Popular Mechanics: Home Improvement

Plan Ahead

By Roy Berendsohn

Two kits help bring out the architect in you.

It seems that design work today has to be done on a computer, whether you’re designing a house or airplane parts. It used to be that these things were modeled with clay and wood. And although these old-fashioned methods have largely been supplanted by computer-assisted design, there are still some distinct benefits to the three-dimensional modeling process. For one thing, a model provides something that a computer can’t: an object that you can touch, hold up, take apart. There’s just something about objects, not images, that makes a thing easier to understand. That’s where these two kits come in.

One is called Home Quick Planner. It consists of a 1/4-in.-scale floor plan and 700 architectural symbols (including everything from windows to sofas to sinks) made from peel-and-stick plastic. Lay out where you want walls and stairs, then place cabinets, furnishings, appliances, and fixtures wherever you like. Position electrical outlets, light fixtures, and switches, and move things around as you see fit.

Take your floor plan to the next level with the 3-D Home Kit. It provides poster-board building materials such as siding, brick, and stone, as well as doors and windows so that you can construct a 1/4-in.-scale model of a new house or modifications to your existing house. A “Hands-on Design & Math” workbook is included in the kit to help you estimate building material quantities and do things like calculate the minimum size of windows.

The Home Quick Planner costs about $23 and the 3-D Home Kit about $34. Contact Design Works Inc., 11 Hitching Post Rd., Amherst, MA 01002. The kits can also be ordered online at www.homeplanner.com.

Copyright © Popular Mechanics 2001. Reprinted by permission.

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