It’s been a bit over a year since I fully dove into Blender and started using it nearly every day to design furniture. My wife was the one who first introduced me to the program a few years ago, and when I first saw it I thought it had potential, but the thought of learning a completely new program felt too daunting, so I put it aside. Blender is also not usually the first program that people think of for designing furniture or architecture, and when I first looked into it I assumed that it’s abilities in those areas were limited since most of the people using the program seem to be video game and character designers.
Prior to Blender I primarily used Sketchup, but also delved into Fusion 360 a bit as well. I started using Sketchup way back when it was a relatively newish program owned by google. At the time it was also completely free and the desktop version was really powerful. From what I recall the free version gave you access to use the complete program to it’s full potential. But gradually that has changed and like so many other programs, Sketchup has shifted to a tiered subscription system, with features being limited according to how much you can pay. I was never a daily user of Sketchup so it never made sense for me to pay for the professional version, and the free version has gradually become more and more limited in it’s capabilities. So my interest in Sketchup has been waning, and I now only use it occasionally.
Fusion 360 is also a decent program with plenty of potential, and there’s also a free version (with limits) that is available for casual users. I designed the white oak shoji cabinet using Fusion 360 and it worked alright, but I never really got a good grasp of it. And certain aspects of the program never clicked with me. More than other design programs I’ve used, Fusion 360 seems to want you to build in a specific order, but that can be pretty tricky when you’re doing more exploratory modelling and want to go back and make changes. In other words there is a history recorded for each step you take when using Fusion 360, but going back and making a modification to your model early on in the timeline can potentially break or cause other problems to the model. I have no doubt that with enough time Fusion 360 could be a fantastic program, but for me at least I just didn’t find it very intuitive and searching for solutions online was often a headache. I was also disappointed with the rendering features of the free version. My renderings never turned out very realistic, and my understanding was that in order to get better quality renders I’d need to start paying into a points system to use their cloud based rendering capabilities…kind of annoying.
So my interest also faded with Fusion 360. However, I did really like the rendering potential offered by the program which was leagues ahead of Sketchup when it comes to making more realistic models for sharing with customers. Which brings me back to Blender. After seeing the realistic models that people were making with in Blender, coupled with the fact that it’s completely free, with no limits on it’s potential, I decided to give it another shot.
I started off learning the program by following different Youtube tutorials, and mainly those by BlenderGuru. He has several tutorials which introduce the program, the interface and tools, in a pretty clear way through the process of making a donut of all things. From there I tried to find furniture specific tutorials but the options are slim. One good one though, is once again from BlenderGuru, and covers modeling a chair.
Both of those models make heavy use of Blender’s many curvature modeling abilities, which is worth learning, and is also another area where Blender really shines over Sketchup. Forming smooth curves was never an easy task in Sketchup at least not for me.
My first attempts at using Blender to produce something of my own were these small tansu cabinets.
In addition to modeling creating a scene with good lighting, camera angle/focal length, textures and props are some of the other challenging areas you need learn if you’re going to attempt any renders. It is a lot to learn, but it’s also incredibly rewarding once you start to get a feel for things. And having the ability to play around with different camera focal lengths and lighting in Blender has really made me a better photographer in real life I think.
When it comes to rendering and applying textures to your material, wood texture in particular is tricky. There are lots of free textures available online but they often leave a lot to be desired. When I made the render below I was starting to get a better feel for creating a scene including creating an actual room space with windows as well as some props, but the wood grain was still pretty rough.
Eventually after doing a lot of searching I came across a paid add-on for creating wood textures call Carvature, created by another Blender user. This is where an open source program like Blender really shines. If you have a problem, there are likely others in the same boat, and someone usually has a solution that they’ve created and shared online.
In any case the Carvature add-on is a game changer when it comes to wood textures. You have so much control over grain orientation, texture, color, grain-line density and contrast, and even things like spalting and knots. It’s not perfect but it brings things a lot closer to looking like something that actually represents a piece of wood. The model below is one of the first where I used the Carvature add-on.
One area that I’m still struggling with is dimensioning. Sketchup and Fusion360 are great for dimensioning models, and they make it easy to do so. Not so with Blender. It can be done, but it’s kind of a pain in the ass. That said still pretty easy to make dimensionally accurate models, but if you’re looking to create some sort of print out with 2D views showing the dimensions of your models, that can be tricky. Ultimately in the end if I’m going to actually build a piece of furniture that I’ve designed in Blender I will end up hand drawing a couple 2D sketches to layout the dimensions on paper.
There’s plenty more to say about all this, and I could certainly go on but I think I’ll wrap things up for now. The bottom line is that Blender is a great program for design, and opens up a lot of potential to explore different ideas and visualize them in a highly realistic way. I’ve truly enjoyed diving into the program this past year and I’ve learned a ton in the process.
If anyone is interested, I’d be happy to share more about my approach/tips/tricks/etc. Feel free to reach out or let me know in the comments below.
I’ll leave you with a few more renders. Thanks for visiting.
Im looking forward to the challenge Jon. Thanks
Great! Let me know how you like it.
Hey Jon, I too switched away from SketchUp, Fusion360, and another open source CAD program called SolveSpace to Blender. For dimensioning, I found a paid add-on called Construction Lines that has a very similar feel to SketchUp’s modeling tools. Give that a shot if you haven’t already.
And I’d like to hear more about how you use Blender!
Hey Matt, thanks for the tip on the Construction Lines add-on, I’m going to have to give it a try.
Hi Jon, I would be interested to know more of the construction details of the round cabinet with the divers helmet in it. Can’t tell from the photo if it has a base or another section below. Steam bent? kerf bent and laminated? Nice designs and thought processes. Thanks, Don
Hey Don, the round cabinet still exists only as a concept, but I based the idea off of an art project I worked on several years ago using a circular wood window. The frame of that window used a segmented and laminated construction. Essentially smaller pieces of wood cut into small arcs, and with the seams staggered, all the pieces were sandwiched and glued together to form a perfect circle. It’s was a solid construction but next time I’d like to go with a bent lamination of thin plies for a cleaner look. Also there’s no base for the round cabinet, instead I envisioned it would just attach to the wall using a French cleat, hidden on the back side.
Thanks for putting this info into the universe Jon. I’ve considered paying for Sketchup and Fusion360 but your Blender work is phenomenal. I showed some family members and they were blown away.
I’d greatly appreciate if you’d offer some more instruction on your use. Key things you’ve learned in the modeling process, any additional add-ins you may have found. How you iterate quickly through designs. Or how you convert a finalized render into working plans (if add-ins or any other mechanisms exist since you created this post).
hi Jon, can you tell us what add-ons you use besides Carvature, especially for designing furniture?
When it comes to modeling Carvature is really the only add-on that I regularly use. I’ve tried some others like Construction Lines but never really got comfortable using it. Occasionally I also use add-ons from Sketchfab and Poliigon for importing materials and other models/props when I’m trying to create more elaborate scenes.
Hello Jon! Here’s Alberto
After some months of this review. Has your opinion about Blender changed? I’d like to try it
My opinion hasn’t changed at all. I use Blender almost daily and it’s been a great tool both for exploring my own designs, and also for designing work for customers.
Thank you for sharing. Does Blender support Timber-framing and joinery? I was thinking modelling a cabin.