Try to find one with elevations since the GC needs that and the cab maker.

I bought home design so I could get a plan to the city for permits but have hand drawn my elevations and plans since then.

No catch - and no price tag:) Use google sketch-up.

I've tried google sketch up 3x and I admit that it defeated me. I could not learn how to use it in the time I have.

The key with sketchup is to find a good tutorial that shows you how to use it for room layouts and work through it. Playing around with it on your own probably won't be very efficient for most people. Once you have modeled your space you can download a set of cabinets from the object warehouse (there are ones from various cabinet lines plus resizeable ones) as well as various appliances, sinks, etc and play around with layouts.

Some important Sketchup tips:

- Group or make an object out of EVERYTHING! Ungrouped elements will stick together and make a mess.

- If the tutorial you use doesn't include section cuts you need to look up how to do that as well. You may need to use them so you can view part of the room without the opposite wall blocking your view.

- You can get 2d elevations by orienting the camera perpendicular to that wall and changing the perspective to parallel.

A KD will generally do that for you as part of the design service. Which is usually FREE with the purchase of cabinets.

Thanks for the advice. I'll try sketchup. I'd like to play around with ideas at home before going to a designer just so I have a general idea of what we want.

Ooooh, Sketchup. It stumped me. I am totally self-taught on the various programs I use including desktop publishing programs (Serif) and have done professional layouts for newsletters, brochures and such for various local businesses, taught WordPerfect and dBase for adult night classes back in the day, early 90's, when those were the premier programs. Then, when Word became the norm, taught myself that so I could teach it. Also taught myself a few different ways to create websites and have done those for fees for a few folks as well. But I just can't figure out Sketchup no matter how many tutorials I've used. I think my brain just can't process in 3D or somethin'.

Its not just you funkycamper. I also have tried to used SketchUp several different times, and found the "learning curve" to be a smooth, unclimbable surface. And I work doing computer programming, and several times have worked doing 3D graphics engine development for games company. So I "get" 3D, but SketchUp has remained out of my grasp.

I downloaded the free sketchup and watched some of the tutorials. After less then an hour, my head was spinning. I knew it was going to be way more time then I wanted to spend and WAY more brain power then I have available. :-)

I recently discovered the ikea planner, and it is so easy that within a few minutes even I had easily made my design. I probably won't go with ikea cabinets either. I would have considered them, but we don't have ikea in my location. The cabinet sizes were close enough to allow me to try different layouts to see what worked best, so that is what I would try first.

Nice to know I'm not alone in my Sketchup woes. I see how it can be useful for other types of projects so I'm determined to try it again. Maybe for a slow, rainy winter day.

I, too, use the Ikea planner. Sometimes it's glitchy, sometimes not. It's a crap shoot. But it's very easy to learn. Just save your work often so you don't lose a bunch of work if it starts getting glitchy on ya.

After trying a bunch of online planners and struggling with the Ikea planner, I decided to drop $100 on Chief Architect's Home Designer Interiors. I'm just dropping in standard cabinets and resizing them to match the Ikea catalog.

It's not perfect. So far the main limitations I've found are: can't do a custom vaulted ceiling; can only do face-frame, not frameless, cabinets; it does 3D sections but not traditional elevations; and I've had to hack the island countertop a bit). Other than that, I'm finding it pretty easy to use. Here are samples from my brainstorming...

I have the chief architect and it's useless since there are no elevations if you want that. For the 3D it gives you the basic idea but it funky and changes measurements of the entire room every time you change something so you have to be careful.

Really? I haven't had that problem so far. You can't get an actual elevation, but you can get pretty close with a cross-section of a 3D view.

It sounds like I should try Sketchup, though. Maybe I could get my ceiling right.

Thanks for the suggestion of using SketchUp. I went through some tutorials today and have the room itself built, complete with doors and windows and a refrigerator. I haven't figured out adding cabinets yet, though. I tried to get them in the warehouse of objects but I don't know what I'm going after or sizes, etc. I guess I need to learn more about this tomorrow, but so far, so good!

I found printing 50 sheets of graph paper and buying a few pencils with erasers was the best start for us to start.