Category Archives: Drafting Software

Restaurant Floor Plans Drafting Software

Restaurant floor plans drafting software will prevent you from creating an unfriendly restaurant atmosphere. Chances are, you have fallen victim to poor restaurant floor plan designs at one time or another. When a guest gets lost on the way to the restroom, smacks foreheads with a server rounding a tight corner or is forced to sit with strangers to allow someone else to pass through an aisle, a flawed restaurant floor plan is to blame.

When developing your own restaurant floor plan, avoid these disastrous situations by analyzing your restaurant’s specific needs before jumping into the design process.

Restaurant Floor Plans Drafting Software for Restaurant Business Plan

Your restaurant’s business plan represents its concept and vision. Revisiting it will help influence your restaurant floor plan, reminding you of your original financial projections, construction budget, and space requirements. It should also define any specific design or operational needs for your restaurant, such as a bar or cigar lounge. Your restaurant business plan will benefit tremendously from the use of good restaurant floor plans drafting software such as CAD Pro.

Your restaurant business plan must outline your branding strategy because it can often affect your restaurant floor plan designs.

Restaurant Floor Plans: The Basics

There are several vital components that must be considered in every restaurant floor plan, particularly the location of the kitchen, dining areas and restrooms. Every restaurant should have a functional and practical floor plan that takes into consideration the flow of wait staff from the kitchen to the dining area or from the dining area to the restrooms. These are the main reasons you should invest into Restaurant Floor Plans Drafting Software.

Hostess stations and customer waiting areas must be in the front of the restaurant where people first enter. Other areas in the front of your restaurant floor plans include the dining room, bar, and public restrooms.

Restaurant floor plans for kitchens should also encourage a natural flow of traffic, making it easy for employees to move about quickly and efficiently. Designate space in your floor plan for prep areas, cooking stations, a dishwashing zone, and food storage space. You may also choose to include an office, employee bathrooms or a break room in the back of the house; again these are additional reasons you should invest into restaurant floor plans drafting software.

Restaurant Floor Plans Drafting Software

Restaurant Floor Plans

Restaurant Floor Plans: Staff Considerations

Each member of your staff has different demands concerning the restaurant. Your manager will be concerned with delivery access and security issues, while your chef will be more focused on kitchen maneuverability and functionality.

Make a detailed outline of your restaurant floor plan, and examine the potential successes and failures of your conceptual floor plan through the eyes of your managers, chef, servers, bussers and bartenders.

Restaurant Floor Plans Drafting Software Specifications

Once you have carefully considered the needs of your restaurant, you can begin generating measurements and drawings for your restaurant floor plan. A good floor plan drafting software like CAD Pro can help you draft your initial floor plan for maximum efficiency.

While you are drafting your restaurant floor plan designs, you can also begin to determine seating capacity, dimensions of restrooms, bar area and storage facilities and locations for server stations. The dining room and bar must have adequate seating for your guests. Your entire restaurant should be ADA compliant, meaning that people with disabilities can maneuver through your establishment with ease.

Click Here to Get Started

Restaurant floor plans drafting software

Restaurant Kitchen Elevation Drawing

Continue Reading →

Restaurant Interior Design Essentials Guide

Restaurant interior design essentials are very important when starting your new or remodeled restaurant designs. While good food and good customer service are crucial for return business, the ambiance of a restaurant is also important. You want customers to feel comfortable and enjoy their meals. Restaurant interior design and layout sets the stage for customer’s dining experience.

The design of a restaurant should be a balance between a welcoming ambiance and maximum seating capacity.

In other words, you want to pack in enough customers to keep busy and turn a profit, while at the same time making guests feel comfortable. Some types of restaurants focus on seating capacity rather than interior design.

