Last week we made a small update to Floorplanner's interface, and more specifically, the placement of sharing and exporting options.

When you've made a floor plan that you're happy with, you'll probably want to do something more than just look at it: share it with your friends, put it on your website, or export a 3D file to use in another application.

Previously these Sharing and Exporting options were located in the sidebar, but in light of how useful these features are we've moved them into the menu bar where they are more accessible.

What you're able to export depends on your membership: while Basic accounts have the option to export 640x480 images and scaled PDFs, Plus and Pro accounts get the option to export images all the way up to 2800x2100, as well as huge PDFs (up to 1:50 scale!), 3D models and renders.

So now's a better time than ever to share what you've been working on with your friends and family.

Today my blog will be about translating ideas into a mood board. Making a mood board is a good way to get a clear style. You can take it with you while shopping for interior items and use is at a good base to draw a space in a certain style in Floorplanner. In this example I pretended decorating a living space for Prince! (yes, the artist )

Function room: resting, lounging, hanging with friends.
People: 1, but need space for many people!
Colors: gold, dark purple, leopard prints, white.
Materials: velvet, gold, shiny materials, mosaic.
Atmosphere: Classic, kitsch, funny, unexpected, warm, sexy.
This must remain: couch with leopard print.
This must go: the rest
Enhance: fireplace
Camouflage: heating
Additional comments: can be funny and strange, but should nevertheless remain calm and classy.
Additional facilities: include a bath in the living room

Think over!

Now we convert the above images.
Tear images of home-magazines, but also lifestyle, garden, holiday and/or music-magazines. This will keep your mind open while designing. It is fun to do this with family or with the client you work for. If you don’t have magazines, it is also an idea to search for pictures on the internet.

No boundaries!

Collect as many images as possible. Take all that’s triggering you! Don’t think too long about it and do not consult with your partner. You can also make a stack of pictures that you find terrible. Then you know very clearly what you don’t want.
If you finished collecting then explain why these images appeal to you. Then decide together which you want to keep and which should go. If you work alone your lucky!
I'm searching on the internet without Prince and wondering what he would like…

Enjoy crafting!

Make a collage of the pictures from your Yes-stack. Add color samples and possibly also pieces of material to it. Results are sometimes surprising! Especially if you have a mood board made by more people. Be sure you're both happy with it.
I hope Prince will be happy with the one I made him!

Next time we will have a look how to use the library of Floorplanner in a way that it will match your style for the best.
Floorplanner has lots of choice in furniture and it’s good to know you can change color of every interior-item. Next to that you can give appropriate structures to floors and change colors of walls as well. If you really can’t find anything that looks like a special item you want in your interior just add a picture of that into your plan! More of that next time!

In the last blog I showed how to translate your wishes (or the wishes of your customers) into a mood board. This time I’ll show you how to translate your mood board into a floor plan and how to make use of the library to reflect your mood board ideas.

Start!

Start to draw your space. I will draw a big living room that includes kitchen and entrance for my client (yes, that’s still Prince). Use the manual of Floorplanner if you need some tips and tricks on how to draw your space. Keep your mood board and your questionnaire from previous blogs at hand so you can see what kind of atmosphere you should draw.

Layout plan

Think of a global layout. To design a living room you’ll have to make a layout plan first. What goes where? Where do I position my kitchen, lounge, dining area and any other features? A wish that Prince has is to have a bath in the living room. (see blog 2) For that I will provide a nice spot! Normally you will make a number of layouts to discuss with your client.

How to draw surfaces:

Floor

After choosing your layout you can start designing. I’ll start with the floor. Because I want a marble floor that looks seamless, I used a concrete texture.
Tip: you can use other textures to express the materials you want to show by changing color.

Decorate

Now you can start using the Floorplanner furniture library. Floorplanner has lots of furniture and accessories that you can adjust in size and color. By coloring all furniture in the lounge area in the same tones and adding some color accent you will create a posh look and feel. And that’s what we want for Prince! J We should add some chaise lounges as well. In the library I found a model that’s close to what I had in mind, but I will add a picture of the exact piece I want. (see media-tool that you normally use to show interior pictures).

In the screen that pops up you can name your picture. You can also add the brand, size, price etc.. This way your client can see what furniture you recommend.

