How to use Home Design
Add your apartment’s floor plan and place real furniture from UAE stores on it: everything to size, with walkways, in 3D and in a photo.
1. Add your floor plan
The fastest way is Bayut: open Bayut → Floor Plans, type in the name of your building, open your apartment type (Type A, Unit 04…) and press the “Open in planner” button in Chrome or the “Plan → Home Design” bookmark. The plan comes to us — then press “Build the 3D model”.
Or upload your own plan: an image, a screenshot, a brochure PDF, a photo of the plan from your contract. Drag the file onto the “New project” page or paste it with ⌘V / Ctrl+V. Reading it takes about 2 minutes as a rule, up to 7–8 for a hard plan.
Townhouse or villa: choose the type of home at the top of the page and add a plan of each floor.
No plan? Draw it yourself
“No plan?” on the home page or “New project” in My account: pick a similar layout or an empty plan.
The planner opens with Build mode: choose a material and tap the plan. Everything works the same way: tap to put a piece of its usual size, drag to draw it the size you want, tap a piece to pick it, drag to move it. “↶” undoes any step, and the eraser takes away what it passes over. With no material chosen, a tap picks a room or a piece and a drag moves the plan. Tap the material again or press Esc to put it down.
“Room”: tap a free spot for a 4 × 3 m room, or drag from corner to corner. Tap next to a room and the new one goes right up against it, the wall shared. Closed walls drawn with “Wall” become a room too. Its size shows at once and you can type it in; “Place furniture →” and you can furnish it.
“Door”, “Window”, “Opening”: tap a wall. Tap a window or door to move it, stretch it by its ends or type in its width. A door in an outer wall is the entrance.
“Kitchen”: tap by a wall and a worktop goes along it with a sink and a hob, a fridge is added by its icon; on the next wall a second one forms an L. Tap the middle of a room for an island, if it has 90 cm all round, otherwise a worktop goes on the nearest wall. Pick a worktop to change its length by the circles at its ends and to switch the sink, hob and fridge on or off with their icons. Drag the sink and the hob right by themselves, one past the other too.
“Stairs” and floors: tap a room for a 1 × 3 m staircase, flush against a wall nearby. The floors’ menu is in the top row, named for the floor on screen. “+ Add floor” in it adds a floor with the same outer walls: the floor below shows faintly under it and its stairs dashed, where the opening will be. Switch between floors right there, the plan stays in place. “Remove floor” in the same menu takes away a top floor you don’t need. Each floor has its own furniture, package and photos.
Walls and furniture share one plan: go back to Build mode and the furniture stays where it is, so you can see where a new wall will go.
Tap a room and handles appear on its sides and corners: drag them to move its edges, a corner to stretch it both ways at once, drag the middle to move the whole room, and type in its width and length at the top. With a mouse the handles also show when you hover. A kitchen by a wall moves with that wall, and everything in a room moves with the room. Each wall shows its length until it becomes part of a room.
A room joins the home and comes away from it: drag it or one of its sides up to a wall and the wall becomes shared; drag it back and the room stands apart again. To remove a room, use the bin on its panel, the Delete key, or the eraser on its floor: walls it shares with other rooms stay.
A wall at an angle: choose “Wall” and drag at an angle. It runs from wall to wall and closes a room like any other. Nearly along an axis it stays straight, nearly on a diagonal it lies at exactly 45°. Windows, doors and openings go on it, furniture goes round it, and it is at an angle in 3D and on the photo too. Tap it to drag its ends, move it or type in its length. A kitchen or staircase goes along straight walls only.
2. Check the plan
On the check page, your drawing is on the left and how the planner will build it is on the right. Compare the walls, doors and windows.
If the plan had no sizes, enter the apartment’s area from the listing: the scale will be more accurate.
Everything matches? Press “Open in planner”.
3. Place the furniture
The planner opens empty: you place the furniture yourself. Above the catalog, choose the stores: all at once, only affordable, mid-range or premium ones, or one by one. One plan can hold furniture from different stores.
In the catalog on the left, choose a room and its category (bedroom → beds, bedside tables, lighting…), or a kind of furniture in the “Categories” tab (corner sofas, large rugs…), or search for a piece, in English or Russian. Press “+” to add the piece to the room in the middle of the screen, or drag it onto the plan. Tap a product for photos, sizes and “Replace” with a similar one.
Drag a piece on the plan to move it, turn it by the circle with the arrow. Red means it doesn’t fit, stands in a wall or blocks a walkway. Below the plan are the walkway widths from the entrance.
Your layout saves itself, in this browser.
4. See it in 3D and create a photo
The “2D | 3D” switch at the top: 3D shows the whole home. Turn it with the mouse or a finger, zoom with the wheel or two fingers; “Overview” and “From above” at the bottom. Double-click a room to stand in it at eye level; again for another view. On a phone, tap a piece to pick it, then drag it: a finger that happens to touch a piece just turns the view.
“Photo” next to it → the room alone, without the rooms around it, and three of its views. The camera flies round the room: we pick the views for you — from above at an angle, from inside or from behind a wall, as you look into a room set in a furniture store — so all the furniture is whole in the frame. For a view of your own, turn the 3D view with the mouse or a finger. “Create photo” draws a photorealistic picture of your room with this furniture; “All 3 views” draws all three at once.
5. Order
Top right is the package total; tap it for the list with prices and the request. Send it and we’ll help you buy and deliver — we can talk it over on WhatsApp.
Common questions
Why do I need an account?
It keeps your projects and orders — only you can see them, in My account. Soon you’ll also be able to add a payment card there.
Does it work for a townhouse or a villa?
Yes. On the “New project” page, choose “Townhouse” or “Villa” at the top and add a plan of each floor: the floors come together in one project, and you furnish each of them. Or draw the home yourself: “+ Add floor” in the floors’ menu at the top.
Where do I get a floor plan?
The easiest is Bayut → Floor Plans: it has the layouts of almost every building in Dubai, by apartment type. Also: the developer’s brochure (PDF), the plan from your purchase contract, a screenshot from a listing. No plan at all? Draw it in the planner (“No plan?”).
Why does it say “Sizes are approximate”?
The plan had no sizes, so the scale was worked out from the area, the width of the doors or the usual sizes of rooms. Enter the apartment’s area on the check page to make it more accurate.
Why is a piece on the plan red?
It doesn’t fit in the room, stands in a wall or blocks a walkway or a door. Move it, turn it or replace it with another one.
Where do the furniture and prices come from?
These are real products from UAE stores, with prices and stock from their websites. Sold-out pieces are marked on the plan and in the package, with a replacement offered right there.
Can I mix furniture from different stores?
Yes. Above the catalog, choose the stores: all at once, affordable, mid-range, premium or one by one. In the package, pieces are grouped by store, each with its own total. “My finds” — products you added with the button from any website — are always shown.
Is my layout saved?
Yes, automatically and at once — in this browser on this device.
The plan was read wrong. What should I do?
Try another image — cleaner and larger, with nothing extra around the plan. Or take your building’s layout from Bayut, or draw the plan in the planner.
How much does a room photo cost?
A few photos are free. You can see how many are left next to the “Create photo” button.