Restaurant Interior Design Essentials Problem Areas

In a perfect restaurant, there would be no such thing as a bad table. However, few restaurants can escape having at least one problem area in their dining room. Here are a few common restaurant problem areas or places that customers don’t usually want to sit. Customers don’t like tables near the kitchen entrance, restrooms, and front entrance. Tables smack in the middle of the dining room are not always popular with dining patrons either. To help disguise problem areas, you can try placing dividers, such as wooden partitions, tall plants or screens in between tables.

Consider relocating a wait station or bus station, if possible, to a problem seating area rather than a dining table. One way to spot problem areas before opening day is to sit in every single chair in your dining room. Study the view from each seat and you may find that one has a direct view of the bus station, while another gets a draft from the front door.

restaurant interior design essentials

Restaurant Interior Design

An important (and expensive) consideration for any restaurant, either new or existing, is heating and cooling options. Restaurant kitchens put out a lot of heat, smells, and smoke. Make sure that your commercial range has proper outside ventilation, with the right kind of hood and ventilation fans. Proper air conditioning is also essential to any successful restaurant design.

Nothing will turn patrons away faster than a non-air conditioned dining room in the middle of a summer heat wave. It may be tempting to skimp in this area, but in the end, a poor ventilation and air conditioning can cost you a lot more in lost sales.

restaurant interior design essentials

Professional Restaurant Kitchen Design

Restaurant Music
Silence is definitely not golden in most restaurants and generally not a good idea. Music will set the tone in a restaurant just as much as the style of the menu or the artwork on the walls. Avoid CDs that are repetitious, for the sake of your staff, which has to listen to it over and over again. Radio is an inexpensive option for casual dining establishments, but non-commercial channels, like streaming music is preferable. Live entertainment, which can be expensive, adds a definite sense of ambiance. A good musician or group can draw in crowds better than any dinner special. Many restaurants feature live music on weekends or certain nights of the week.

Restaurant Restrooms
Restaurant interior design essentials and ambiance carry through to restaurant restrooms. Restrooms should be checked at least once at the start of every shift (preferably more often if it is busy). A hostess or bus person can be assigned the task of refilling paper products, taking out the trash and making sure there are no other problems within the restrooms.

Click Here to Get Started

CAD Pro allows anyone to share their ideas and plans with clients, colleagues or professional contractors using Dropbox®, Google Drive™, OneDrive®, and SharePoint®. Export files to Microsoft Word®, Excel®, and PowerPoint® with a single click.

CAD Pro has helped thousands of homeowners, professional designers, builders and contractors plan and design all types of restaurant designs. CAD Pro is used by NARI professional remodelers and contractors. CAD Pro is also used by NHBA home builders and contractors.

Continue Reading →

Residential Building Design Software

Residential building design software does not have to be difficult to use or expensive. Cad Pro offers an easy-to-use and inexpensive home design drafting software solution. Whether you’re a designer, builder, estimator, contractor, supplier or homeowner, Cad Pro’s easy-to-use residential building design software makes the process of designing and building a home easy.

CAD Pro’s building design software is the leader in drafting and design software for builders, designers, architects and DIY home enthusiasts. Create professional quality designs and plans with the ultimate residential building design software for architects, contractors, builders, and designers.

residential building design software

Residential Floor Plans

Residential building design is easy for anyone with Cad Pro – from beginner to expert. Create a single room, home office layout or design an entire home plan.

Share Residential Building Design Software Drawings Online

Share your residential building designs in a variety of common graphics formats, as a PDF, or export them to any Microsoft Office application in one click. CAD Pro works with popular services such as Dropbox®, Google Drive™, and OneDrive®.

Extensive Design Software Symbol Library 

CAD Pro includes a vast collection of mechanical engineering and architectural symbols for every type of CAD drafting project.

Automatic Formatting
CAD Pro helps you align and arrange everything perfectly. And CAD Pro’s “intelligent” Snap Tools automatically align objects or symbols for add precision.

residential building design software

Residential Building Elevations

Powerful Residential Building Design Tools 
You don’t need to be an architect to create any type of residential design. Cad Pro helps you create a house plan, add elements like stairs, windows, fixtures, and even furniture. Quickly align and arrange everything perfectly with the Smart Alignment Tools. Plus, our residential design software includes beautiful colors and textures for floors, counters, and walls.