Browse your computer to add the right picture. Place the needle on the couch in your drawing (see red circle). An X-sign appears. When you click it the picture will show up.

Of course you can do this with multiple objects. Whether it’s for yourself or your client, it’s a fun and clear way to show your design!
Next time I will show you how to use the library to add accessories and spice up your design!
Good luck everybody!

We have some great news for all our premium subscribers: improved 3D visuals! The most important improvement? It makes your floor plans look really good in 3D. Besides that, it’s very easy and fast to create them. And last but certainly not least, there are no extra costs!

Premium accounts

The new 3D visuals are directly available for everyone with a premium account, without any additional costs. Real estate professionals with a Pro or a Partner account can create an unlimited amount of 3D visuals. People with a Plus account can create up to 25 visuals per year.

Easy export

You can create a 3D visual by clicking on the Export icon in the menu bar and selecting the ‘Render 3D image’ option. A menu appears that lets you choose the resolution and an angle of view. South east, south west, north west, north east and top down. Within a couple minutes you’ll receive an email with your 3D visuals attached.

Want more control? That’s possible too. Open you floor plan in the 3D view and move the view to a desired position. Now export it and the 3D visual will have a similar view to one on your screen.

Color wall tops

There is another very interesting feature that makes the 3D visuals even more attractive. You can color the wall tops yourself! This gives you the power to customize the look and feel of your 3D visuals.

We just can’t wait to see your visuals!

Please use our forum for any remarks or suggestions.

Many organisations use Google Apps for email, calendars and documents. Today Google launched a new service called Google Drive. It allows people to store their files online , access them from any device and to collaborate with one another.

Why should you care? Because with this integration you can now store all your exports -3D visuals, 2D floor plans, PDFs etc- in one single, safe location. And, with Drive you can always access all your floor plan images from anywhere, anytime.

Chrome Web Store

You only have to do one thing to use Floorplanner together with Google Drive. Go to the Chrome Web Store and install the Floorplanner app. That’s it. All your exports will then be send automatically to your Drive. You can also open your floor plans from Drive, and you can create new floor plans from Drive. To create a new floor plan, click on Create > More > Floorplanner. You’ll be redirected to the Floorplanner 2D Editor where you can immediately work on your floor plan.

Permanently store your exports

Once you’ve installed the Floorplanner app, all your exports will be automatically stored in your Google Drive. You’ll still receive an email with the exported images or PDFs, but these files will also be directly available in your Drive too. The big advantage is that all the exports are stored permanently in Google Drive. From now on, you’ll always have a backup of every export you’ll make. Other advantages are that you can easily search through your floor plan images and you can access them from anywhere.

So, install the Floorplanner app and enjoy working in the cloud with Google Drive!

Color is very important to create atmosphere in a room. Because color can make a room seem larger or smaller. A space can even feel warmer or colder by using the right colors. In my drawing, I want a luxurious open feel. This I will achieve by using colors in a good way and by adding the right accessories.

A few tips:

A dark color on both long walls makes your room look longer:

If you make one wall darker the room appears to be wider.

Your ceiling will look lower when you color it dark. If you have a very high ceiling than it appears to be higher!

Warm colors will make your room look smaller and cozier.

Cool colors like blue, white, mint green and lilac often give a more spatial effect:

Balanced or unexpected?

If you stick to simple rules, you can create a successful color scheme. I show you two ways to do it:

Monochrome

To obtain a balanced result in your home it is best to choose one color and apply it in different shades on the walls but also in the accessories. We speak of monochromatic colors. This harmony we see in nature. For example in the shading of leaves and plants. These monochrome harmonies are often soothing and comfortable. In Floorplanner you can easily customize the color of your wall, as well as most accessories you find in the library.

Complementary

If you want to be more creative with your colors and accessories you can choose to use complementary colors. These are the colors facing each other in the color circle below.
Find a good balance if you use those colors. Make sure that a single color doesn’t take the upper hand. Blue for example is a calmer color than orange. In most cases you can use a lot of blue with an accent of orange to get the right balance.
For me that means I should add some yellow to my purple interior. Purple and yellow are both strong colors. I balanced 50/50 and kept the rest white and calm.

What does it mean?

