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| | Home Better Homes and Gardens Architectural Home Designer [OLD VERSION] | |
|  | |  | | | Better Homes and Gardens Architectural Home Designer [OLD VERSION] | | | | | SKU:
| | In Stock | | Availability:
Usually ships in 1-2 business days | | Only 2 left in stock, order soon! | | | | | | Better Homes and Gardens Architectural Home Designer is an all-in-one Home Design software and provides feature rich tools for design projects including: Home Design, Remodeling, Decks & Landscaping, Interior Design, Site Planning & Estimating. Quickly place and arrange walls, windows, doors, and cabinets. Choose colors, place furniture, create decks and landscaping. Powerful building tools like standard CAD tools, automatic roof generation, dormers, stairs, framing, foundations, and Plan Check make it easy. Choose from a Library of more than 7,000 items including windows, doors, lighting, furniture, interior/exterior fixtures, cabinets, and more. A Sprinkler Designer tool and full landscaping capabilities including a library of 3,200 plants are included. | | | |
List Price:
| $199.99 | |
Our Price:
| $149.88 | |
You Save:
| $50.11 (25%)
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| | Product Details | | Package Length: | 13.0 inches | | Package Width: | 10.1 inches | | Package Height: | 2.0 inches | | Package Weight: | 1.1 pounds | | Average Customer Rating: |  based on 11 reviews |
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| | System Requirements | | Platform: | Windows Vista / Windows XP / Windows | | Media: | CD-ROM | | Item Quantity: | 1 |
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| | Features | Powerful software for Home Design, Remodeling, Interiors, Kitchens & Baths, Landscaping, Site Planning and morePowerful Automatic Building and Design Tools like One-Click Automatic Roofs and Automatic Dormers, Material Painter, Color Chooser, Deck Designer tools and moreBetter Homes and Gardens Design Inspiration Gallery organized by room type; Exclusive Design Planning Center with Expert "how-to" Design AdviceCreate Accurately Scaled Floor Plans with 3D Design Tools and Virtual Walk Thru ToolsChoose from over 7,000 built-in Library Items or import your own for unlimited possibilities; Over 3,200 realistic landscaping plants--with plant encyclopedia data
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| | Customer Reviews | Average Customer Review: ( 11 customer reviews )
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
50 of 53 found the following review helpful:
 FUN to play with but some issues Mar 12, 2008
By M. Sherer
I've been playing with this product for about a week, I bought it because It looked like a major upgrade from Home Designer Suite 7, which was a little quirky but got the job done. Maybe its just my expectations but the final renderings you get with this program don't look very good, as in not close to photo-realistic. They are no better than the Suite 7, and because this really isn't intended as professional home design software, the real function of it should be great visualizations. Bottom line they look pretty cartoonish.
There are a lot of great features in this software, like being able to design in the 3D view, importing your XYZ terrain data (DTM), stair tools, plant choosing tools, a whole bunch of authentic items like windows, furniture, fixtures, floor coverings, etc (although a good bit of the extra ones you have to download, which is odd because the software only ships on DVD-ROM). You can probably design your exact house using this software and maybe even build from it (if you're an experienced builder) but you may become frustrated in the process because of 2 fundamentals of the Better Homes & Gardens line of software.
They are:
1. It is real quirky and some of the "automatic things" can ruin your design if your not careful. For example, I added an "automatic stairwell" once and as it turned out ruined my design because it created "attic walls" that were not able to be deleted. I had to go back to my last save point because was unable to undo it. The zoom & pan tools work but they are very unintuitive and nonstandard. It just isn't fun to try new things for fear of screwing something up. If you are patient and creative you can get your design done, but not without some frustration. In short, the quirks are numerous, and I've only used this software a couple of weeks.
2. The maker of this software have 2 more expensive products ($500, & $2195) that are subtly hinted can do more. This is a gateway product, teasing you enough to want just a little bit more. The renderings of the $500 product don't look any better, however.
I think bottom line, if you are determined to design your house and learning new software is fun for you, this will do nearly everything, but if you get frustrated easily and/or only like easy to use software, steer clear.
Also, if you use Vista, it turns off Aero-glass while it is running.
27 of 30 found the following review helpful:
 Powerful, but a bit frustrating Mar 24, 2008
By J. Barczak
I bought this product to make a model of our existing home and property so I could plan some projects like a new master bath, garage, and landscaping.
We have a 60 yr old 1.5 story cape cod with dormers off the front and back + a 1 story addition. I viewed the video tutorials and refered to the User's guide as I made the first story and the basement in the software and everything worked pretty well. However, when I tried to make the complicated roof and 2nd story I ran into alot of trouble. The auto roof build feature might work well for a standard roof, but was a real pain for me. I viewed information in the forums and the other web resources and found alot of helpful information on dormers and Cape Cod designs, but nothing about my specific situation.
I have a help ticket in right now with their technical group and hopefully they will find a way to make my roof and 2nd story. I don't really want to spend another $250 for the full version.
Other notes - The 3D views and walkthroughs are very cool, but don't look as good as the pictures on the box. The landscape tools are straightforward, but I am having trouble with some items showing up in certain views.
24 of 27 found the following review helpful:
 Great for the price Mar 14, 2008
By Sean Sweetser
"Seneschal"
I have had this product for two weeks now and just completed my first home. Not knowing anything about CAD software or architecture I was worried that this would prove extremely difficult.
Using this program was a breeze because I was able to just drag and drop doors, windows, walls into my plan. I was able to use the mouse to stretch and change the direction.
I was able to include my partner in choosing colors for the walls and floor tiles, we switched floor tiles about one hundred times before we arrived at the look we wanted.
I would recommend this program to anyone who is thinking of building or renovating a home, who is good with computers but not necessarily experienced with CAD software or Architecture.
10 of 10 found the following review helpful:
A lot of fun and very helpful May 19, 2008
By Matt
Although there are some minor glitches or inconveniences this is an addicting program for anyone interested in making changes or buying a new place. It is very easy to plot out a floor plan and view it from any angle (inside or outside) in 3 dimensions. My guess is that the higher version is a lot more flexible but this version was way better than I expected and all that is needed for the amateur.
7 of 7 found the following review helpful:
BH&G Architecural Home Design Jun 07, 2008
By Sheilah Kernan
"S Kernan"
I have used the Chief Architect Pro program and this is similar. I was very pleased with the "objects" in my design list and the final print out. I found that the camers did not work the same as the other program, but perhaps I just do not have that down yet. The program gave me everything I had on the Chief Architect, but at a much better price point.
See all 11 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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