Residential Building Design Controls 
CAD Pro puts you in control of automated drafting features so you have them when you need them, but turn them off when you don’t.

Intuitive Interface 
Save time—quickly create your drawing without having to learn difficult and expensive software.

Discover why CAD Pro is the #1 Building Design Software and CAD drafting software for both beginners and experts.

Click Here to Get Started

Cad Pro is an affordable and easy alternative to other more expensive design software programs. Cad Pro is great for creating custom home plans, building plans, office plans, construction details, and much more.

CAD Pro allows anyone to share their ideas and plans with clients, colleagues or professional contractors using Dropbox®, Google Drive™, OneDrive®, and SharePoint®. Export files to Microsoft Word®, Excel®, and PowerPoint® with a single click.

CAD Pro has helped thousands of homeowners, professional designers, builders and contractors plan and design all types of residential building designs and plans. CAD Pro is used by NARI professional remodelers and contractors. CAD Pro is also used by NHBA home builders and contractors as well as the National Association of Landscape professionals.

Continue Reading →

Home Automation Designs are Easy

Home automation designs are growing in popularity. Imagine waking up in the morning, not to the glaring blare of an alarm clock, but to your favorite song streaming through speakers in the ceiling, as your blinds slowly open to reveal the morning sun. Touch one button by your bed and the lights in the hallway turn on so you can safely navigate to the kitchen where the TV is already tuned into your favorite morning news program.

As you race out the door for work, smile as everything powers down the lights, the TVs, the audio and even the thermostat dials back to a more energy-efficient setting. The alarm arms, the garage door closes and every door in the house locks automatically.

Home automation is the future of home design.

It might sound like the ultimate in luxury, but really, having a home automation system today is a very affordable reality. Plus, not only does it make life a little easier, it can also help you save time and money.

How’s this possible? Imagine a sophisticated, but ridiculously easy-to-use universal remote that controls all of your home’s otherwise disconnected electronic systems and devices. With this one mighty remote, you can control everything from entertainment systems to heating and air conditioning, lights, shades, garage doors, security systems, exterior door locks, and so on.

Better still, this one remote comes in many different forms: the traditional wand that you’re used to wielding in the family room but also, with Control4®, you can control everything in the house from virtually every screen in the house—your iPhone, a tablet, a touch screen, even your laptop. And once you’ve got your house “under control,” there’s no going back. But before you take the plunge, here are a few need-to-knows that will come in handy as you journey to the “other side.”

Powerful Home Automation Design Tools

Smart home design software from CAD Pro is great for beginners and professionals. You don’t need to be an architect to create any type of smart home design. Cad Pro helps you create a smart house plan, add elements outlets, light fixtures, alarms, doors, windows, and even furniture. Quickly align and arrange everything perfectly with the Smart Alignment Tools. Plus, our smart home design software includes beautiful colors and textures for floors, counters, and walls.

Cad Pro is the #1 source for home automation software. Click Here to Get Started!

home automation

Home Automation Ideas by CAD Pro

Continue Reading →

Smart Homes Growing Popularity & Designs

Smart Homes, when will we actually live in them? First, what is a “smart home”? It’s a home in which most products and services are inter-connected, and the underlying technology makes intelligent decisions to manage those services for the benefit of the consumer and service operator. The technologies and communication standards are now reasonably mature.

Opportunities in the Smart Homes

For Imagination, a designer of the building blocks for SoCs* in the smart home, we see many opportunities. The move towards integrating new wireless communication standards, along with advances in microcontrollers are two major opportunities. Many smart home devices, notably sensors, actuators, and controllers, will need to integrate microcontrollers with connectivity. These “always on” devices need low-cost and low-power SoCs to operate for many years, sometimes in harsh environments, and often on battery power alone. While some may harvest power from their environment (e.g. solar, kinetic), in all cases efficient, integrated SoCs are essential.

