An Interior Designer's UPDATED Guide to Home Designer Pro vs. Chief Architect

It’s crazy to think it’s been almost three years since I wrote my ever-popular blog post, An Interior Designer’s Guide to Home Designer Pro vs. Chief Architect Interiors, on my original home to all things Chief Architect and Home Designer, www.kellyfridlinedesign.com. As of today, the blog has been read or viewed by thousands of Interior Designers, Residential Designers, Architects, and even Homeowners. The topic is still widely discussed, reviewed, and consistently questioned within the various Facebook groups, forums, and emailed to me. In addition to the popularity of the blog, I’ve also released several very successful online courses full of detailed instructions for all three versions and equate to over 45 hours of recordings.

Which version is right for you?

Since my last post, the software has now been upgraded twice and those promotions have really added some amazing features to all three versions. Oh, and yes, the three options we will be discussing are Home Designer Pro 2022, Chief Architect Interiors X13, and Chief Architect Premier X13. To start, I’m going to give you a very basic understanding of what the differences are between the three versions, I will then go a little more in-depth as to what each option includes. I will mention that of the three Home Designer options I will only be discussing Home Designer Pro, due to the extreme limitations, from a professional viewpoint, I do not recommend Architectural nor Suite.

Brunch and Banter | Planning for the Future of Interior Design

Sometimes you have those moments, you know, those discussions and light bulb sort of ideas that lead to more than you could have anticipated. Well, that’s where Brunch & Banter was, a fun, light hearted conversation between myself and my two ‘work wives’, Jenna Gaidusek and Sarah Durnez. Conceived in the very early days of the COVID-19 Stay at Home orders, we realized the need many Interior Designers had (and still do) for a little guidance with converting their Brick-n-Mortar business to the virtual realm, which the three of us have been working in for years. What was going to originally be a single morning distraction and support pow-wow has now turned into a bi-weekly Sunday morning/afternoon chat fest revolving around lady bosses, brunch, eDesign, renderings, and the crazy world on Interior Design.

So far we’ve covered a few subjects that come up as business owners, Facebook Group Administrators, rendering artists, and Interior Designers. This industry is always changing and evolving, but over the last month or so we’ve seen a serious jump toward eDesign. Check out the full episodes below whereI’ve made sure its all located in one place (other than youtube). Oh, and be sure to check back for updates and additional Banters!

Home Designer for Interior Designers

An Introduction to a Learn-As-You-Go Online Course

So here’s the thing, I’ve built a course specifically tailored to Interior Designers using Home Designer Professional (HD Pro). This is (as noted in the title of this blog) a pre-recorded Learn As You Go Online course that will cover everything you need to be efficient in HD Pro as an Interior Designer. Keep in mind, that Home Designer is still considered a DIY software, so you don’t have the same bells and whistles available that you’ll find in the Chief Architect Interiors (with NKBA dimensioning standards built in) or Premier, but there are work arounds and a specific level of mind set that you need to move forward using this more basic option, primarily being organization and some patience. To learn a little more about the differences between the two software versions I suggest you check out the blog post I wrote, An Interior Designer's Guide to Home Designer Pro vs. Chief Architect Interiors.

The Benefits of Hiring an Architecturally Trained Virtual Design Assistant & Rendering Artist

Recently, the market for Virtual Design Assistants (VDA) and Rendering Artists has become more available than ever before. As the world of design is becoming a close knit community, via social media and collaborative dashboards like IVY.co and MyDoma, it can be difficult to weed through all the professional resources. Instagram feeds, Facebook groups, and Google search results all add that extra layer of stress when looking for right the team member.

So, with all these opportunities, testimonials, and connections how do you know you’re making the right choice?

An Interior Designer's Guide to Home Designer Pro vs. Chief Architect Interiors

So here’s the big question, one that I counsel Interior Designers on regularly, and I mean 2-3 time per week… minimum. Between Chief Architect and Home Designer which version (of the seven) is right for you and why? Well my immediate response is; what do your projects look like and what do you hope to get out of the software?

An Introduction to a Learn-As-You-Go Online Course

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