Interior & Renovating Specialist Bringing Designs To Life With 3D Modelling & Rendering
About Alexandru:
Today, we are joined by Alexandru, Owner and Director Of Heartwood Carpentry London, an interior design specialist who, over the last few years, has helped dozens of people convert unused space into professional, spacious areas within their family home.
Alexandru has been kind enough to share his journey with us today, more specifically, how he uses SketchUp in his work, his challenges and how he turns designs into real life pieces of art using 3D modelling and Visual Rendering.
So, Alexandru tell us about how you got into Interior Design & Carpentry…
Sure, I have always loved woodwork, and I now have a small business based in Kingston, London specialising in interior design & carpentry, supporting my customers and turning their houses into spacious family homes.
I started using SketchUp around 3 years ago when I decided I needed a better way to showcase my ideas to customers, and an easier way to plan and design once I had an initial conversation with them. Now, I can’t imagine my life without it.
I had never used any other software similar to SketchUp before so I was totally new to it, personally I wouldn’t change anything, I was really happy with how easy and simple it was to use as a beginner and a busy business owner. I am now using SketchUp Pro and wouldn’t look back, it’s doing wonders for my customer designs and the time it takes to put those designs together gives me time back to spend on the parts of the business I truly love.
Great thanks Alexandru, so why SketchUp?
After years in the trade and hundreds of customers with new, space efficient furniture and room layouts they love, I decided to start using an online rendering software (specifically SketchUp Layout) to present my initial designs to clients, allow them to see how the final product would look, and blow them away with the realistic images, colours and scenes of their space, online. This has helped me relate to clients, design more accurately and have dozens more very happy customers!
SketchUp integrates perfectly into my workflow, when I first speak to, meet (or e-meet with COV-ID!) clients I take all measurements needed and have a chat with the client, why they reached out to me and what their ideal finished product would look like.
Next, I will still do a rough sketch with them on paper so we are both on the same page and I understand what the customer is looking to achieve. Once this is completed, I will then head off and spend 2-3 hours building their design in SketchUp using the Layout tool to bring it to life.
Once this is complete, I will send the design over to the customer with some options. If there are any changes the customer requires, I am able to do this instantaneously, previous to using SketchUp, I would have to re-do the design, typically taking a couple of hours at a time. Finally I’ll send a final design to a customer and start building actual furniture.
Love it! What project over the years have you been most proud of?
I am really proud of one project in particular I completed last year, I created and fitted a loft wardrobe in Wimbleon, using SketchUp for this design made it simple and easy for me to create a realistic blueprint and make tweaks and changes were needed. It saves hours for a busy small business owner like myself!
Think you can create simplistic, realistic designs for your clients and save hours as a business owner on creating your clients dream masterpieces? Give SketchUp Pro a try for free for 7-days here!
