FREE COURSE

Find Your Footing in SketchUp: Model Your First Room

Free course · 8 lessons

A practical beginner course to help you build your first complete 3D room in SketchUp—from start to finish.

Find Your Footing in SketchUp is designed for beginners who want more than random tools and scattered tutorials. This course gives you a clear, guided project so you can learn SketchUp by building something real: a complete room model with walls, openings, furniture, materials, and finishing details.

Whether you want to design interiors, draft architectural spaces, or explore SketchUp as a hobby, this course helps you build confidence through a full start-to-finish workflow.

→ The focus is practical: learn the essential tools by creating a complete 3D space you can actually finish and share.

Who this is for

→ This course is designed for beginners who want a clear first project and a stronger foundation in SketchUp.

This course is for you if:

You’re new to SketchUp and want a more guided, project-based starting point
You want to move beyond tools in isolation and actually build a full room
You’re interested in interiors, architecture, home projects, or 3D design
You want a finished model you can use as a stepping stone to more advanced work

Great fit for:

Interior designers
Architects and students
Contractors and remodelers
Design-build professionals
Educators and students
Hobbyists who want to learn SketchUp by making something tangible

What you’ll be able to do

→ The goal is to help you understand how SketchUp works by taking a simple room from measurements to a finished 3D model.

By the end of Find Your Footing in SketchUp, you’ll be able to:

Measure and plan a 3D model using real-world dimensions
Draw, offset, and push/pull walls with more precision
Add and modify doors, windows, and furniture using SketchUp’s 3D Warehouse
Apply realistic materials, textures, and colors
Adjust shading and ambient occlusion for a more polished look
Save, export, and share your completed project

Meet Your Teacher

Hi, I'm Dan

and all in-person workshops and live webinars are led by me.

I’m the founder of SketchUpTrainer.com
—an educator, designer, and (last but not least) a SketchUp expert.

15+ years of experience as a SketchUp trainer & consultant
10 years teaching SketchUp at the college level
Trained thousands of architects, designers, and contractors
Since 2007, I’ve been helping professionals master 3D modeling, streamline their workflows, and bring complex projects to life.

"My approach is interactive and project-based—simple and dependable—focused on clean models, reliable workflows, and client-ready visuals.

I put a strong emphasis on foundational skills, because in design and architecture, everything depends on a strong foundation."

Course overview

Lesson 1 – Start With a Plan

Survey the space, take measurements, and sketch a floor plan before you begin modeling.

Lesson 2 – Create the Room in 3D

Use SketchUp’s Rectangle, Offset, and Push/Pull tools to build walls and openings.

Lesson 3 – Add Doors and Windows Using 3D Warehouse

Import and customize doors and windows using SketchUp’s 3D Warehouse.

Lesson 4 – Furnish the Space

Search, select, and place furniture and décor from the 3D Warehouse to complete your room.

Lesson 5 – Apply Materials and Textures

Choose wall colors, flooring, and custom textures to make the space feel more realistic.

Lesson 6 – Add Finishing Touches and Details

Refine the model with baseboards, trim, curtains, and artwork for a more polished result.

Lesson 7 – Adjust Lighting and Shadows for a Professional Look

Use shading, ambient occlusion, and field of view to add depth and clarity to your model.

Lesson 8 – Save, Export, and Share Your Model

Save, optimize, and share your completed project using Trimble Connect and export options.

What’s included / how it works

→ This course is designed to help you learn SketchUp by completing one clear, manageable project from beginning to end.

With this course, you get:

8 focused lessons
A step-by-step path for building your first complete room model in SketchUp.
A project-based workflow
Learn the core tools and decisions that go into building a real 3D space.
A finished model to build from
By the end, you’ll have a completed room model and a stronger sense of what to do next.

With Find Your Footing in SketchUp, you learn the essential tools:

starting with a plan → save, export, and share your model.

The next step is having a place to keep building on that foundation—through project-based courses and ongoing support.

Your SketchUp Trainer Learning Pass

Choose monthly if you want flexibility. Choose yearly if you want ongoing support and the best value.

Monthly Access

$49 per month

Full access to the SketchUp Course Library
Live Project Clinics twice per month
A private Community Hub to ask questions
Downloadable templates, files, and tools
All new course updates included

Cancel anytime (you’ll keep access through the end of your billing period).

Join monthly

Yearly Access

$349 per year

Everything in the Monthly Access
24+ Project Clinics across the year
A year of ongoing support
A full year to improve your SketchUp workflow
Best if you want steady practice, consistent support, and space to grow into more advanced workflows over the course of a year.

Join yearly