NO, THERE'S NOT AN APP FOR THAT!

Last week, while my eleven year old niece was showing off the latest cool APP she'd downloaded, I shared one of my favorites, too, the Home Designer 3D APP for $5.99 (shared here a few months ago).  As I explained to her how easy it was for me to take ideas and apply them to a visually pleasing three dimensional rendering for clients with no vision, sometimes it's just easier to go back to basics.  Two of my advanced APPS allow me to manipulate furniture and colors at the tap of a finger, but there's still nothing like being in the actual (not virtual) space with some paper, a pen and a little painters tape.  For a client trying to furnish an apartment in the city and worried nothing would fit in his tight space, I rolled up my sleeves and put my ideas on paper...then I taped them to his floors.
PAPER TRAILS:
No need to scratch your floors OR YOUR HEAD while trying to figure out where to place furniture.  Whether you are planning to buy new or rearranging what you already have, taking measurements of the pieces, cutting construction paper to match the width and depth then taping them down in areas where you think you'd like them helps visualize the space.  In one of my first blogs five years ago I tried to help clients visualize their new addition by spray painting it on their lawn.  Because the 1,000 square foot new spaces included a family room, walk in closet, new bath and study (as well as wetbar, murphy bed, fireplace, built in desk, etc.) it was important for the clients to see exactly what the space would look like before we filled it with furniture.  I bought a can of lawn spray paint (used for marking soccer fields) and spray painted the addition with windows, doors, etc. and allowed depth for framing and drywall.  I then placed the fireplace, wet bar, etc. and dimensions for furniture they had chosen.  This exercise, while a bit time consuming, saved money and heartache down the road because rather than looking at a one dimensional floor plan they were actually able to sit in it and picture how things would fit instead of later saying, "ohhhh shit!"