Paul Fread won 1st place in the Chief Architect Remodel/Addition Design Contest. Paul and his crew have a passion for working on vintage character homes and bringing them new life. This Kitchen Addition was a great example of their work.

“First, everyone at Original Roots is here because we love what we do and we enjoy working with each other and serving our great clients.  We work on Design+Build projects ranging from bathrooms and kitchens to major additions and pop-tops – and anything in between.  We focus on Denver’s old character homes and we have an intimate working knowledge of the history and typical challenges that these awesome vintage homes present.  The fun part is working through those challenges to consistently create beautiful, well-designed, and solidly built finished projects.  It’s really hard work and we love it.

“Several things make us unique from other companies in our industry beyond the typical claims of quality, timeliness, and ability to stay on budget.  First, we are truly a Design+Build firm with professional/degreed Designers under the same roof as our field crew of Carpenters and Project Supervisors.  Secondly, we offer a completely honest and realistic construction cost range after an initial consultation. We do this for a few reasons:  we want our clients to get a realistic sense of costs early on in the process to help guide their decision making and ensure that we are designing – and ultimately, building – something within their means.  Also, we want to foster an atmosphere where we’re able to do what we say we can from the beginning, leaving folks happy in the end.

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By Emily Black

New and returning attendees joined us for our 2017 User Group Meeting and Training in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho!

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Chace won 2nd in our Residential Design Contest and has found his passion in home design.

“Born and raised in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex of Texas, I’ve always had an eye for design. Supported by my father and mother and their commercial construction business, I was very fond of many local architectural firms. I had set up a few one on one interviews to discuss my future goals, the educational process, and the work atmosphere. My mind was set on architecture since I was very young. (more…)

Valerie won 1st in our Residential Design Contest and has been using Home Designer software since 2012! As a repeat Design Contest winner, she has continuously shown her love for design through many styles and spaces.

“I started drawing floor plans when I was 9 years old, and I have been hooked on it ever since. I know I have much yet to learn, but Home Design is my passion, and my dream is to work for an Architect and learn more. I returned to school in 2002 and studied drafting which included Hand Drafting and AutoCAD. I earned an entry level drafting certificate in 2003 with a 3.9-grade level. About 1997 we got our first computer and it was not long before I bought my First Design software. Broderbund was my first program, then Better Homes and Gardens and lastly Chief Architect’s Home Designer software. Someday I would like to own the professional version. I live in central WV, but we will soon be moving back to my home state of PA. Besides designing homes, I enjoy reading, pets, cooking, drawing/painting, camping and more. This is a great honor for me and I thank everyone who voted for my entry for this month. I’m looking forward to next month’s contest. Congratulations to the other two winners!”

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Havier is a 15-year-old student from Sheboygan, Wisconsin and placed 1st in our Remodel-Addition Design Contest! It’s an honor to be a part of bringing his passion to life.

“My parents bought my first Chief Architect Home Designer Suite software for Christmas in 2013.  I started learning how to use the software and my first designs were pretty simple.  I’ve since designed countless homes and buildings.  The Chief Architect software began my passion for exterior and interior home design and I always look forward to software updates.  I am planning to go to college and obtain a degree in architecture and design.” (more…)

By Dani Forbush

Chief Architect recently partnered with Wayfair Trade to produce a catalog of over 500 free models for our 3D Library.

This catalog includes a collection of lighting, furniture, and home décor models of real-life products from Wayfair.com. Chief Architect and Home Designer customers are able to create free, shoppable renderings for clients of any style. With more than 10,000 suppliers and eight million products, Wayfair is one of the largest online shopping destinations for all home décor and furnishings. (more…)

Richard placed 2nd in the Chief Architect Residential Home Design Contest. He has always had an eye for creative design and is now working with Norris Architects to dive deeper into architecture.

“I lived my former years with the notion I wanted to go into Real Estate. As a child, I had a burning passion for building with Legos, crafting creative objects from obscure materials and creating abstract, yet understandable forms through any medium I could get my hands on. Essentially, my passion for architecture, houses, the glitz, the glam, the overall peculiar curiosity for a betterment of design of the sort had always been a prevalent part of my upbringing. The moment I turned 18, I obtained my real estate licensure in Arizona and soon discovered that I had an insatiable desire for more; I started working alongside my father, who is an architect, learning the complex jargon and every bit of minutia involved in the trade. I still love what I do to this date despite the constant desire to discover and master everything in the realm of architecture. (more…)

By Adrean Stephenson

Downloadable Sample Plans are a great resource for experiencing the features in Chief Architect’s software hands-on and in real-time. A variety of plans are available on both the Chief Architect and Home Designer websites. 

Now that the latest Home Designer product line has been released, we are excited to offer another set of great tools for DIY designers and Home Enthusiasts to showcase their talents. There are many new features offered in the product line that you can view here; however, today I want to share our process for creating new downloadable sample plans and shine a light on the sources of our inspiration.

With each new release of software, Chief Architect’s Art Department develops a new look for the products’ packaging. For the Home Designer product line, separately featuring 5 unique packages is no small feat! The goal this year was to utilize a photograph of a residential design that is well suited to the functionality available in the product. If you click on the images below, you can see that we create our version of the scene using the software and then display the rendering as an inlay on the product cover.

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William of HearthStone Homes placed 1st in the Chief Architect Residential Home Design Contest in April! He fell in love with log home design back at the very beginning.

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Tara Pike placed 1^st in the Chief Architect Remodel/Additions Design Contest in March.

“Ever since I was young, when I saw an abandoned house that was in disrepair, I’d automatically start thinking about what I’d do to make it beautiful again, if it were mine. It became a joke between my father and me. If we were out in the car driving somewhere, and we happened to pass an old shack, often in unison and with excitement we’d say, “there’s a fixer-upper!” Eventually, my husband continued on with the humor. However, since he was very handy in all areas of home construction, it soon became more of a goal of ours than a silly joke. (more…)