[Anne Mc]

I just dicovered IkeaFans and know it will be very helpful as my husband and I begin to put our kitchen back together. I know from the Ikea site that the kitchen planner is not set up for Mac users. Does anyone have any helpful suggestions for a Mac household? We plan to go to our local Ikea location to use the kitchen planner there, but just wanted to hear what suggestions may be out there. Thanks!!

[GardenOfDarwin]

It would be nice if IKEA came out with a Mac version, wouldn't it? Anyway, in the meantime, you can use Google Sketchup which is a free 3d planner and very powerful! There's a link for Sketchup in the Photo/Linking tools under the left hand navigation bar on the forum pages - one of our members created a bunch of the cabinets in different sizes, so you've got a head start with that.

I know some have also used programs like BH&G Home planner and so forth...another option if you have it available is Microsoft's Visio - it's got a bit of a learning curve, and it's not ideal, but it can be done.

You can also provide your measurements, location and size of windows/doors, location of utilities and so forth here and there will be any number of people who would be happy to help you work out your plans.

Have fun with it!
Susan

[fisheggs]

If you use sketchup, search in the warehouse under "Ikea Kitchen" and look for the contributions from ourmoneypit. If you want to see mine, search under "romodels" for a bunch of different versions you can play with to see how the sketchup environment works.

[bogiesan]

I'd also add that it's easy and fun to find a buddy with a PC and just stick with the official software.
Interesting side benefit: You print a bunch of stuff and take it home. This gives you time away from the tool; time to think and plan the next session. This day or two time-out was much more productive for us than having on-demand access to the planner.

bogiesan

[Anne Mc]

Thanks, all, for your suggestions. My husband and I went to Ikea today to take our first stab at a design. I think I will write in using another thread to get some feedback. Thanks again -- as I said earlier, I know this will be an extremely helpful forum. I passed information along to someone else at Ikea today about it -- he also was asking the "Mac question."

[GardenOfDarwin]

Great Anne! I know that there are folks who are just dying to get a hold of some plans to review - it's been a bit slow, and I think they're going into withdrawal!

Susan

[teamchachi]

If you have an Intel Mac then you can run Parallels and then run Windows inside of a virtual machine on your Mac. Works great for me. Thats how I run all my Windows only apps including the Ikea planner.

[kelly]

That's what I'm going to get accomplished this weekend- parallels! I can hardly wait to become a planner user!

[csholocene]

As an aside, Visio is a windows only tool.

[JeffM]

[quote=GardenOfDarwin;42142]It would be nice if IKEA came out with a Mac version, wouldn't it? Anyway, in the meantime, you can use Google Sketchup which is a free 3d planner and very powerful! There's a link for Sketchup in the Photo/Linking tools under the left hand navigation bar on the forum pages - one of our members created a bunch of the cabinets in different sizes, so you've got a head start with that.

I have downloaded Google Sketch up and am learning the program. Do the Ikea cabinets exist in that program or else where so I can make use of them?
Does anyknow have any info on this.?
thanks for all!
Jeff