5 Home Design Software for Mac

Home design software programs can be used by amateurs and professionals. It’s a valuable tool that can assist in visualizing a design without the need to spend money on materials that don’t work.

Although the manual option to create a floor plan is possible, it would be time-consuming. Furthermore, it requires the architect or engineer to meet the client in person instead of just sending the design via email or through software.

Home design software is the best tool professionals and hobbyists can use to visualize a design. You can use different materials, furniture, color, and more to see if the design looks good without the need to spend more on buying the item.

We have recently made a list of the best home design software you can use for your PC. This time we put together software that will work for Mac computers.

Why Invest in a Home Design Software?

Before we learn the top home design software for Mac, here are reasons why you should use one.

• Versatile

Interior design software programs are flexible. It allows users to choose the design they want and visualize it in a 3D or realistic manner. It can give users the idea and feel of what their home is going to look like.

Design software also allows users to manage some of their designs on their mobile devices. Hence, making it convenient.

• Cost-Effective

It’s true that interior design software applications are not cheap, but you can still find free software. Also, it’s better to invest in design software than buy an item and later find out it doesn’t fit your home.

These scenarios do happen. People buy a piece of furniture thinking it will fit their home, but it turns out it doesn’t. However, when using interior design software, you can select furniture for your home before buying it. Then, you can visualize how the item will look like to the overall interior.

• Ability to Share and Collaborate

There is no need to meet up and recreate the floor plan when using home design software.

Most design software has the option to share on the cloud and with others. It also gives the user the ability to allow people to access the design to make changes.

This sharing option is excellent when you need your interior designer to check your designs.

• Visualize Every Angle

As compared to the traditional home design process, interior design software renders a 3D option. You can see every aspect of your home, from the corner to the design of the countertop you choose. Furthermore, you’ll be able to visualize how it feels when your house gets certain lighting. Seeing the bigger picture gives you ideas on what your home needs more.

Now you have a glimpse of what you get when using interior design software. It’s time to get one for yourself and begin your designing process.

Here are five of the best home design software to renovate your home or create that tiny house plan you desire.

5 Home Design Software for Mac

SmartDraw

When it comes to 2D designing software, SmartDraw has it all. It’s a powerful platform to create floor plans with ready-made templates and advanced architectural symbols. You can easily choose a template and begin your project.

Furthermore, SmartDraw is not only a software program for designing floor plans. You also have hundreds of flow charts and diagrams.

There are different templates available for each room. When you click on the template, there are designs available. You can choose to edit them by replacing the door, furniture, and so on.

Also, SmartDraw comes with symbols for fixtures, textures, lighting, and even landscaping.

It has an AutoCAD-like annotation feature to automatically resize your designs and print them.

Collaboration is possible with SmartDraw in multiple ways. You can send a link, share it in PDF format, open it on Google apps, or import Visio VSD and VSDX files. You and your team or client can work on a floor plan by changing designs, adding comments, inserting hyperlinks, and more.

You can share it on apps like Dropbox, OneDrive, and Box.

Since SmartDraw is cloud-based software, no matter what system you use, you can access it online.

You can try their app for free online.

Punch! Home Design Studio for Mac

This mac version of Punch software is an ideal program for hobbyists and professionals. It comes with comprehensive details to suit the needs of users. Everything you need to create your designs, from materials to accessories, to build an impressive home is in this software.

You can easily update a portion of your entire house and visualize the design you desire.

Similar to SmartDraw, you can choose templates for your design and start editing them. There are templates for every room you need.

When choosing materials, textures, appliances, and furniture, you can drag and drop the object into your 3D floor plan. You also have the option to go green with Punch’s eco-friendly materials.

While designing your dream home, you can always stick to your budget with the estimator cost tool included.

Punch allows 2D drawings and renderings, has multiple fonts for annotations, an excellent selection of textures, and more.

If you don’t know how to use the software, it comes with how-to videos, or you can join forums to ask for help.

There are plenty of ways to view your design, from 2D to Aerial.

