Blender for Interior Design: Direct Import Furniture from IKEA (Free Add-on)
Using Blender for interior design can be challenging, but it becomes easier with the right assets and resources. A good collection of furniture objects and assets can help you finish a design proposal quickly. A new add-on available from the official Blender extensions repository can assist with this task.
The add-on has a single purpose: it provides a way to search and import 3D models directly from IKEA. Since this store is incredibly popular in many parts of the world, it offers a valuable shortcut to add furniture to a Blender project.
How does it work? To better explain the add-on, I created a simple tutorial.
As you can see from the tutorial, you need to install the add-on in Blender to pull data from IKEA. It can use localized stores, which you need to select from the add-on settings.
To keep track of the add-on development, you can check the source code on GitHub. To browse IKEA for a collection of furniture, you can visit this address.
Blender for Interior Design: First Steps
For those looking to get started with Blender for Interior Design, you should begin by selecting a wide range of assets to use in your projects. The models from IKEA are great, but they don't always provide the best quality. You should also consider bringing in models from SketchUp or 3ds Max. I have full tutorials on how to install add-ons to import that type of data:
– How to import SketchUp files (SKP) to Blender?
– How to import 3ds Max (MAX) files to Blender?
Using SketchUp files in Blender for Interior Design will give you access to the 3D Warehouse and thousands of 3D objects.
Learning Blender
If you are still in the early stages of learning Blender, we have many resources at Blender 3D Architect that can help:
– Precise Modeling for Architecture, Engineering, and 3D Printing (Workshop)
– Blender for Architecture (Workshop)
– Blender for Beginners – Paperback – eBook
Getting any of the learning resources from Blender 3D Architect supports our work!
