# kitchen software



## 308Gap (Mar 6, 2010)

I need kitchen design, and cabinet software, I need to design it for layout and looks and then someday when I magically get skills I can try and build it. I know sketchup is popular but Im looking for a drag and drop kinda deal. The only reviews I find are on the softwares website which always makes me suspicous. any ideas??


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## manumurf (Mar 4, 2010)

I work for Planit. We sell CabinetVision and Cabnetware software that can do anything from basic layout and design to pushing a button to send the parts to a nesting router that drills, cuts dadoes, and cuts out the parts for assembly. But even the lower end Design and layout only software starts at around $4,000. Most of the people I speak to and help in my role as Tech Support for Cabnetware have $15k to $20k invested in software and another $75k to $100k in a nesting machine or panel saw and Point to Point machine to cut out and machine the parts.

Thermwood, a router manufacturer, has developed Ecabs and distributes it for free basically, but it only works with their brand routers. Lots of folks get it and just use it for designing and cutlisting.

Run a Google Search for "Cabinet Design Software freeware" and you will come up with a bunch of free or shareware programs that can probably do what you want.


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## rsmith71 (Jan 26, 2010)

Try this-
http://www.cabinetplanner.com/
Price is reasonable but I haven't tried it yet. Rockler also has a cabinet software that's around $200.


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## live4ever (Feb 27, 2010)

Here's a free one if you're just looking to drag and drop cabinet boxes. Since Ikea uses standard sized cabs, this might be perfect for your needs, and you can move to Sketchup or other paid programs when you need more detail, need to draw individual parts, etc.

I find it very helpful, and very easy to use.

http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_US/rooms_ideas/splashplanners.html#lnk-3-2

Note: It's PC only, but you can also use it on a Mac with Windows installed.


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## 308Gap (Mar 6, 2010)

I'll check those out, My house is a 70's track home with the original kitchen. We romoved a wall when we moved in so now I have a huge living room with the kitchen in the corner. My hopes are for an L shape with an island. So far Norms kitchen cab build seems the easieat to follow. My hopes are to design it and then build modulars to install, only part of his I didnt like was the mdf. The wife wants alder or maple faces. So you know whats gonna get used. Funny part to the house, my uncles stepdad signed off on the final permit, and he used to take bribs….....LOL. small world.


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## grumpycarp (Feb 23, 2008)

Seems to me you answered the question by asking the question. SketchUp is the answer. You can import entire kitchen suites from the database. You can overlay images of your current layout with your imagined layout, and it's free. It won't however, design the space for you.

BTW you most likely live in "tract" housing, not "track" housing, unless it is HO scale . . .and it's down by the river . .

Living of the fat of the "bribs" . . . .


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## manumurf (Mar 4, 2010)

If you are looking for a parts list and not just a picture, you will need some more advanced software than sketchup. If you want just a pretty picture there are some good layout software titles out there that just do that.

If you want to get manufacturing info, like detailed cut lists with part sizes and material lists, hardware lists, proposals and that kind of thing, be prepared to pay something for it.


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## Ger21 (Oct 29, 2009)

Actually, there's a Sketchup plugin that will give you a cutlist.
http://lumberjocks.com/daltxguy/blog/5143


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## 308Gap (Mar 6, 2010)

grumpy I spent one weekend trying to creat a dresser. In the end I saved it somewhere never to be found again. But thats when it first came out. I dont mind spending money as long as it works,

Murphy - yes I want something that will give me 3D and a material list and cut sheet in the end. I need the proportions to be pretty close, or I might be LIVING with mistakes everyday. If it was an end table I could just start over. One i was really looking at is

Architectural Home Designer. http://www.homedesignersoftware.com/products/architecturalhomedesigner/

Ger21 thanks for the link, that wasnt around years ago, but then the idea that I COULD DO IT is only about 1 1/2 yrs old. If I just stay in planning phase long enough the next homeowner can do it. But theres no fun in that.


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## fge (Sep 8, 2008)

We build kitchens on a regular basis, just a small business with me and my wife. I use cabinetplanner.com. Simply awesome software for the price point and does everything that I need it to do. Is a great help with planning the kitchen and keeping me accurate during the building process. Also it is great figuring how much materials I need. Great deal!


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## 308Gap (Mar 6, 2010)

cabinetplanner looks pretty good. for the price I might have to try it out.


