3D rendering is one of those discoveries that make you wonder how ever you survived before it came along. The process essentially allows you to visualise your finished home – on paper – hyper-realistically. That's a tremendous improvement from the past when hand-drawn blueprints were the only source for getting some perspective about the finished project. More often than not though, the latter turns out to look quite different from the blueprint.
Visualising your dream home in 3D is actually a super fun process. You can add texture, colour, light and even animate people. Is anyone thinking Sims? Unlike a video game though, this process helps architects and designers fully visualise the end result, which in turn allows them to make prior modifications if necessary.
Check out these 20 ultra-cool 3D renderings that might just inspire you!
3D renderings even allow you to understand the possible variants of lighting in your home – seen here on the exterior with the wall-to-wall windows.
In the backyard of this two-storey home, you can see the terraces that open out onto this beautiful stretch of garden, which houses niche spaces such as the stone bed and the water body.
When in doubt about whether you are overdoing it with the mixing and matching of materials, a 3D rendering will solve that brain freeze for you.
You can get a rather precise picture of what your house would look like if you decided to largely do away with traditional walls and instead frame it in glass.
The simple, linear facade is highlighted by the use of a somber colour palette and the mix and match of materials and textures.
Playing with volumes can be a tricky business that can go very, very wrong; here, you can see exactly what it would look like with volume play on different levels and with closed and open fronts.
Want to build your home one level below the adjacent street but are jittery? No problem.
We often stick to vanilla choices because what if things go wrong, right? Totally understandable. With 3D rendering, you can see exactly what your dream home would look like in your favourite crazy colour.
A white wall, glazed windows and a brick enclosure in a boxy format sounds like a difficult thing to pull off, but as seen here in the rendering, it works like a charm.
This almost-quadrant with its mixing of materials and sizes actually works.
Isn't it great that you can actually visualise what your ginormous terrace and laid-back backyard space would look like?
Is this the oasis mirage you hallucinate into reality? In this case, very much so for the owners.
Geometry is the name of the game here, creating gorgeous shadow plays.
This rendering allowed the architects to visualise not just the combination of coated wood and the glass panes, but they were also able to gauge how much privacy could be afforded with the design.
You can see how the architects have alternated between closed spaces (the garage) and open areas (the balcony).
The accent lighting in this example practically defines this home.
When your idea of a dream house sounds like it's straight out of a sci-fi movie, a 3D rendering makes a hell of a lot of sense.
This magnificent structure would have sounded like an outlandish nightmare on paper, but visualised in 3D, it looks like a dream.
When you don't have a lot of room to work with, it's important to lay out your floor plan beforehand. This compact home shows you how you can build vertically.
This unusual facade, with its open areas, is a wonderfully welcoming space.
If you're considering renovating your home, check out Before and after: 5 renovations to copy to get some inspiration.