When it comes to selling new kitchens,
bathroom suites or even fully fitted bedrooms, sales people no longer need to
rely on the imagination of their potential clients in order to create their
dream room. Thanks to the advent of design software systems, professionals can
now create virtual rooms to show their clients – turning their dreams into
reality. But with so many kitchen design
software programmes to choose from, which is the best? In this article we
take a look at three of the best systems to identify their features.
Kitchen
Design Software #1: Turbo Floor Plan 3D
Turbo Floor Plan offers a combination of ease of use and functionality. One of
the advantages of Turbo Floor Plan is that you can choose whether to use metric
or imperial measurements making it ideal for both customer and industry use.
The software allows you to view a room you have produced in a range of
different ways including differing camera angles, virtual walkthroughs and
cutaway views. There is even the option to use an electrical wiring filter
which allows you to easily work out where to place electrical sockets or where
to position kitchen components in relation to the present electrical wiring of
the kitchen – potentially saving your client money on electrical alterations
and refits.
As with most other kitchen design software,
Turbo Floor Plan allows you to alter the look of the kitchen design including
mouldings, cabinet and worktop designs and colours and an array of other items
for greater customisation. Once the kitchen design is complete, the software
allows you to run a cost estimator for the kitchen to provide a detailed quote.
Kitchen
Design Software #2: ArtiCAD Pro
ArtiCAD-Pro took 15 years to development and produces detailed plans and
elevations of any room. The plans are fully labelled and feature dimensions,
making it ideal for fitters to work from yet there is also an option to hide
these fields to show your clients a more aesthetically pleasing view.
ArtiCAD-Pro can produce both 3D perspective line drawings and 3D photo-real
images in a matter of seconds allowing your clients to see exactly how their
dream kitchen will look when installed. Even the smallest details including
wood grains of cupboards or marble patterns on worktops can be seen to full
effect –an important sales tool.
ArtiCAD allows you to include appliances and see cabinet finishes
Source: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7148/6783965961_02f7c1bc01.jpg
ArtiCAD-Pro comes with a ready-made product
catalogue including a wide range of customisable parts. Another feature of
ArtiCAD-Pro is that it can allow you produce parts lists automatically to save
you time. Overall ArtiCAD-Pro is easy to use and will quickly allow you to
generate designs for clients whilst saving you time compiling catalogues and
parts lists amongst other things.
Kitchen
Design Software #3: VR Kitchen by Nexus
VR Kitchen has been developed over a period of 20 years and has been specially
designed for professional users. The software allows you to create your
client’s dream kitchen with ease including producing walkthrough layouts to
help them visualise their new kitchen. Details are a key focus of VR Kitchens
and shine and reflections are included on flooring, tiles and worktops for a
more realistic view. A wide range of lighting options are included whist soft
shadows allow you to easily see any places in the kitchen where more lighting
is required.
VR Kitchen is easy to use and allows you to
drop and drag elements into your kitchen design to allow you to quickly show
your clients alterations or your suggestions.
Some CAD systems allow you to view reflections for a realistic look
Source: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7035/6783967703_20d4310ae4.jpg
In order to choose which kitchen design
software is best for your needs, it’s worth trying the demo versions of the
software to ensure all the features you require are included.