10 Best Furniture Design Programs

Discover the best programs for designing furniture , from free options to advanced professional solutions, to optimize your spaces with ease.

Setting up quality furniture inside your home or work environments allows you not only to guarantee quality aesthetics, but also to optimize spaces and functionality. In recent years, more and more people are using intuitive and free furniture design programs with the aim of designing furniture , sofas and everything that can be useful to improve the interiors.

There are countless apps for drawing in 3D , but not all of them offer the same features. If you haven’t already read our guides on Best free 3D drawing programs or Best apps for drawing on iPad , in addition to recommending them, today we’re going to take a look at all those programs that are ideal for drawing furniture.

Furniture design programs for beginners.

When you have to choose one or more programs to design furniture , you need to understand which is the ideal solution for you. As good as you may be at selling used furniture online , maybe for completely new projects you will need something more advanced. You can choose programs for beginners , for professionals , free or paid ; so let’s try to understand better which ones they are and what they offer.

Let’s start with the most interesting software if you have never created a 2D or 3D furniture . In this way, you can perhaps find the program to design furniture for free without investing money .

SketchUp Free

SketchUp Free is a free 3D modeling software , an excellent choice if you are a beginner; the intuitive interface and more than good basic tools will allow you to integrate simple 3D models to have a sufficient picture of the furniture in the rooms. This software accessible directly from a web browser , offers 10 GB of cloud space to share projects, mobile viewing with the SketchUp Viewer app , import and export of various formats ( SKP , PNG , STL ), access to models from 3D Warehouse , all for free and without credit cards, as long as you have an internet connection. However, it lacks advanced features such as: export to CAD / DWG / DXF formats , custom extensions , photorealistic rendering and collaborative tools present in the paid versions ( SketchUp Shop, Pro and Studio ).

Sweet Home 3D

An equally interesting free house design program is Sweet Home 3D . Available in both a free and paid version (it includes 1610 furniture elements at a cost of €14.99), it allows you to design interiors and preview 3D designs. The interface is excellent, as is the library of predefined and customizable models . It is an open source project, available in Italian and in 77 other languages, with the ability to import 3D models and render images and videos .

5D Planner

Another home design program worth considering is Planner 5D . It allows you to design interior and exterior spaces with ease, in both 2D and 3D modes, making it an intuitive tool for those who want to create realistic designs without a complex learning curve. It comes in a free version that allows you to access the basic features and create designs. However, to unlock the full library of objects and get high-quality renderings, you need to upgrade to a premium plan .

Furniture design programs for professionals

If beginner programs do not satisfy you, then you can opt for professional solutions that allow you to work best with 3D and 2D models.

AutoCAD

With AutoCAD , Autodesk has developed one of the most popular programs for designing technical and architectural drawings , including interiors . You can benefit from advanced features for 2D and 3D modeling as well as integrate other CAD / CAM software to improve the information.

3ds Max

A true reference point for those looking for modeling software, 3ds Max allows you not only to create 3D models of the highest quality and render them with excellent textures , but also to generate animations for project presentations . The learning curve is very steep, however, so do not be discouraged after the first interactions with the program.

SketchList 3D

Among the programs for designing furniture, SketchList 3D is certainly one of the most complete. Thanks to several advanced tools, you can model and render your furniture . We recommend this solution if you need a tool with integrated features that would facilitate the creation of detailed projects. This program is usually used by furniture designers or carpenters because it allows them to create accurate and precise drawings .

SolidWorks

Professionals also rely on SolidWorks to create quality drawings for furniture, specifically it is a mechanical design program that offers you advanced tools for 3D modeling , analysis and simulation . If you need a tool to create complex and detailed projects, perhaps in the manufacturing or engineering industry , then it could surprise you with its practicality and attention to detail.

Free vs Paid Software

Furniture design programs allow you to create your own designs from scratch or from a good base, but as you can imagine, there are free solutions and some paid ones, with pros and cons attached.

Pros and Cons of Free Furniture Design Software

A free house design program still brings with it some advantages, for example, it has no initial investment cost . In fact, you can download it or access the online platform by creating your projects, unlike a paid solution. Just as accessibility is a pro, these tools are often easier to learn and use, since they are also developed for beginners. The learning curve of free software is in many cases much less steep and allows you to find an infinite number of tutorials and dedicated guides online . Another benefit of free software of this type is flexibility , in fact, it is perfect for small projects or for those who are beginners, but does not completely neglect those who already have skills in the matter.

