Are you one of the 20,000 or so interior designers practicing in the UK? Even if you’re not and your home design projects are strictly limited to your home, your designs don’t need to be constrained to pencil and pad. There are lots of new technologies available nowadays to make the process of home design that bit easier, and one of those is computer-aided design, CAD. In this guide, learn what CAD is and how you can use it to speed up and simplify your home design process.

What is CAD?

Computer aided design is a method of creating 2D and 3D drawings that can be manipulated digitally. CAD design software allows you to utilise the power of a computer to make models in a freely editable digital space, without having to commit any resources like paper or models to the process. Understand dimensions, material properties, colours, and fixings – all without having to commit to time-consuming real-world testing and iteration.

CAD is a big deal, and while it started out life helping engineers and industrial designers build large, complex projects, there’s no reason why you can’t use it for home design. Here are some of the ways to do so:

Rapid iteration

Blueprints and designs can take a lot of time and effort to create, so if changes are due, rectifying original plans can eat up a lot of time. As a result, one of the most resounding benefits of CAD expressed by designers at Paris’ Home Design Institute is the ability to quickly edit plans. Experiment, edit, iterate, and modify according to changing project specifications with ease – CAD lets you do it all.

Visualisation

While some designers are gifted with strong imaginations that let them understand explicitly how their designs will look in the flesh, being able to digitally visualise mockups is hugely helpful. And even if you have the imagination of a seven-year-old, you might not always get the chance to see the room in person before you need to get to work.

CAD comes to the rescue in both these scenarios, giving you a clear view of what you need to create, and where.

Reduced costs

Gone are the days of a quote for a project that ends up grossly overspending, as CAD allows designers to better understand and control costs.

It does this is a few ways. First, you can accurately tot up the cost of materials since you have a digital twin of the finalised project, with accurate dimensions, properly planned fixings, and so forth. Second, given that reworking can cost a huge amount of money, the ability to cut down on this reworking via more accurate design can reduce costs in kind.

Do you use CAD for design? Let us know your experiences in the comments below.