* A system-on-a-chip (SoC) is a microchip with all the necessary electronic circuits and parts for a  given system, such as a smartphone or wearable computer, on a single integrated circuit (IC).

Security is Essential for Smart Homes

Another critical ingredient in accelerating development of the smart home is security. As more smart appliances are connected to the home network it becomes essential to secure those devices and ensure they cannot be hacked or compromised. Imagination has been working on this problem for several years, notably securing all elements within the SoC (not just the MIPS CPU, but also the network stacks and the PowerVR graphics processors), and helping customers avoid security issues that could set smart home programs back several years.

Artificial Intelligence for Smart Homes

There are also opportunities in artificial intelligence (AI). The smart home needs to deliver more than just an app to control a light bulb; it needs to improve beyond simply notifying the user about the status of a device and instead evolve into a system that makes intelligent decisions and manages the home autonomously. AI, whether in the device or in the cloud, becomes an essential part of the solution – that’s where the intelligence truly happens.

Click Here to Start Designing Your Smart Home

smart homes

Smart Home Layout Diagram

Continue Reading →

Smart Home Technologies Improving Senior Care

Smart Home Technologies Improving Senior Care – A pilot program at Masonic Homes of California tests how sensors, mobile devices and software can impact the quality of care for seniors.

In 2014, 46.2 million Americans, or 14.5 percent of the population, were 65 or older, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. By 2040, that number is projected to grow to 21.7 percent.

In partnership with CDW Healthcare, Masonic Homes of California has launched a smart home technologies pilot program to demonstrate the potential impact of technology on senior care. MHC operates several senior care communities that range from independent and assisted living to dementia and hospice care.

MHC created technology-enabled residential units in its Union City and Covina locations to assess how the combination of sensors, mobile devices, and software can meet the diverse needs of seniors and their families, whether they live at an MHC facility or not.

Smart Home Technologies Improving Senior Care, include:

  • Environmental controls and sensors: These include remotely programmable thermostats and temperature/humidity sensors in multiple locations throughout residents’ apartments. These devices keep the living space comfortable while controlling utility costs. Sensors also improve safety by detecting windows left open or high humidity, factors that may increase the risk of a fall on an overly damp floor.
  • Visual doorbell: Doorbells in MHC pilot units are linked to apartment lighting so that selected lights can flash when a visitor rings the doorbell, providing a visual alert for a resident who is hard of hearing. A camera and microphone at the door let residents launch video chats with an arriving visitor from their smartphone or tablet, even when residents are away from home. This capability enhances both security and social connectedness.
  • Bed sensors: Sensors embedded in residents’ mattresses or in a “smart mat” added to their bedding can track respiration rate, heart rate, sleep duration, motion during sleep, and the number of times a resident gets in and out of bed during the night.
  • Digital medication dispensers: These devices help seniors manage their often complex medication regimens, alerting them if they forget to take a pill at the appropriate time. Devices hold a 90-day supply of up to 15 medications, alerting both users and caregivers via text and email when it’s time to reorder. Authorized users can also change or discontinue dosages from a browser or mobile app.
  • Additional sensors: MHC is also experimenting with sensors on stoves, in refrigerator doors, under sinks and elsewhere to track resident activity and help prevent accidents. Caregivers can also monitor a resident’s presence in his or her apartment using a key fob or smartphone.

In the future, smart home technologies and these types of sensors can be integrated with personal health monitors — digital scales, blood pressure monitors, blood glucose monitors and wearables such as Fitbit — that can transmit wireless data and generate the insight caregivers need to provide more attentive care.

smart home technologies

Townhouse Condo Floor Plan

Click Here to Get Started

Cad Pro is an affordable and easy alternative to other more expensive design software programs. Cad Pro is great for creating kitchen design plans, innovative smart home designs, custom home plans, building plans, office plans, construction details, deck plans and much more.