Although the benefits of a free program are many, there are also some cons that you should consider before choosing one. The most obvious criticality is to be found in the limited functionality , in fact, advanced tools for modifying 3D models are often missing . Just as a con is the limited support from the developer company . You will hardly find a free program with technical assistance and frequent updates. Unfortunately, from this point of view, paid software offers more guarantees in the medium-long term.

If you want to try a free program for designing furniture, SketchUp Free and Sweet Home are the ideal choices.

Pros and Cons of Paid Furniture Design Software

When you rely on paid software you have to weigh the pros and cons equally, since these solutions are not free of defects. As strong points, paid programs certainly have advanced features and support . In fact, they offer a very complete range of professional tools that allow you to create furniture and designs of the highest quality and precision from scratch . Just as a benefit is the support from technical assistance, with which you can guarantee constant updates over time.

On the other hand, you will have to face the one-time or subscription purchase cost ; in fact, professional programs require a significant initial investment . Just as they are not very easy to learn, given that they have a steeper and more complex learning curve , especially for those who have never approached two-dimensional and three-dimensional drawing.

Some of the software you might want to try that require purchase include AutoCAD , 3ds Max , SketchList 3D , and Solidworks .

Important Features to Consider

Whether you want to try free or paid house design programs, you need to evaluate some features to meet your needs.

Interface : A factor that should not be overlooked is the user interface, which should be intuitive and easy to use, especially if you are a beginner in drawing and designing. This allows you not to waste time with additional features and to optimize your work. Advanced programs have a less intuitive interface than free solutions, although there are small exceptions.

Library : Another feature you should consider in this type of software is the library of models available . Although you can create your own models to insert into the project from scratch, being able to use predefined furnishings will speed up your work and make colors and environments more uniform. Some software have limited libraries , others integrate very well with different models that you can download from third parties .

Drawing Tools : As well as the library, you should also evaluate 2D and 3D drawing tools . A complete tool will give you both 2D and 3D options, perhaps with the ability to switch between 2D and 3D views , like AutoCAD . Some products are 2D only and do not allow access to 3D views, so evaluate this feature carefully.

Rendering : when you create your 3D model you also need to render it to make it as “real” as possible. In order to do this quickly you would need a software that is also capable of rendering or at least visualizing the final result . Not all programs integrate X-Ray or rendering tools , forcing you to export the model and render it with another tool.

Compatibility : In addition to checking compatibility with your operating system, be it Windows , Linux or macOS , you should also check whether the program you are going to use is compatible with other programs . Often not all file formats are compatible with each other and this would limit your work and the possibility of rendering the file with a more advanced tool. Usually paid solutions guarantee greater compatibility of formats , while free tools are limited to a few of these.

Tips for choosing the best program

Furniture design programs, although they may seem very different from each other in terms of features and ease of use, have the goal of providing you with a reliable tool for creating your projects. However, you need to make sure you don’t make the wrong choice, otherwise you will have just wasted your time. To choose the ideal program for you, you should consider three main factors: needs , opinions , and tests .

Needs : Before downloading a program of this type, evaluate your needs . Try to focus on your level of experience and your budget . A beginner will find a free, easy-to-use program like Sweet Home 3D useful , while a professional will opt for AutoCAD or 3ds Max .

Opinions : Read many reviews and opinions of users in order to get a clear picture of the potential of the product. Informing yourself about the features and critical issues will allow you to make the best choice for your needs.

Try : Although it may seem like an obvious tip, it is very useful to download more than one program to draw and try it with the free days. Even paid software in many cases offer a free Trial that allows you to try the product and maybe buy it later. By analyzing the options of paid programs you can also understand if a free alternative is enough for your projects.

Conclusions

Have you ever used programs to design furniture or interiors? Tell us about your experience! Which software have you found most intuitive and useful? Share your opinions with us and our community by sending us an email from the Contact section  and subscribing to our Newsletter . The comparison can be useful for all those who, like you, are looking for the ideal program to create their own furniture projects.