Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Design Your Bathroom Online

If you are having trouble visualizing a new bathroom design, there is an easy way to test drive your ideas before making any commitments. The Internet offers a variety of different two- and three-dimensional bathroom design planners that require a little effort and a lot of creativity. Following are some tips on using one of these online planners.


Different Planners


There are many different online bathroom planners you can choose from if you want to create a makeshift blueprint for your design. You can find these bathroom designers at the Kohler, Armitage Shanks, Big In Bathrooms and the Bathroom Furniture Guide websites. For this walkthrough, the William Wilson Big in Bathrooms site will be used.


Depending on which planner you use, you may have to download the latest version of Adobe Flash or Macromedia Shockwave. Some older operating systems may not be able to support these plugins; when you try downloading either plugin, you may get an error message if you are using an old operating system. You may need to shut down your Internet browser to download Flash or Shockwave, so make sure you bookmark your page before closing.








Floor Plan


After you have downloaded all of your plugins, you will be directed to an interactive online bathroom planner. At the William Wilson website, you will see what appears to be a small grid on the left (which is your 2-D view), and a small blank box on the right (this is your 3-D view). Make sure you have your bathroom measurements available.


Begin by creating walls. To do this, simply click on a point on the grid and trace the outline of your bathroom with its approximate measurements. Once you have completed this step, a 3-D version of your bathroom will appear in the box at the right. You can view this image at different angles and zooms by click-holding on the image and turning it with your mouse.


Designing








To change the color of your walls, double click on a highlighted wall. Under your grid, you will see an option to change the color. Once you choose your color, you can simply click on a wall and choose "Apply Current Color" for each wall.


Proceed by clicking on "Next Step." You will be given several different items to choose from: doors, windows, WC (toilets), basins (sinks), baths, showers, radiators and units (medicine cabinets or shelving). The "Generic" tab allows you to design your bathroom using scalable boxes instead of products. Choose your products and place them wherever you would like them to appear in your bathroom. The items will flash red if they are incorrectly positioned. As you place items, you will be able to see them appear in the 3-D view as well. Once you are finished, you can save and print your file.

Tags: your bathroom, bathroom design, change color, choose from, items will, online bathroom