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## 308Gap (Mar 6, 2010)

The whole room, living, dining, kitchen, all open is 33' x 26' . The first photo is my wreck of a kitchen, the door behind tank goes to my cave. you can see the split on the floor where the wall was dividing the 2 livingrooms, hanging lamp over what was a dining cubby, and crown molding ending unfinished, I scraped the popcorn off and remudded ceiling. Then a neighbors house blew up on xmas eve so now its all cracked, the stub wall by door had 70's pillars. This is why I need design software, I'm mechanical not artistic.










This is what she wants, and its very close to the right proportions. Knotty alder. I might need to move a door that goes to the garage.


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## manumurf (Mar 4, 2010)

A quick look at Chef Architect's site shows that it can do alot of different things but I could not see anywhere where it said you could get a parts/material list for the cabinets you can design with it. You want to be careful that the one you get (and spend your time learning) is going to do what you want and not a bunch or unnecessary extras.

Cabinet Planner on the other hand sounds like they offer a free trial and is quite a bit more specialized in that it doesn't do decks and landscaping and exteriors and all that. (http://www.cabinetplanner.com/) 
If what you are doing is trying to design and build casework, then it would be more likely the way to go.

My shop built several kitchens a year and did not have a software program to cutlist and build from. I used a cad program to draw with but that was it. After going to work for Cabnetware I could see how I could have saved days if not weeks of time on each kitchen's design, layout and cutlist process. If I was to start it up again I would definitely be using a program to do the Layout, estimating and cutlisting.

But I am older and smarter now.

0


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## Ger21 (Oct 29, 2009)

Keep in mind that if your only doing a single kitchen, it may not be worth it to invest the time to set up the software. Of course this depends on the software, but some of them support several different construction methods, and may require a fair amount of time to learn and setup before using.

If you have the skill to build a kitchen, then you should have the skills to make a cutlist. I would recommend learning Sketchup or another CAD program, as they will give you far more flexibility when designing and building other projects.

At work, I have a set of Cabnetware CD's on my desk, but don't have it installed. In this economy, we don't have the $5-$10K to upgrade it to create code for our CNC.


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## 308Gap (Mar 6, 2010)

Cabinet planner pics. still using the free version, to check it out. Tell me what you guys think. I need honest opinions here.


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## dennis (Aug 3, 2006)

The #2 pencil, 8 1/2 X 11, and a ruler program will work if you can find someone old enough to show you how that yellow thing works.


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## manumurf (Mar 4, 2010)

Looks good. Real good for a beginner with a new program (no offence intended). Can you get a parts list? Is it setup to build (or rather give you part sizes for the way you want to build) the boxes, doors, drawers the way you want?

In the elevations the stiles for the drawer fronts look wider than the stiles on the doors below them. Looks like a shaker typer drawer front and a raised panel type door. Not a big deal if you are buying the doors and just need finished sizes from the program, but if the doors and DF's are being cutlisted as 5 pieces, make sure the styles match. (not stiles).

Maybe it's just the sink wall that has the RP doors on it, the rest, like the pantry seem to match the shaker style.

To the right of the Stove that drawer bank looks like it actually should not be there in elevation. 3D view shows a cabinet butting against the face of it. That would be a good spot for a Lazy Susan cabinet.

Upper Cab #33 in that elevation is a blank panel, you could actually have a wider cab for #23 if you don't have another one butting it on the adjacent wall. Or use a diagonal Corner Upper.

Cab numbering seems a little odd but it's probably fine. Maybe that program numbers the sections (openings) rather than the cabinets themselves like I am used to.

It looks good, just review it for problems before relying on it for a cutlist.


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## 308Gap (Mar 6, 2010)

AS for the styles its my input that messed it up, mind you this is one day, it does give a parts breakdown with the payed version. As for the doors I have to tell it exactly what style, just havent figured it out yet. The drawers right next to stove are me filling in the gap so to speak, 34 is 24 W and 35 is 12 W. 7 is a left blind, I want a corner the uses the space the best, it just gonna take more time to figure out the program. My intentions are for almost all drawers. At 45 this will probably be my last home so I want to design it for me and not for resale value. 33 is just a filler as 23 is already 24w. I have a empty bedroom to store all the cabs in until Im ready,

Dennis I already did the yellow stick, the wife said " what the @#$#$ is going to look like, after 20 plus years of marriage one basic thing I have learned ( if she's happy I'm happy ).

