I've been screwing a lot lately. Come to think of it, I've also been getting hammered too.

Hey you, get your mind out of the gutter! I don't mean that type of screwing or pounding. I'm talkin' about the kind you do when you're building or remodeling your house.

Well, about 15 months ago my husband and I have taken on the biggest home renovation known to mankind. The do-it-yourself-complete-gutting-and-expansion-of-our-former-doll house renovation.

Yeah, I'm talkin' BIG here. As in I am homeless, living at my parents and now have a home that just stopped resembling a tree house about 4 months ago.

Now it looks like a real house. Just don't pay any nevermind to the "Tyvek" wallpaper that so stylishly adorns the outside of it.

Well, "what has this got to do with Home Architect?", you ask.

If I was a complete nimrod I could sit here and tell you that I single-handedly designed my dream home myself with the aid of my handy dandy notebook and Home Architect software.

Well, although the stupid part is debatable, I must admit PROUDLY that I didn't. And yes, I am proud of that fact.

I leave the architecture up to the architect.

I can't imagine the monstrosity it would be if I tried to do it myself.

But, since I am now getting down to interior design concept time (also known as "the fun part"), I have been experimenting with H.A. to design my kitchen.

Sierra Home Architect...The Good Stuff

* Drag and Drop features. Pick out you item and stuff it in where you want it to go.

* Full color rendering. It allows you to make life changing decisions as to what colors look good with what. "Cherry looks too dark. Let's go with Natural Maple."

* Automatic scaling. No more sitting with your ruler and counting out feet. Just grab your virtual tape measure and go to town. Perfect for the mathematic idiot such as myself who has no idea where 5/8ths is.

* Real life items. Like Merillat cabinets or a GE refrigerator? Their specs and designs are already preloaded into the software. Not too mention flooring, countertops and even pictures for your wall.

* Oh my Lord, the view... H.A. has two different views to look at your work. Top view and side view. Not to mention the 3-D effects are pretty good for a $30 program.

* Add-on items that you don't really need but are fun anyway. Which kind of plant would look good in that corner? Should I buy overstuffed fabric or leather? Gee, that room looks bare without my beer sitting on the end table!

Sierra Home Architect...The Bad Stuff

* It Ain't The Great Indoors - The Items...Since my copy is somewhat older, I don't have the same cutting edge products that I am inundated with every time I pick up a catalog at Expo. No stainless steel cabinets. No silestone countertops. No Grohe faucets.

* The Lack of Bird's Eye Views... I want to virtually walk right up to the cabinets and see what they look like up close. Makes it darn near impossible to completely visualize your project.

* The Learning Curve... It took me about three hours to make a sample kitchen. I would assume that it would take about three months to design a whole house.

* The Size... Sorry Proeditor, in this case the size DOES count! The program takes up about all of your RAM (which in my case is 64 Megs) while you are running it and makes your computer's fan hum like it's a tanning bed. Therefore, no other programs open while you are using this or you will be inundated with "Out of Memory" messages.

* False advertising... It advertises that you can go to Sierra Home on the Web and pick out additional components that are updated on a periodic basis. Well, yeah, there were updates but I was looking more for a Kitchen Aid dishwasher - not accessories for a crime scene. Apparently some people use this software to create murder mysteries. Don't ask me why!

Okay, so there you have it. My little reprieve from screwing. Time to put my workboots back on and go help (annoy) my husband who is over at the "tree fort" as I speak.

Back to the hammering and screwing!

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