Fences and Driveways--With the Fencing tools you can choose a variety of fencing styles and custom gates. You will also find driveway, sidewalk and curbing tools
• Hill and Valley tools make it easy to add gardens, beds and slopes that automatically appear in 3D views. Choose from landscaping style templates or create your own.
• Cost Estimating--Don't be surprised by the cost of your project. Automatically generate a complete spreadsheet for your project costs, broken down by category. Calculate the amount of lumber for your deck or concrete required for that new patio.

Product Description
Better Homes and Gardens Home Designer Suite 8.0 is powerful software for any home design project. With over 5,000 integrated tools it is perfect for home design, remodeling, interior design, landscaping, decks, cost estimation, and site planning. Design in 2D and 3D simultaneously; even do a virtual walk-through. Choose from over 6,000 library items or download free bonus items. Create base, wall, full height, curved, corner cabinets and more for your new kitchen or bath. Choose from over 1,500 popular plants and get detailed information including Hardiness Zone Maps. Import custom colors or materials. Track costs for materials, quantities, unit costs and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

67 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars outstanding, April 7, 2008

By	Robert W. Smith "Robert Smith, Ph.D." (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

i've owned this program for one week. i was initially concerned, as it did not come with a manual. well, after a week, i've found that a paper manual is not necessary to fully operate this program. i can not claim that i'm an expert after one week, but, i do re-assure you that this program is quite simple to operate, it offers possibilities that i never before imagined in my previous architecture program. this program is challenging, in that it offers so many options that i can spend hours looking through all of them. while $99 isn't cheap, especially compared to some of the other programs, i assure you that it is leaps ahead of my 3 year old 3D program. i haven't purchased other programs to know how it compares to other more recent products. i can say that it is phenomenal in comparison to three year old programs. i am very glad that i made this purchase and i would do it again, knowing what i know now, i might even pay more for it. it is likely to become one of my favorite toys. [after i've owned this program for a month or two, i'll submit an addendum so that you can read more of my findings.]

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Perfect tool for "What if!", September 8, 2008

By	D. Potter (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have been an avid user/teacher of Chief Architect Inc software since 1995 (I mainly use Chief Architect X1 in my /drafting and design business) but the line of consumer software like Home Designer Suite 8 is a steal for anyone wanting to quickly play with Architectural ideas and scenarios. This program will not produce construction documents (blue prints) but is perfect for communicating ones creative ideas to building professionals.

David J. Potter

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pretty sweet package for the money, June 5, 2008

By	Bebe Deimos (AZ, USA) - See all my reviews

I have not actually done a final design with this product yet, but have done some preliminary layouts. For the money I doubt that you will find a product that has close the usability and functionality. Like most design programs, it takes a bit of getting used to, I spent a couple of hours trying to get the grade for a driveway and surrounding ground correct. However I'm sure with more familiarity it would have taken no more than a few minutes.

The program does have some CAD capabilities, but that is certainly not its strength, I have used freeware more powerful for CAD work. But for interior and exterior architecting, being able to see what the finished design will look like (or at least some approximation) is invaluable.

This package is worth buying even if you are not sure if it is exactly what you want. You can always just use it for landscaping layouts (does a pretty good job at that).