The best free room design software to help you plan your new home

Are you about to move into your new home but you’re feeling unsure of how or where to place your furniture? Or are you interested in decorating but don’t know where to start? Here at Home Moovers, we get it. Luckily, there are lots of room planning tools to help you figure out exactly how to style your home and most of them are free! We’ve put together a list of the best free room design software to help you solve the puzzle of arranging rooms in your new home.

Room design software

In case you’re unfamiliar with room design software, we’re going to go over how these types of tools work. Most virtual room planning software allows you to create a dimensionally accurate digital layout of the space you desire. Once you’ve inputted the correct dimensions for the space you wish to design, you’re then able to arrange your furniture in multiple ways to see exactly how it will all look. Additionally, many of these tools also allow you to test out different floorings, paint colours and lighting. If these tools sound ideal for you, you should think of them as a DIY interior design tool that helps you optimise individual rooms for your entire house. Plus, if technology isn’t your strong point, these apps are usually very simple to use and since they’re available for free, they’re definitely worth a try.

Floorplanner

Floorplanner is a fully online tool that doesn’t require any downloading and can be used across all devices, whether you’re using Macs, PCs or tablets. As you may have guessed from the name, the main purpose of this app is a floor planning tool. However, it also helps you play around with various interior decorating options too. Floorplanner also allows you to work in both 2D and 3D, as well as letting you easily share your designs with others if you’re looking for any ideas or collaboration.

Roomstyler

Are you looking for a fuss-free room design software tool? Then Roomstyler is the perfect software for you. This app is a 3D planning app that works across all devices and is as easy as room design software gets. With Roomstyler, you can draw your room from scratch or you can choose from pre-designed templates of the world's most standard room shapes, which are easily customisable to your own specific dimensions. Once you have your room dimensions set, you can then pick out everything from floors to popular furniture items from the internet. Thus, Roomstyler is a simple all-around interior design solution in one place.

Planner 5D

Planner 5D has a super user-friendly interface that allows you to create visual room layouts and design ideas. Effortlessly switch between the 2D and 3D designs of your home and choose from over 5,000 items to decorate your virtual space. If you’re looking to switch between devices, you will find Planner 5D easily allows you to pick up where you left off in your designs from your phone to your laptop.

Sweet Home 3D

Sweet Home 3D allows you to create your floor plan in 2D, fill it with furniture of your choice and then you’re able to view it all in 3D to see exactly how your home will look in real life. One of the best features of this particular app is that it makes your 3D rooms look as realistic as possible. Another great feature lets you customise both interior lighting and sunlight so you can see exactly how your space will look depending on where you’re living and what time of day it is.

SketchUp

This 3D room design software is perfect for collaboration. With SketchUp, you can share your room design ideas and keep sustainability in mind with features that analyse the energy use and sunlight for your space. However, this app is only available for a free 30-day trial, after this you would have to pay for a package if you wish to continue using it. But if you just need these features for ideas on arranging your home, your free trial should be the perfect amount of time that you need.

HomeByMe

Build floor plans room by room in your home and select furniture from leading retailers such as Pottery Barn, Wayfair and Restoration Hardware. Then, once you’ve created your designs in your 2D plan, you can then turn your ideas into HD images that will give you a real feel for what your rooms will look like. HomeByMe also has many community pages with tons of room design inspiration from other users, which is a great tool if you’re struggling for inspiration.

We recommend giving each of these softwares a try to see which fit your design needs most. Ultimately, these tools are great to help you organise your furniture before you move and saves a lot of time and effort shuffling your new rooms around seeing what needs to go where.

If you’re moving home soon and need help moving your belongings, get a free online quote to see how much you could move for.