Plan your house, step by step

2 Choose one of three buttons

On the empty plan, Start your floor plan offers the three fastest starts:

• Draw walls: click the plan to place each corner of a wall.
• Start from a template: pick a complete house and change it.
• Let AI draft a plan: describe your lot and let the AI propose a layout.

3 Templates: a house in one click

Choose Start from a template and the list Pick a house to start from opens, with the size of each layout. Tap one: it opens in the editor, ready to change room by room.

4 Your drawing stays on your device

Everything you draw is kept in your browser, so closing the tab does not lose it. To open it on another device, save it to your account (Chapter 7).

2 Enter your WhatsApp number

Type the number you use on WhatsApp, for example 012-345 6789. For a number outside Malaysia start with + and the country code. Tick the box that lets RumahHQ message you about your design and quotation, then press Send code.

3 Type the 6-digit code

A message from RumahHQ arrives in WhatsApp within moments. Type its 6-digit code and press Sign in. Each code works once and expires after 5 minutes.

4 You are signed in

An account button now sits at the right of the header. Open it to see My designs, My data and Sign out. Your design is still on screen: carry on from where you were.

2 Fill in the brief

The form Ask AI: draft a floor plan asks for the lot width and depth, the bedrooms, bathrooms and storeys. It also shows how many AI layouts you have left today.

3 Add your wishes

Type what the numbers cannot say in Notes (optional): where the kitchen goes, a car porch, a quiet bedroom. A counter shows how many of the 1000 characters you used.

4 Press Draft plan and wait

Press Draft plan. Drafting can take a few minutes, and every attempt counts against your daily limit. You can press Cancel at any time.

5 The draft opens on your plan

The plan appears in the editor with a banner, AI draft: please check dimensions, until you make your first change. The result panel shows the plan quality score out of 100 and the buttons See it in 3D and Get my estimate.

6 Read the advice cards

Under the result you find plain-language notes:

• What I did and Why: one card per decision, with Other options when there were alternatives.
• Adjustments made to the AI’s proposal: shown when your brief could not fit the lot (for example “bedrooms 4 of 5”).
• Assumptions used: what the draft took for granted.
• Notes marked Check with your local authority or engineer need a professional’s eye.

7 Adjust or draw it again

Under Other ways to fit more of your brief, each button redraws the plan with one change, for example two storeys instead of one or a smaller porch. Your earlier draft stays saved, so try them freely. Or just edit the plan yourself (Chapter 4).

8 Every draft is kept

Each layout the AI makes is stored in My designs, on the AI layouts tab, with the brief that made it. Open one there to carry on from it (Chapter 7).

2 Choose the look

Press Make AI picture. Pick a style, lighting and mood, add extra instructions if you like (for example “hardwood floors, white marble counters”), and press Generate picture.

3 Download or find it later

The picture shows on screen with Download picture. It is also saved in My designs on the AI images tab, where you can download or delete it.

2 Draw walls

Choose Draw Wall (or press W). Click the plan to place each corner; the length of the wall shows as you draw. Double-click, or press Esc, to finish the run. Press C to close a loop. Rooms form by themselves between walls.

3 Add whole rooms

Open the Rooms tab. Room Presets (Rectangle, L-Shape, T-Shape, U-Shape) click a shape onto the canvas. Room Templates are pre-furnished rooms with walls and furniture in one click.

4 Place doors and windows

In the side panel choose a door or a window type, then click a wall to place it. Drag it along the wall to move it. Select it to change its size or delete it.

2 Search, and star your favourites

Type in Search furniture… (for example “sofa”) to see the matches at once. Press the star on an item to add it to Favorites.

3 Place it

Click an item, then click the plan to put it down. While it follows the pointer, press R or scroll to rotate it. Press Esc to stop placing.

4 Select, move, rotate, delete

Use Select (V). Click anything to select it, drag to move, drag the handles to resize, R to rotate, Del to delete. Hold Shift and click to select several. Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V copy and paste; Ctrl+L locks an item so it cannot move by accident.

5 Change its properties

With an item selected, the properties panel shows its size, rotation and finish. Walls have thickness, height and material; a room has its type, name and floor finish.

2 Leave dimensions on the plan

Choose Dimension (N), click two points and a permanent dimension label stays on the plan. Text Label (T) adds your own notes, such as “car porch”.

3 Snapping keeps things square

Lines snap to the grid and to nearby walls. Press S to switch between the normal and the finer step. Furniture aligns itself with nearby walls too (switch that in Settings under Wall snapping).

2 Show and hide with Layers

Press L or the Layers button. Switch walls, doors, windows, furniture, stairs, dimensions, notes and rooms on or off. The 2D exports and the print layout show exactly what is visible, so hiding a layer leaves it out.

3 Undo, redo and Undo History

Ctrl+Z steps back and Ctrl+Y goes forward (use Cmd on a Mac). The history button opens Undo History: click any earlier step to return to that moment.