Home Design Studio by Punch can import and export DXF/DWG files and more.

There are other mac versions of Punch software, but we think the Home Design Studio is the exact version that DIY enthusiasts and professionals will enjoy.

Live Home 3D

If you are looking for fun and visually appealing home design software, Live Home 3D is what you’ve been looking for. 

It comes with multi-platform support to build detailed floor plans and 3D designs. Hence, you can access your work on any device you want, from iOS to Windows.

Despite the professional-looking interface, Live Home 3D is actually a tool that even beginners can enjoy. Its layout is neat yet not overwhelming to intimidate first-time users. It runs smoothly with your macOS.

There are thousands of symbols, furniture, appliances, and materials to choose from when creating your 2D and 3D plans. You can get more furniture with the integration of Trimble 3D Warehouse. 

Creating 2D designs are made simple with the point-and-click feature. You can easily add measurements, and it automatically applies to your design. There are other custom features for your 2D drafting with the pro version.

When you want to make things realistic, you can even convert your 2D to a 3D form to visualize your work.

When switching to 3D view, the click-and-point changes to the drag-and-drop process. Similar to 2D, you can make changes in the 3D environment. You can even adjust the lighting to see its effect on your home if it’s day or night.

You can add terrain, elevations, and pathways around your house if desired.

Collaboration and sharing are possible, whether it’s a floor plan, screenshot, or video. Furthermore, it can be exported in multiple formats for screenshots and videos.

The Live Home 3D Mac version is dedicated to supporting Mac users. The Touch Bar on MacBook Pros is supported, you can save designs to the iCloud, and more.

Sweet Home 3D

Sweet Home 3D is made for beginners. You can easily create designs for your home in 2D form and view them in a 3D environment.

You can access the free version online, but you won’t be able to save them. But if you want to save and work offline, the paid version is the best option. You can get it for $13.99 at the Mac App Store.

Although the free version is quite limiting, you’ll enjoy the mac version. 

It’s easy to get the hang of it. It provides a quick way to move objects and items and place them in the area you want. It’s even easy when changing wall colors and the materials.

If you want a texture, wall, or ceiling, you can choose from various designs available or import patterns from images.

Since it’s software for beginners, there are templates available to choose from. So are the objects like windows, doors, furniture, and so on.

Furthermore, you can change the color, texture, and elevation of the object or furniture. If you want a leather, blue sofa, you can do so.

There are multiple ways to view your design. You can get a 3D view or a virtual walkthrough.

The richly packed 3D render also has a wide variety of symbols and tools for the 2D plan. You get various annotation tools, dimension lines, texts, and more.

Since the Mac version allows you to save your designs, you can export them into various formats like PDF, PNG, JPEG, and other popular formats for home design software.

SketchUp

SketchUp has evolved from being a free 2D software to a comprehensive and expensive 3D design tool. But, even though it has a bit of a higher price tag, SketchUp is worth it.

Being a pro tool means beginners will need to take some time to learn the software. However, once you get used to it, you can easily navigate through the tools and create your designs.

SketchUp has a free version that’s good for beginners. You can try it online.

The interface is clean and includes various tools that can help create impressive designs for your home. You can start with a template available on both the free and pro version of SketchUp.

SketchUp also excels in various objects and materials to use for your home. Unlike other home design software, you get thousands of designs to choose from. Therefore, you have plenty of options when wanting to change the color of your chair or the material.

It also makes collaboration and sharing of work possible in the cloud. Hence, you can also work on your design anywhere you are.

When done with your designs, it’s possible to view them in multiple ways. But the most impressive of it is the advanced technologies you can incorporate with it. It is possible to work using Microsoft HoloLens, HTC Vive, and Oculus.

Conclusion

Home design software ranges from 2D floor plan software to advanced programs that allow virtual walkthroughs. Some tools are made for beginners, with a simple interface and tools to navigate. Meanwhile, there are software programs that are expensive as they are designed for architects and professional designers.

Choose the software program that will meet your needs and fit your device like this home design software for Mac.