CAD Pro allows anyone to share their ideas and plans with clients, colleagues or professional remodeling contractors using Dropbox®, Google Drive™, OneDrive®, and SharePoint®. Export files to Microsoft Word®, Excel®, and PowerPoint® with a single click.

CAD Pro has helped thousands of homeowners, professional designers, builders and contractors plan and design all types of floor plan designs. CAD Pro is used by NARI professional remodelers and contractors and the NRCA roofing contractors. CAD Pro is also used by NHBA home builders and contractors, the National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA). as well as the (NALP) National Association of Landscape Professionals.

Wi-Fi Smart Home Technology

Continue Reading →

Hottest New Home Features for 2017

Hottest New Home Features for 2017 – In December 2016, a nationwide survey asked home builders about the likelihood that a number of features would be included in the typical single-family home built in 2016.

Using a scale from 1 to 5, where 1 meant not at all likely to be included in typical home and 5 meant very likely, builders reported the following as the most likely hottest new home features for 2017 to show up in the typical 2017 home:

Hottest New Home Features for 2017 Rankings List

Using a scale from 1 to 5, where 1 meant not at all likely to be included in typical home and 5 meant very likely, builders reported the following as the most likely features to show up in the typical 2017 home:

Here is a list of the hottest new home features for 2017

  1. Walk-in-Closet in Master Bedroom
  2. Laundry Room
  3. Great Room (Kitchen-Family Room-Living Room Combination)
  4. Low-E Windows
  5. Energy-Star rated Appliance
  6. Programmable Thermostat
  7. 9’-plus First Floor Ceilings
  8. Central Island in Kitchen
  9. Granite Countertop in Kitchen
  10. Energy-Star rated Windows

On the other hand, builders reported the following features as the least likely to appear in homes in 2017:

  1. Cork flooring in the living areas of the main level (1.3)
  2. Pet washing station (1.6)
  3. Laminate countertops in the kitchen (1.7)
  4. Outdoor kitchen (1.9)
  5. Two-story spaces (family room and foyer) also seem to be unlikely features, as well as an outdoor fireplace, a sunroom, and a media room.
  6. Least likely features in typical single family home in 2016
  7. Cork flooring for living areas on main level
  8. Pet washing station
  9. Laminate countertop in kitchen
  10. Outdoor kitchen
  11. Outdoor Fireplace
  12. Sunroom
  13. Two-story family room
  14. Two-story foyer
  15. Media room

Click Here to Get Started Today!

Information source for article.

hottest new home features for 2017

Home Features Floor Plan

Cad Pro is #1 rated for hottest new home features for 2017 and submission of home building permits. Easy to use smart tools for hottest new home features are fast and easy.

Continue Reading →

Create Landscape Drawings with Drafting Software

Create landscape drawings for any type of landscaping project. The right landscape truly sets off the building it surrounds. Some concepts can be incredibly intricate and must be plotted out the same way a construction project is planned. Drafting software can provide all the tools you need to represent rich outdoor spaces to your team and clients.

Create landscape drawings with smart tools:

Beginners, homeowners, and professional landscape designers can all use drafting software to streamline their project or realize their ideas. There are robust landscaping design software programs that are user-friendly and rich with features.

Create landscape drawing templates that will help get you started and you can add as much or as little as you like. If you prefer to create from scratch, your drafting software is ready for you. Plot out your plants, lighting, outdoor living spaces, and hardscapes using symbols with customizable textures and colors. After you create landscape drawings, Cad Pro allows you to add pop-up photos to your landscape drawings for a realistic view of your new landscape.

Drafting Software For Landscape Drawings is ideal for:

  • Landscaping designs
  • Garden layouts
  • Patio & deck design; and much more

Common landscape features in the library of your design software will include:

  • Water features
  • Rocks and Pathways
  • Planters
  • Common plants and trees
  • Patio fixtures like grills and seating
  • Lighting and outdoor climate control features
  • Arbors and gazebos; and more

Choosing the proper landscape drawing software can increase productivity on any landscaping design job, whether used by the homeowners, the designer, the technicians, or all of these parties in unison.

