Home Designer Suite may leave home improvement fanatics feeling shortchanged. The program is great at communicating big ideas visually to a spouse, general contractor, or even over the counter at a home improvement store, but is no help in turning the idea into reality without the help of a professional. For example, Home Designer Suite does have a "Plan Check" feature that will review your layout and point out errors based on basic construction principles (like a room without a door), but unlike the $495 Home Designer Professional, Home Designer Suite does not review your design against national building codes.

Home Designer Suite is fun, easy to use, and perfect for visualizing your home improvement project or planning your landscaping, but that's really all it's going to help with. The program easily gives you the ability to design your dream home or remodel, but without adequate knowledge and construction experience, you'll need to hire the architect or structural engineer anyway, just to make sure the dream becomes a reality.