Interior Design Hacks: Leveraging Chief Architect's Best Features - Designers Show #150

If you're a Chief Architect user looking to speed up your design process, eliminate tedious tasks, and get better results with less effort—this episode of The Designer Show is for you.

In this power-packed session, hosts Dan Baumann, Robin Rigby Fisher, John Schrader, and René Rabbitt share the tips, tricks, and workflows they personally rely on to work faster and smarter in Chief Architect. From custom keystrokes to advanced layout strategies, you’ll come away with real, actionable advice you can start using today.

🎥 Watch the full episode below

This one’s packed with time-saving hacks, helpful keystrokes, and custom workflows that’ll make your day-to-day drafting a lot easier. Whether you’re laying out kitchens, building out schedules, or just tired of clicking through endless menus, you’ll find something in this episode that makes you say, “Oh! I’m doing that from now on.”

Dan Baumann kicks things off with his favorite keystroke customizations—like swapping the default Ctrl+E with just E to open dialogs. Simple change, but a total game-changer. He also walks through RA for Reflect About (one of his most-used tricks) and TR for Transform Replicate, which lets you quickly move, copy, or resize objects with precision.

If you’ve never used HH (paste, hold position), you’re going to love how it helps keep everything aligned between floors—especially when copying walls, windows, or other key elements in a multi-level build.

Then Robin Rigby Fisher jumps in with a killer tip for kitchen and bath designers: how to build a custom countertop schedule. She shows how to add your own fields like edge profile, material name, special notes—everything your countertop fabricator needs to quote the job correctly without endless emails. It’s fast, it’s smart, and it keeps your drawings tight and professional.

One of my favorite moments is when Robin and René talk about naming custom fields. If you’ve ever ended up with a bloated, messy schedule full of oddly named columns (like “Overhang Copy Copy FINAL”), you’re going to love René’s solution: use generic labels like “Input 1” and rename them just within the schedule. That way your templates stay clean, and your sanity stays intact.

René also gives us a peek at his Pro Plan Template—this thing is loaded with pre-linked elevations, CAD blocks, fixture diagrams, and all the smart shortcuts he’s baked into his personal setup. Watching him use it in real time is like getting a front-row seat at a masterclass on Chief Architect productivity.

John wraps things up with a really solid breakdown of how to create a sloped ceiling when your ridgeline isn’t centered. It’s a clear, methodical process using CAD boxes to calculate the right heights—and even if you’ve done sloped ceilings before, his approach is so clean and visual that it’s worth watching.

Honestly, this whole episode is just gold if you use Chief Architect regularly. It’s not about flashy renderings or complex scripting—it’s about those little tips that make your workday smoother and your results sharper.

We promise you’ll walk away with at least three things you’ll want to start using right away. And hey—if you’re into custom scheduling, layout automation, or even just placing doors a little faster—you’re in good company.