The color you choose for your room will be crucial. It is responsible for the feeling and the emotions it evokes in you. I’ll show you some facts about color and interior:

Red

Red is the color of passion. It is a very strong color that can work on the mind. It symbolizes fire, aggression, intensity, ... It stimulates. The stimulatory effect of red is best for areas with lots of motion, such as the entrance of the salon. In the entrance red gives you a warm and cordial feel. It gives character to your home and you immediately create a festive feeling. Also in the kitchen red is a good choice because it activates the appetite!

Orange

Orange represents energy and cheerfulness. An euphoric effect can easily be obtained with orange tints. If you prefer a more modest feel then go for earth tones. This gives a rich color scheme with a quiet and friendly atmosphere that can make your living room very sympathetic.

Yellow

Yellow often is very dominant when used bright. In different tones yellow brings coziness into a room. It’s a warm sunny color, even when it’s used in a light tone.

Green

Green is the color of nature and of peace. It ensures freshness, confidence and calmness. Good to use in a baby room or office.

Blue

Blue shades bring peace and make you clam. It brings a serene atmosphere. That’s why many bathrooms and bedrooms painted in blue because they help to relax.

Violet

Purple rooms always have a luxurious feel. It’s the color of wealth, spirituality and relaxation. Another advantage is that purple optically magnifies spaces.

White

White is the color of purity. It "purifies" the "neutralizes" the room. White surfaces or certain shades of white can light up a room. It may also increase contrast by coloring a wall while the rest is white.

My client wants to have a luxurious feel. Purple is perfect to create that. By adding some re furnishing and a wooden floor I created a bit more coziness and passion!...In your designs please try many combinations. Surprise yourself and your customers!
Have fun!

In case you haven’t noticed the enormous banner on your dashboard, we launched our first iPad app. It’s called the FloorplanFinder.

The FloorplanFinder is a great app to show and present the floor plans you made with the Floorplanner web app. Pan, zoom and navigate through your floor plans. Are you a real estate professional? Prospective home-buyers will love this presentation!

It’s also a great resource when you are looking for inspiration. Discover beautiful, clever and crazy floor plans by searching our immense database with over 6 million floor plans, all available in 2D & 3D. Or browse through other users' creations just for fun.

Take the FloorplanFinder for a spin and let us know what you think of it.

We at Floorplanner have been fans of the Magicplan iPhone app since the day it was released. Today we are proud to announce a new partnership between Sensopia/Magicplan and Floorplanner to bring the best of both worlds to floorplan creators worldwide.

So what can you do with this?

The Magicplan application allows you to create a floorplan by just using the camera on your iPhone. As the name suggests the process of just point and click and have an accurate floorplan created automatically for you feels a bit like magic and can be a real time saver to create floorplans for properties that do not have a floorplan yet.

Once you have captured the 2D floorplan within Magicplan 2.1 you can send it to your Floorplanner account where a new project is created that you can further edit, add furniture to and see in realtime 3D. Having your Magicplan floorplan imported into Floorplanner also allows you to created scaled drawings in PDF, export high resolution 3D images or publish your plan online so it can be viewed in an interactive way in both 2D as 3D. All this can be achieved without drawing 1 wall :-)

How can I start?

If you want to try this you can simply go to the iTunes store and install the Magicplan application (or upgrade your existing Magicplan application to the 2.1 version) and use the new share button in the interface. You have to make sure that you are logged into Magicplan with the same emailaddress you are using for your Floorplanner account and you also need to have enough space to create new projects.

Room for improvement

As this is the first version of the Magicplan/Floorplaner integration there might still be some issues so if you run into any bugs or other strange behavior please let us know at support@floorplanner.com and we will fix this.

A while ago we did a poll on what type of furniture you would like to see more. Design furniture was the winner, and doors and windows the close runner up. Today we’re happy to present a fine set of new elements!

We’ve added some classic designs of famous designers like Alvar Aalto and Gijs Bakker, but also more temporary designers like Van Seeveren, Las Palmas bar chairs and some Vitra furniture.

We also created a set of new windows like double hung windows, a more classic segmented one, and a small one for in stairways or bathrooms, etc. We hope you like it and that this will help you to get a better impression of your house.

