I still remember the first time I tried to learn SketchUp. Fresh out of architecture school and working at a trendy design office in Sydney, Australia. At that point in my career, I was already familiar with AutoCAD, Vectorworks, ArchiCAD, and Revit, so when I tried SketchUp, I was beyond frustrated. I actually wanted to throw my computer out the window! SketchUp was completely different to any other CAD program I had used and it felt like I had to retrain my brain in order to be able to use it.

Compared to other drafting and Computer-Aided Design (CAD) programs I had used for interior design, SketchUp initially felt overly basic. But that simplicity is what makes SketchUp brilliant, and it’s why I’m such a big advocate for it. What I appreciated most was that it always offered an easily accessible free version, (and not just for students), which makes it far more inclusive than other design software on the market.

It is also one of the fastest programs to learn and one of the most user-friendly for creating detailed drawings. If you're wondering whether learning SketchUp is worth your time, I recommend reading my post on what software interior designers should learn ( What’s The Best Software For Interior Designers To Learn?) for a broader view of where it fits in your toolkit.

SketchUp is one of my favourite CAD programs, but most people don’t realise that alongside the Pro version, there’s also a free version that anyone can use. The difficulty that most people have is simply finding it. So, I wanted to create a video to help you find it so that you can start using it straight away. Also wanted to show you what you can actually do with it, because everyone thinks that because it’s free it must be very limited, but that’s completely untrue!

The SketchUp free version can be a little bit confusing to find, especially as most people go straight to SketchUp.com. But I actually find it’s much simpler to just type “SketchUp for web start modelling” into your search bar, and it brings the correct page up for you. Once you land on the page, look for the “Start Modelling” button.

You’ll be prompted to create an account. Go ahead and do that, you’ll need your email address and a password. First, it’ll ask you to create a Trimble ID. Click on that and follow the steps to create your account. Once that’s done, log in using your email and password (if you’ve been taken away just go back and type “SketchUp for web start modelling” again).

When you log in, you’ll land on a dashboard. It will be empty at first. Remember, you’re not downloading any applications, SketchUp Free runs directly in your web browser. Personally, I prefer using SketchUp in a separate browser because I use Chrome for day-to-day tasks and usually have loads of tabs open. Having too many tabs can slow your model down, so I keep SketchUp in a clean browser to speed things up and can close my other web browser when modelling so that it doesn’t interfere and I can pick up where I left off when using my other browser.

If you watch the video you’ll see an overview of how I use SketchUp for my projects, (even if they’re large and complex models that would typically be slow due to their size). In that specific commercial project SketchUp made it easy for me to create custom furniture with curves. In many 3D programs, that would require lots of customisation and technical expertise, but SketchUp makes it easy. That’s why it’s such a fabulous program, it’s simple, but powerful. I use it to quickly test ideas and create lots of little details effortlessly and then to present and create fly-through videos.

One of the things many designers avoid but shouldn’t are Tags, (or “layers” if you’ve used other software). Tags are really useful to help you turn things on and off while modelling. I usually create Tags for all the items I have on the ceilings (RCP or Reflected Ceiling Plans) which allow me to turn them off at once so that I can focus on other parts of my model. Some elements, like trees or repeating photo textures, can slow things down, so turning off specific tags can help make your model work smoothly too.

Something I always do is include people in my models to get a sense of scale and proportion. It helps visualise whether something looks too big or too small and helps overcome those beginner mistakes that new designers are often criticised for. If you’re in the early stages of your interior design journey, you might also like this post on the reality of starting an interior design career: The Reality Of Starting An Interior Design Career | Challenges You Need to Know

I also use scenes to navigate different parts of the model easily. In this commercial project, I named scenes by zones instead of rooms. Clicking a scene quickly takes me to the exact view I need, without having to manually fly through the model. Also, I don’t just use my models for visuals, I use them for technical and construction information too. I do my detailed and developed design in SketchUp, and sometimes even my construction documents. For complex designs with lots of finishes, SketchUp helps me clearly see what’s happening in the model.

You can also import smaller models into larger models, create blocks, components (where you edit something like a dining chair once and it edits all of the others at the same time) and also create editable and adjustable elements. There is a huge library of objects and furniture that you can import from the 3D Warehouse, edit groups, add textures, change colours, or apply bespoke images for rugs, marble, or other finishes. I also find that many suppliers provide SketchUp models of their best selling furniture items, so putting in the exact items can also help make your models much more accurate than other interior design modelling programs.

It’s also easy to model your own furniture if you wanted to. It’s such a quick and easy program to learn and use it’s so intuitive that it keeps up with your thought process. When I first started using it, I’d already tried AutoCAD, Vectorworks, ArchiCAD, and others, and they all made modelling more complicated than it needed to be. SketchUp lets you do complex things without requiring deep technical knowledge.

I hope you can see why I love SketchUp so much. If you want to learn how to use the free version of SketchUp, we’ve got a course on the IntoDesign platform:  INTODESIGN | Support & Learning Platform For Interior Designers