If you are currently looking to renovate your home or purchase with the intent of renovating we have the guide for you. In this digital world there are now countless apps pitched at renovators, helping to answer all of those important questions: Who should I hire? How should I decorate? What colour should I paint my walls?
So for those who are brave enough to commit, here are 10 of the best apps that should help you throughout your project.
Sun Seeker: 3D Augmented Reality Viewer ($5.49)
Maximising sunlight can make or break the environment of your home, especially in coastal areas like ours. It is always a good idea to plan your design in a way that maximises all natural light available. To help you navigate this, Sun Seeker utilises your smart phones compass function, to overlay the camera with additional information, including the solar path of the sun.
MagicPlan (Free)
Using the camera function, MagicPlan measures and draws your floor plan. Simply stand in the centre of a room, point your camera at all four corners and you’re done.Having your floor plans in PDF, JPG or DXF format is a good way to wrap your head around the current layout of your house.
Home Design 3D ($8.49)
Home Design 3D is the next level up from MagicPlan. Relative to other apps, it may seem a little expensive but, in essence, it’s a slimmed-down version of PC software used by professional designers, which costs far more. There is also a free trial version available before you commit to the full app.
You start by drawing up the rooms of your house before adding various items of furniture. You then hit the 3D button and you can fly through the property and view it from every angle.
The Builder App (free)
If you have drawn your concept, chances are you are now looking to bring in the professionals. Specific to Australia, the Builder App puts renovators in contact with both tradies and suppliers. There is a ”get quotes” function, which sends out a message to all the aligned tradespeople and suppliers within 25 kilometres, who then contact you with a quote.
Handy Man DIY ($1.99)
If you are tackling this renovation yourself and hoping to save money by doing the smaller jobs on your own, Handy Man DIY will be your best friend. This app provides step-by-step videos and instructions for simple renovation tasks. It also has features for storing information about your rooms and costs.
iHandy Carpenter ($1.99)
This is a virtual tool kit for those ”hands-on’ renovators. It comprises the five most common tools used by carpenters – a plumb bob, surface level, bubble level bar, steel protractor and steel ruler.Best of all, you can try before you buy – you can get the iHandy Level app free.
Houzz Interior Design Ideas (free)
This is the house interiors only pinterest. This app is a great way to become inspired about both interior and exterior design. It features more than 500,000 photos of properties that you can browse by style, room and location.
Dream Home (99¢)
Similar to Houzz, Dream Home is all about having a stickybeak at other people’s designer homes, with an interactive element. Users submit their own interiors, others rate them, and those that rate well go in the ”popular” section. A good way to tap into the design trends of the moment.
ColorChange ($2.99)
So you’ve finished your house and you’re left with the all-important decision of what colour to paint it. ColorChange allows you to take a picture of a wall and apply different colours to see what you like. The ”magic” function cleverly excludes things such as doors and windows.
Dulux MyColour (Free)
Find yourself in someone else’s house and want to copy the colour of their walls? Or did you glimpse the perfect shade while you are out and about? With Dulux MyColour, you simply snap a picture of something, tap the photo where you think the winning colour is, and the app will tell you the name of the paint that most closely matches that colour.