Just to say I agree with Puybaret, dorin, UbuntyBirdy, Ceciliabr. And I am unhappy with leaving potential SH3D users with an impression that SH3D is free, but imperfect. This is misleading. SH3D is brilliant software by any standard. In addition, it is OpenSource and free.

Regardless of software, it comes down to the 3D drawing, the lightsources used - and not least - to the creator.

..we obviously have to use something other than low-poly models and tiny textures...

True, but to repeat myself ad nauseum, it is not only a question of number of vertices and pixels in a bitmap. It is also a question of how the models and textures are drawn. In thread 8292 Ceciliabr tests different quality models. Or put differently, you can download huge model/furniture files from the web that will still not render well because they are badly made.

..import it in Blender. Here you get better renderings. And tons of possibilities with light and render-settings. It's a bit difficult...

It is true that Blender will give you a very wide range of options to play with in terms of rendering (and editing). And do not get me wrong, I am a huge fan of Blender and frequently use it to fine-tune and correct models. But Blender is a different kettle of fish altogether, and for rendering of a home, you will need to spend quite a lot of time to get good results. For most users I suspect using Blender for SH3D renderings will be a waste of time.

SH3D is, the way I see it, about something different. It offers the ability to sketch a plan very quickly where the elements are by default well defined and easy to edit. Plus, making a render is straight-forward: the result with SH3D / Sunflow can easily be as good as, or even much better, than the ones in the beginning of the thread. But that requires, as every software will that:
- models/textures are well designed suited for the rendering you wish,
- lightsources are used cleverly (see enkonyito's plugin and special lightsources)
- and you have a feel for what you do.

This is just a long way of lending my support to the other posts and addressing the original issue:

I love SweetHome but...
.. would like to move forward. I know it's free and can't be perfect...

I have many wishes for SH3D, improved rendering is not on that list. And all in all, of all software packages I have used, SH3D is arguably one of the very best in terms of achieving what it sets out to do - and more.

ok