New Partner Post: Using Tools for Interior Design

Like most things in life, if you are using interior design tools for the first time they can be difficult to get to grips with.  A little knowledge and experience is a big help.   It can start with a tiny seed of an idea in the brain, for a freshening up of the home environment, and end up being a full on renovation project.  Whether it’s a big job like this or a smaller room redesign project you are going to need a good eye for design, practice with your tools, and a lot of patience. 
Online design tools for your interior design project.   There are several interior design tools online which are ideal for the home user and which have free versions available that are great for individual use.  
Designing a project You will need to take some time to get used to handling the free to use software of Google SketchUp but the website does include a learn center with access to tutorials that you can download and use at your own pace, as well as a getting started guide and quick reference cards.   The free version of the software includes all the 3D capabilities of the professional version but it’s visuals can be rough unless you have a lot of digital photographic input to use; even then it is difficult to master using the materials so this software is better suited for an overall 3D design idea and not for color and design co-ordination.  
Checking out colors and designs For a better idea of what color schemes will look like in a room Colorjive advertises ‘Paint a house with a click of your mouse’.  This is not free to use, at time of writing it costs $12 for one month’s use.  But it does advertise as being relatively easy to get used to using.  You can download a photo of your room and redesign it with different colors and designs digitally so that you can get an idea of the final outcome.  
The cutting edge of design Once you have come up with a design that you are happy with one of the most important things to be able to do to realize it is to cut and shape wood and metal within the design area; this can be a difficult task if you are not used to using the tools involved.  
Using a tap and die set. So what exactly is a tap and die set? Tapping is cutting threads into a hole, perfect for creating bespoke furnishings in conjunction with a die which can be used for either sharpening worn out thread on a bolt or creating a new bolt out of a metal rod.  This is ideal if you are creating your own designs which need specific measurements.  It is important that you use a tap and die set in a safe and secure manner. 
Using a reciprocating saw
If you are serious about a design project chances are that a reciprocating saw will be really useful.  It can be used for cutting into floors and ceilings, as well as for cutting pipes.  This type of saw is very powerful so it is important to make sake use of it, using both hands.    ___________________________________________ Welcome to my newest partner, and thank you or the informative article. Stacy