A set of doors and other elements will follow as we are constantly adding new stuff to our libraries. Happy planning!

Last month we simplified our product range to 3 options: Basic, Plus and Pro, giving users 1, 5 or 180 projects a year.

But what if you just need 1 more project?

Starting this week, you can also buy extra projects for a simple price per project. See the table below:

How does it work?

Go to your dashboard, click on the button to create a project. Only if your project limit is reached, you will get a menu in which you can buy extra projects. Just choose the amount and go ahead to pay.

Clearly, for upgraded users, prices of extra projects are cheaper. Upgrading is also a good deal because you get options to print, export, share and embed the amazing floor plans you made.

Need bigger deals?

If you think you need 500 projects or more per month, please contact us through our contact form.

We released a Swedish version of floorplanner! Now Floorplanner is available in 14 languages. We would like to thank a couple of our Swedish users for their help in this. They helped translate about 50% of the entire platform, our web pages, the drawing tool, manuals and the objects in our library. Big thumbs up!

You can switch to your own language in your profile, go to ‘My account’ on your dashboard and change it in your profile. Not logged in, check out the flag in the top right.

Feedback

There are probably still some errors in our translations. Have you found any errors or untranslated parts in our product or pages or can’t find any furniture items, please let us know through our contact form. Would you like to help us out? You can become a translator and get a Plus account for free!

Are your friends moving to a new house?
Is your uncle starting a restaurant?
Want to welcome the new owners of your house?
Or maybe your partner talks and talks about redesigning the garden but just doesn’t get started...

Floorplanner Plus might just be the perfect gift for your friends to enjoy their (new) space in the best possible way. It lets them visualise their interior ideas in an easy, stunning and convincing fashion.

For only € 9,95 they can! With the Floorplanner Gift account you give someone all Plus benefits for one year, including high quality visuals in 2D and 3D and enough project space to keep them busy for a while. And of course, they can draw & share their plans as easy as Floorplanner has always been for that.

Tell me more!

Here’s how you can make a legend with the items from our library.

1) Search for ‘Legend’ in the sidebar. You’ll get a bunch of items that can be handy for creating legends.
2) Drag a surface or border onto your plan. You can give it any color you like.



3) Find the A in the construction menu. Drag Text objects from here onto your surface for the title and description.
4) We have letters A-Z and numbers 0-9 to help you indicate an item.
5) Search for ‘symbols’, ‘electrical’, ‘emergency’ etc to get any other symbols you may need.



6) Type ‘Balloon’ or ‘Labels’ and you’ll find objects to give your remarks or descriptions a nice border.


I hope this was useful!
Want to have this for later use? Download the mini-manual Making a Legend.

For partners and future partners

If you’re reading this and thinking: 'Hey, I want to be on this partner list too!', you just need at least a Floorplanner Partner account. Then, contact us to be on this list. You can use our contact form for more info.
Partners will show up in our list in a random order on for each pageview.

Over the years we have seen a growing number of properties that are presented online with a colorful, interactive floorplan made with Floorplanner. However a lot of floorplans are still printed on paper and in many cases this is in black & white and for this a more “cleaner” look helps readability.

We have provided a black & white export option for some time now but as we are always looking to improve things we are rolling out some improvements that will make it even easier to create a more technical 2D look for your floorplans.

Some of the things we recently added are:

• A collection of black and white furnishing items to our libraries
• Simple doors and windows
• Hatch patterns for your floors
• A black and white export option
• The option to turn off shadows

Check out this plan as an example:



Or, with a subtle color:

We will be improving things further in the near future. Think about:

• More black and white items
• More hatches for your floors
• Easier PDF/image export
• A small tutorial on how to get the best black and white look

To get black and white furnishing items, do a search for "blackandwhite" in the sidebar. toggle the grey buttons below the search bar to get the topviews

We'll keep you posted!

New research has discovered that 73% of people experience the “Imagination Gap”; an inability to visualise themselves, their furniture or their belongings in a property for sale or to rent, even after viewing pictures online. A surprising 70% of people still can’t imagine how a property will look after seeing it in person.

This has serious implications for the property market, as the same research by Floorplanner found that 75% of people are less likely to purchase or rent a property if they cannot imagine living in it.

