Often users will create SketchUp collections of their favourite interior design models, to be used over and over again in future models. We show you how to do this, and more, in our SketchUp training courses.
Many props can be sourced via the 3D Warehouse, of course. And many furniture companies will upload their products to the 3D Warehouse. But often you may need to create individual customized pieces for clients, especially for retail fit-outs. These can easily be created using a variety of SketchUp modeling tools.
For example, to create the lamps shown here first create a circle with the Circle tool, of radius 175mm. Then select the Push/Pull tool and extrude the circle upwards by 200mm. We now select the Scale tool and select the top face in order to scale it down thus creating a truncated cone shape. However, SketchUp scales from one cormer to the adjacent by default. Therefore we press the Control key on the keyboard (Mac users press Option) to keep the scaling centred. This can be done visually, or for a more accurate scaling note the scale factor on the bottom right Measurements field – simply type in a scale factor of 0.5 and hit the Enter key.
We then create a smaller cylinder for the light housing using the Circle and Push/Pull tools in a similar fashion.
To create the framed print on the right of the illustration use the Line tool to create an upright square 700 by 700mm, for example. Then use the Push/Pull tool to extrude the face outwards by 10mm. Then create a new material to apply to the top face. Click the Edit tab and use scaling values of W:700 and H:700, in order to exactly fit the print to the frame.
The fireplace is a simple combination of push/pulled squares and circles. The vase is slightly more complex n that it’s an organic shape. We first create an upright rectangle and draw a half profile of the vase onto it using the Arc and Line tools. We then adda  circle to its base, and use the Follow Me tool to revolve the profile around the circular path.
In order to create collections of your own favourite components go to the Window drop-down menu and choose Components. Next click on the arrow button to the right of the search field and select Create a Local Collection. Save it to your desktop or a location easily found later, and click the Make New Collection button. Finally give it an appropriate name. Next when you right-click on a furniture object to Make Component in the Save As save it to your own collection.
Many useful tips and techniques can be found at the SketchUp website. And see many examples of our own clients’ work on our Facebook page.
Other related SketchUp Blog Posts:

• SketchUp background
• SketchUp introduction
• SketchUp modeling
• SketchUp contours
• SketchUp workspace