Joining and disjoining individual rooms in a floor plan

Abstract

This patent application relates generally to systems, methods, and computer program products for home and/or landscape design. In some aspects, this application relates to a system and method for separating a floor plan in a database into separate rooms. In some additional aspects, this application relates to joining adjacent walls of two distinct rooms.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method for use in generating a home design layout, the method comprising:
 receiving a floor plan from a user that includes multiple adjoining rooms;   dividing, using a computer system, the floor plan that includes the multiple adjoining rooms into individual non-adjoined rooms; and   storing information about the layout of the individual non-adjoined rooms in a database.   
     
     
         2 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein dividing the floor plan into individual non-adjoined rooms comprises determining one or more walls from the floor plan to include in the information about a particular room. 
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining if any home design products are associated with a particular room in the floor plan; and   storing information about the home design products associated with the particular room with the information about the layout of the particular room in the database.   
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving a user selection of a particular room in the floor plan; and   presenting, on a user interface, a computer-aided design (CAD) model of the particular room without presenting the CAD models for adjoining rooms.   
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising searching the database for other rooms that have a similar layout to one of the individual non-adjoined rooms. 
     
     
         6 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising updating information about one of the individual non-adjoined rooms. 
     
     
         7 . A computer-implemented method for use in generating a home design layout, the method comprising:
 receiving a request, the request comprising a request to join a first room and a second room, the first room having a wall and the second room having a wall;   assigning a priority to one of the first and second rooms, the priority indicating a preference for merging the walls of the first and second rooms;   merging the wall of the first room and the wall of the second room based on the assigned priority.   
     
     
         8 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 7 , wherein merging the wall of the first room and the wall of the second room based on the assigned priority comprises determining a placement of a door based on the location of a door in the room assigned the priority. 
     
     
         9 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 7 , wherein merging the wall of the first room and the wall of the second room based on the assigned priority comprises joining first and second rooms using the wall from the room assigned the priority. 
     
     
         10 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 7 , wherein assigning the priority comprises receiving a user input of a preference of one of the first and second rooms. 
     
     
         11 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 7 , wherein assigning the priority comprises automatically selecting one of the first and second rooms based on one or more features of the wall of the first room and the wall of the second room. 
     
     
         12 . A computer program product, tangibly embodied in an information carrier, for executing instructions on a processor, the computer program product being operable to cause a machine to:
 receive a floor plan from a user that includes multiple adjoining rooms;   divide, using a computer system, the floor plan that includes the multiple adjoining rooms into individual non-adjoined rooms; and   store information about the layout of the individual non-adjoined rooms in a database.   
     
     
         13 . The computer program product of  claim 12 , wherein the instructions to divide the floor plan into individual non-adjoined rooms comprise instructions to cause a machine to determine one or more walls from the floor plan to include in the information about a particular room. 
     
     
         14 . The computer program product of  claim 12 , further comprising instructions to cause a machine to
 determine if any home design products are associated with a particular room in the floor plan; and   store information about the home design products associated with the particular room with the information about the layout of the particular room in the database.   
     
     
         15 . The computer program product of  claim 12 , further comprising instructions to cause a machine to:
 receive a user selection of a particular room in the floor plan; and   present, on a user interface, a computer-aided design (CAD) model of the particular room without presenting the CAD models for adjoining rooms.   
     
     
         16 . The computer program product of  claim 12 , further comprising instructions to cause a machine to:
 search the database for other rooms that have a similar layout to one of the individual non-adjoined rooms.   
     
     
         17 . A computer program product, tangibly embodied in an information carrier, for executing instructions on a processor, the computer program product being operable to cause a machine to:
 receive a request, the request comprising a request to join a first room and a second room, the first room having a wall and the second room having a wall;   assign a priority to one of the first and second rooms, the priority indicating a preference for merging the walls of the first and second rooms;   merge the wall of the first room and the wall of the second room based on the assigned priority.   
     
     
         18 . The computer program product of  claim 17 , wherein the instructions to cause a machine to merge the wall of the first room and the wall of the second room based on the assigned priority comprise instructions to cause a machine to determine a placement of a door based on the location of a door in the room assigned the priority. 
     
     
         19 . The computer program product of  claim 17 , wherein the instructions to cause a machine to merge the wall of the first room and the wall of the second room based on the assigned priority comprise instructions to cause a machine to join first and second rooms using the wall from the room assigned the priority. 
     
     
         20 . The computer program product of  claim 17 , further comprising instructions to cause a machine to receive a user input of a preference of one of the first and second rooms. 
     
     
         21 . The computer program product of  claim 17 , further comprising instructions to cause a machine to automatically select one of the first and second rooms based on one or more features of the wall of the first room and the wall of the second room.