To tackle the significant problem of this Imagination Gap in the property market, Floorplanner today announced the purchase of Mydeco3D Ltd. Mydeco’s award winning 3D room planner tool adds new depth to online property listings by enabling floorplans to be populated with virtual, highly accurate versions of real-world products and furnishings. This is key to addressing the difference between how a property looks today and what it might look like after it has been purchased, furnished and decorated.

“A floorplan is a crucial component of any property listing. Our research shows over 50% of consumers spend more time viewing properties that have an interactive floorplan, making a sale or let much more likely,” said Jeroen Bekkers, CEO and Founder of Floorplanner. “Floorplanner has always had a unique interactivity that helps people visualise properties more clearly. With the addition of Mydeco’s technology, we’ll be able to close the Imagination Gap of house-purchasers and home-makers by delivering room styling in an even more compelling way. Unlike photos or static 2D plans, our platform can show the future potential of a property, making it easier to buy, sell, let and rent a property.”

Soon to be integrated with Floorplanner’s current, cutting-edge technology, this new platform allows buyers and renters to personally style each room, using a virtual model of a property, both prior to and after moving in.

“Almost a million rooms have been designed with Mydeco’s 3D tools,” added Jeroen. “Combining the success of this technology with Floorplanner’s well-established platform will help real estate agents offer better floorplans for all listed properties. We have created something that homebuyers can really understand. Our 3D modelling content keeps them engaged with online property listings for longer, driving up interest, engagement and ultimately the price achieved.”

Update: check out the coverage on the Wall Street Journal and TheNextWeb.

Floorplans are an essential part of any serious property presentation. And more and more people are accessing these presentations on mobile devices – property portals such as Rightmove and Zoopla in the UK state that over 30% of their traffic now comes from a phone or tablet. That means that floorplans need to be shown at their best in these mobile environments too.

Floorplanner floorplans can be output as 2D and 3D high quality images - but also as interactive floorplans. These interactive floorplans can be easily embedded into any website, as easily as embedding a YouTube movie. The advantage of an interactive floorplan is that it engages home hunters far more in planning the rooms, seeing if it corresponds to their needs, driving up emotional attachment to a property which results in better leads.

HTML5 for phones and tablets

We’re really pleased to announce that interactive floorplans are now available on all mobile devices. We recently released an HTML5 version of the interactive floorplan viewer especially designed for phones and tablets.

What’s even better is that you don't have to change anything. Whenever you load a floorplan on a mobile device, the new HTML5 version is automatically loaded.

Floorplans to scale

A house can have several floor levels and the floors can have different sizes. We have improved our mobile viewer to automatically display each floor to the same scale. This way, it's easier for a home hunter to understand the size of the floorplans and thus the house.

So have a look – get out your phone or tablet and try it out for yourself. We hope you’ll be impressed! Check out these plans for instance:

http://pl.an/27438

http://pl.an/demo-house

http://pl.an/oude-amersfoortseweg-118---hilversum

http://pl.an/94617

Floorplanner extends its platform into office spaces through a partnership with Officeplanner. This partnership adds a new possibility to the Floorplanner platform that allows people to automatically create different office layout proposals within seconds and see them in 3D.

“Visualising the possibilities of a particular space is hard and hiring a designer to draw up a custom proposal brings additional costs” says Jeroen Bekkers, CEO of Floorplanner.com “Officeplanner solves this by delivering custom 3D layout proposals on the fly based on the floorplan from our platform. It saves companies and real estate agents considerable time and money but also gives them much better insights into the potential of a space.”

Leading Dutch property portal Funda.nl is among the first to use the Officeplanner / Floorplanner integration within their website. This integration went live this week with over 250 office spaces already enabled with this feature.

Jan Werkman, commercial manager at Funda, says: "From experience we know that it's difficult for future tenants or buyers to see the potential of an empty office just by looking at a floorplan. They have a hard time visualizing if this is the right space for them. The interactive 3D floorplan from Officeplanner helps to bridge this 'imagination gap' based on the most advanced internet technology available."

It has been some time since you’ve heard from us. We’re happy to mention some improvements and updates of the Floorplanner tool. Lately, we've been working hard on improving Roomstyler and Floorplanner simultaneously.

New drawing features

Tutorials & Tricks

Czech version!