Before building your cabin, you'll need a plan. You probably will spend time at the site upon which you want to build. You'll make some rough sketches to show how you want it positioned. And note things such as where you want windows and doors. When your notes are sufficient, you'll want to draw a plan. What follows is an example of how you might use HPP (Home Plan Pro) to do so.

Suggestion: You may enjoy trying what we do in these notes in HPP. That is, repeat each step in the work space, as it is explained in these notes. This doesn't work well if HPP is full screen, because when you click HPP, these notes will disappear behind the program.

If HPP is running full screen, click the button shown here in the extreme upper right corner of the screen. This reduces the size of HPP so that the following works.

Drag this window as far to the right on your monitor as possible. Drag HPP as far left as you can. Then as the steps in drawing are described, you can click between the workspace and these notes and draw along with us!

Note:  Check the "Keep Form on Top" check box to keep it always in front.

At the far left of the Button Tool Bar at the top of the screen, click the button shown above to open a new file. Click "OK" to use the Default Size.

Let's assume the cabin will be 20 by 30 feet. We will begin by drawing an outline of it, often called a footprint.

Click the Wall tool as shown to the left. Position the center of the cross hairs near the upper left corner of the work space. Left click the mouse and move to the right. Watch the Odometers in the lower left corner of the screen. Click again when the count is 30. Drawing automatically holds to the horizontal and vertical, even if the mouse moves off track.

For greater accuracy, use the arrow (cursor control) keys. Click the mouse, press keys as needed, then click the mouse again to end drawing.

Now you need to draw the other three walls as shown above. It's tricky at first getting another wall tied in correctly to one already drawn. The secret is to draw in a clockwise direction.

That is, position the cursor at the right edge of the first wall drawn, click the mouse, then draw down until the Odometers show 20. Then click again. Next draw from the end of the new wall back over to the left. Then finally draw the other vertical wall up. Click here for more about getting corners right.

The Undo and Redo tools shown here are very helpful when things go wrong. If what you draw is a little off, click Undo, the tool to the left, and draw again. If you click Undo too many times, click Redo to redraw the last element erased. Since this is really a trial run, it doesn't matter much if you mess up a couple of things.

Sometimes parts of drawings seemingly do not get erased. Often these show on the screen, but are not part of the plan. Click the Redraw button shown above to load a fresh copy of the plan.

Now let's draw a kitchen in the upper left corner of the plan. Let's say it is to be 12 feet long and 10 feet wide.

One approach is to use the Dimension tool shown above. Click this tool button, then position the center of the cross hairs at the upper left corner of the drawing, a bit above the top wall. Left click the mouse and move to the right.

Watch the Odometers in the lower left corner of the screen. Click again when the count is 12. Repeat for the other dimension.

Now click the Wall tool. Guided by the dimensions already drawn, draw the two interior walls of the kitchen. Again, it's tricky to get walls lined up exactly when you are getting started. If you begin at A, draw down to B, then left to C, that is draw in a clockwise direction, you will get a nice corner.

Assume a door will be needed in the right wall of the kitchen. Use the Line tool above to draw counter tops as shown to the right. 24 to 26 inches is about the right depth.

Use the Door tool to insert a door as shown to the right. Click the tool, then move the cursor to the position at which you want the door to hinge. Move the width of the door, then click again to end drawing. When you position the cursor inside the kitchen and click again, the door will be drawn. (If you had made the last click outside the kitchen, the door would have opened out.)

To the right, a refrigerator, sink and stove have been added. HPP includes many predrawn figures. Click the Figure tool shown above, then from the options to the left in the new window, select Kitchen.

When you left click on an object, the window closes. Position the object in the plan by moving the mouse or with the arrow keys.

To the right, two windows have been added. To draw a window, click the Window tool. Position the cursor at one edge of the window and click. Them move to the opposite edge and click again.

Let's add a bedroom in the lower left corner of the drawing as shown to the right. Begin by extending the right wall of the kitchen down to the exterior wall.

Now let's add some furniture. Click the Figure tool, then select Furniture from the menu to the left. When you click a figure, the window closes. Position it in the plan by moving the mouse or using the arrow keys. An object can be rotated by right clicking the mouse. And it can be resized with the Plus and Minus keys. When all looks good, click again to add the object to the plan.

To add a door, click the Door tool. Position the cursor at the point at which you want the door to hinge. Move the cursor to the edge of the door which is to open and click again. Finally, move off the door to the side it is to open and click again.

To add a window, click the Window tool. Position the cursor at one edge of the window and click. Then move to the other edge and click again.

To the right, the Wall and Line tools have been used to draw a closet with sliding doors.

To the right, several objects have been added to the living area of the cabin using the Figure tool. All were selected under Furniture.

Two doors have been drawn with the Door tool and a window has been inserted with the Window tool. There is ample room to add more windows.

The completed drawing is shown below. The Dimension tool has been used to add outside dimensions to the right and below.

With a little practice, you will find it easy to draw much more complicated plans than this one. Further, if you don't like your results, it's easy to draw a new plan.

HPP offers many tools not used here. To explore and discover what each can do for you, right click on a tool of interest. After reading a bit about it, experiment a little. You will soon be master of them all.