Murphy I dont get offended, no worries, straight talk is for people who get things done, the cab # are the sequence at which I designed and RE-disigned it. I did take Architectural drafting in college, for 1 1/2 yrs, I dropped out to be a mechanic, the office thing was getting to me.


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## roman (Sep 28, 2007)

is she happy with every ones pictures and BS so far?


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## 308Gap (Mar 6, 2010)

Wow…............if I was a cabinet builder for 25 years and not a TRUCK DRIVER then I probably wouldn't be here looking for help and advise. Since all the pictures are mine, " yes " she's quite happy. It gives us both new ideas to work from. As for the BS it's been useful until now, Thanks for contributing Moron, your project gallery looks great, your truly a craftsman. If anything I can learn a little from your old posts.


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## fge (Sep 8, 2008)

I absolutely love using cabinet planner. I use it with all of my customers with my laptop in their home while measuring. It is very easy and I can input a kitchen in very little time. When first setting up the program you need to input all of your own building criteria such as frame/frameless and how wide styles are, toe kicks or no toe kicks, just different things, cannot remember all of now. But after that, it does the rest. I will usually spend 2 hours in a customer's home with this program and catalogs picking out accessories and such.

When I leave and go home, I spend about 2 hours calculating overhead/materials/labor/profit cost and then draw an esitmate all mostly using cabinet planner's materials list and drawings then email over to the customer. It all looks really professional and I think it really helps a lot with winning bids as people don't want to hand over close to 10,000.00 to just anyone.

The program can help with cut list, and no offense to the writer but I just prefer doing my own thing and using the programs drawings to keep me on task by looking at the arial view and elevation drawings. Then marking off cabinets as they are built. Building a cabinet is just building a box, very simple and no need for a cutlist in my opinion. I use detached toe kicks, cut all my sides 30 1/2 tall and 23 1/4 wide, so I get 6 sides per sheet. So it is easy in my head to look at the drawings and see 10 base cabinets that will need 20 side parts. Then there would be 10 bottom parts and 20 total stretchers. These calculations come to my head very easily without having to follow a cut list. Then doors, we measure opening and add 1", divide by 2 for a cabinet with 2 doors. I input those measurements into an excel program which spits out all of my styles and rails and panels sizes and then on to assembly. Then measure for drawer openings and build accordingly.

It all goes very smooth and I really have a lot to thank Cabinet planner for in my opinion. Just love the program, and don't mention the price point, it is very good for the cost.


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## 308Gap (Mar 6, 2010)

Thanks Jerry for the ideas, it helps. I'm thinking I will try and keep the base cabs and matching uppers standard dimensions as much as possible, if you see where the pantry and frig are is where our dining room use to be. I still have so much to figure out, I did start a list and the order to which they should be done. One thing for sure is no mdf allowed, prefinished ply and hardwoods. I started adding up the cost for just the drawer slides and my wallet burst into flames, the good stuff is high priced. I can do most the elec and the sink is staying in the same place, the only big move is the gas line but it already goes over the new spot. I will have a gas fitter run that, I'll just do as much prep as I can. Jerry if you don't mind me asking what material do you use for drawers , I was planning prefinished 1/2 ply all the way around and half blind DT's in front with a hardwood face.


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## fge (Sep 8, 2008)

We use 1/2" baltic birch that we dovetail. This last job the customer requested solid maple so we went that route.

Are you wanting soft close on your drawer glides. If so then yes glides are expensive. If not then I would suggest to go with KVTT 100 glides, you can buy those glides for about 5.00 per set easy and they are the very best quality/bang for your dollar. If soft close is necessary, then prepare to spend for it, the KV 8450 soft close is a side mount and runs 13.00 per set but if doing this job for myself, or anyone else, I would avoid using them (they work good but require a lot of fiddling around/adjusting and they are side mount which does not make for the best look) and try to squeeze blum undermount tandem with soft close into the budget and they run 20.00 per set. So you can see, for the tandem slides, they are 7.00 more then the KV side mounts but they are probably 5 times better in my opinion. Course the KVTT 100 will certainly be great if soft close is not needed or desired.


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