The result of several attempts, for most new designers, is that their initial drawings all start to look the same. Rooms are similar in scale, hallways curve in similar ways, the design feels comfortable, if a little boring. This is because if it isn’t sure of what else to do, the brain resorts to what it knows. So change it… What to Do When Your Design Ideas All Look the Same

Sometimes, those first sketches have a dynamism to them that falls apart when you try to draw them formally. So how do you take that initial energy and refine it to a coherent plan? First, pick one of the sketches that you feel good about the spatial relationships and overlay a sheet of tracing paper on it. Try not to… How to Turn Rough Sketches into Buildable Plans

If you have ever tried designing a room from scratch, you might have noticed that it ends up either too small to use comfortably, or awkwardly too large. The problem isn’t with your creativity, but with the scale. Inexperienced designers tend to size rooms based on how they look rather than how they feel. Your couch may look perfect in… Why Your First Room Layout Feels Wrong (and How to Fix It)

When faced with a blank piece of paper, it can be daunting, but the truth is that most design problems need to be solved before the pencil even touches paper. Understanding and analyzing floor plans helps you to understand the relationship between spaces, the way in which people move through spaces, and whether the space feels constrained or expansive. Before… How to Read a Floor Plan Before You Draw One