4 Version History: earlier saved states

Studio keeps a snapshot of your design about every 5 minutes. Open Version History (in the header, or in the More actions menu on a small screen) and press Restore on any version. The version you replace is kept too, so you can always go back again.

5 Learn the shortcuts

Press ? at any time to see every keyboard shortcut. The table below lists them too.

2 View controls along the edge

The controls on the edge of the 3D view let you:

• switch between Top-Down View and the normal view;
• Show Solid Walls or Make Walls Transparent, handy to see from room to room;
• show Active Floor Only or Show All Floors Stacked in a two-storey design;
• Save 3D Screenshot to keep a picture of the current view.

3 Change the lighting

Open Lighting Controls to set the Time of Day, the Sun Position and Sun Elevation, and the Ambient Light. Morning, noon, evening and night look very different, which helps you judge where the sun comes in.

4 Walk inside the house

Press Place Interior Camera, click the floor where you want to stand, then click where you want to look. Press Enter Walkthrough Mode and you are inside. Use W A S D to look and the arrow keys to move, the mouse to turn your head, Shift to sprint and Esc to leave. Walkthrough Controls change eye height, walk speed and sprint speed.

5 Look at one wall: elevation view

Back in 2D, choose Elevation View in the view controls and pick a wall on the plan. You see that wall face-on, with its doors and windows. Drag an opening to move it, and drag a window up or down to change its sill height. Use Previous wall and Next wall to go round the house, and Esc to return to the plan.

2 Refine it (optional)

Open Refine your estimate (optional) to say what you know: architect and engineer fees, the roof material, lot size and extras such as a rainwater tank. Anything you leave alone uses the usual choice for a Malaysian house, shown under each question.

3 Press Calculate

Studio reads your plan (bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, living rooms and storeys) and shows Estimated cost, a range such as “About RM 250,000 – RM 310,000”, with a Best estimate. The range allows for what a drawing cannot show yet.

4 See where the money goes

Where the money goes splits your estimated total by trade (preliminaries, structure, architectural work, electrical work and so on) with the share of each. Below it, Not included in this estimate and What this estimate assumes tell you what the number leaves out, such as land, authority fees and furniture.

5 Read your whole BQ

Under Your Bill of Quantities every item of work is listed by trade, with No., Description, Unit, Qty, Rate (RM) and Amount (RM). Each trade can be folded away and shows its subtotal. A line that cannot be priced yet says “To be priced” and is not in the total.

6 Check the totals

At the foot of the BQ you see the BQ total, the Architect & Engineer fee and the Estimated total, all to the sen. The Best estimate at the top is this total rounded to the nearest RM 1,000. Happy with it? Press Send me this BQ as a PDF right there.

7 Ask for the PDF by e-mail

Press Send me the BQ, or Send me this BQ as a PDF under the table. The form asks for your name and e-mail address, shows your WhatsApp number from your sign-in, and asks for your consent for RumahHQ to contact you about this design and quotation.

8 Confirm your e-mail address (first time)

Studio only sends the BQ to an address you have confirmed. Press Send me a code, open the 6-digit code in that inbox (it works for 15 minutes), type it and press Confirm address. It is a one-time check: the next BQ is one click.

9 Press send, and keep the reference

Press Send me the BQ (PDF) by e-mail. Your BQ is on its way appears with your reference number, for example RHQ-BQ-2610-0001. The e-mail normally arrives within a minute; check the spam folder if not. Quote the reference whenever you write to us.

10 What the PDF contains

The PDF is the formal copy to keep, print and share with your contractor. It has the reference number and date, who it was prepared for, a project summary, the full BQ with section subtotals and the estimated total, what is not included, assumptions and notes, how long it stays valid, and an Important note that it is an indicative estimate and not a quotation, offer or contract.

11 Come back to earlier estimates

Every estimate you calculate is saved. Estimates history lists them with date and total: press Open to see one again. If the plan has changed since, the panel tells you the estimate is out of date: press Calculate again.

2 My designs

Open My designs from the account button (or go to /designs). Each card shows the name, a preview and the basics: floors, rooms and area. Click one to open it.

3 Four tabs

The tabs split your work:

• Designs: your floor plans.
• AI images: pictures made with AI Render. Download or delete them.
• AI layouts: every draft the AI made, with the brief that made it.
• Recently deleted: designs you deleted, kept for 90 days.

4 AI images

Your AI pictures wait here, saved for you. There is a limit on how many you can keep, so delete the ones you no longer need.

5 Undo a delete, restore a version

A deleted design waits in Recently deleted for 90 days with its version history: press Restore to bring it back. Each design also has a Version history to go back to an earlier saved state.

6 My data

Open My data from the account menu to Download my data or Delete my account and data. You decide what we keep.

4 Draw walls with your finger

Choose Draw Wall, tap the plan to place each corner and tap Done (or double-tap) to finish. The other floating button, Undo point, takes back the last corner.