Click Here to Get Started Today!

create landscape drawings

Create Landscape Drawings

Continue Reading →

Remodelers Create Home Designs with Drafting Software

Remodelers did you know that you don’t have to be a design professional to incorporate home design software into your design and build process? The right drafting software will work with all proficiency levels from homeowners and beginners to professional designers and builders. Drafting software is an indispensable tool for home design.

Drafting software creates a unified workspace and platform allowing multiple professionals on a build project and the homeowner to use the same blueprints. This facilitates cohesion in the design and construction from concept to build.

Homeowners

Interested in exploring a renovation or ready for a hands-on approach to the design of your dream home? Home designs software is the portal to make your thoughts into images and plans. Then you can bridge the communication gap between you and your professional team.

Drafting software could also save money since you can experiment with different things like floor plans and even decorating.

Builders & Remodelers

Builders and remodelers on a home designs project will approach their use of CAD software differently. It is still highly collaborative and visionary. It is still a potential time saver allowing designs to be rendered so pitfalls can be proactively caught. It also specifically tailored to maintaining your high craftsmanship standards.

When you use a tool that promotes effective communication with your clients, you’re better able to meet their needs or use your expertise to manage their expectations. Drafting software makes it easier than ever to represent innovative building designs to your clients. A dynamic drafting software will create all the necessary framing information and documents to maximize the budget.

Design Professionals & Remodelers

Design is all about breathing life into ideas. In the beginning, you are bringing concepts to your clients in a clear and compelling way. As the design unfolds, you use the budget as a guideline to play within while creating the little details that make a residential building project someone’s home.

A robust drafting software can increase design productivity and provide 3D mockups to clients. Additionally, it will save you time by creating detailed documentation. Design is a complex role on construction projects. Let the right drafting software empower you to exceed the expectations of your clients.

Click Here to Get Started Today!

remodelers

Remodelers Create House Plans w/ Cad Pro

Continue Reading →

Which is Better? Houzz or Pinterest

Houzz might be the go-to idea website for both you and your clients when working on a project, Pinterest can be equally helpful. Pinterest, with its thousands of home design pins, serves as “a visual mediator between client and consultant,” Jessica Pace reports for the DURANGO HERALD. Many Durango-area designers and consultants use Pinterest to help clients focus their ideas of what they want in the space, but also use the site to share ideas back and forth. Pace continues:

As a professional mechanism, Pinterest is a “big picture” tool – a virtual collage of color schemes, architectural details and other design elements. Designers say for both themselves and their clientele, clicking on the pins – exploring the website behind them, the methodology of the project, finding specific vendors and how-to ideas – is beside the point.

“Follow-through of clicks isn’t as important as just having a visual,” said Sheryl Lock, Handcrafted House co-owner. “I had a customer who wanted to redo her bathroom but had no idea how. Houzz and Pinterest let us find common denominators.”

Among local home interior professionals, Houzz is either the runner-up or preferred site to Pinterest. Pins can be misleading and increase guesswork for homeowners. For instance, unlike Pinterest, Houzz always accurately references color numbers.

Houzz also provides more conceptual images – showcasing entire room designs.

“If you’re building a home or remodeling, there is so much available that it gets overwhelming to people and you have to narrow it down for them,” Favour said. “With all the technology, someone who maybe would have hired someone before has access to vendors and takes on a project themselves, but when they get into it, they find coordinating it is more than they counted on.”

The internet and design sites in general have accelerated the planning stage of decorating for local operations. Cad Pro is an excellent tool for designing and planning any type of remodel project or new home, therefore saving money and time.

Click Here To Get Started !

Houzz

Landscape Design & Home Design

Continue Reading →