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Virtual Design on a Dime: Top Apps that Will Turn You into an Interior Decorator
Whether you’ve just bought a new home or you’re looking to revamp your current property, interior design is coming to your phone! Decorating tips and home improvement guides are on the rise, with a plethora of apps providing you with everything you need to know when it comes to giving your home a facelift.
From inspirational case studies to desirable mood boards, you can start putting together ideas that will help you to achieve the home of your dreams. And with apps that even measure the height of your ceilings, everything’s available at the click of a button. Here are just some of the top apps that are currently available:
Houzz
With such an extensive range of images available on Houzz, this is the go-to guide for anyone carrying out home improvements. With all of the images carefully cataloged so you can search by room, style and location, this database is the perfect place to start gathering ideas and putting together mood boards. With its handy “Ideabook”, you can save all of your favorite designs and ideas, which is great when you’re showing interior designers or decorators what look you’re wanting to achieve.
Home Design 3D Gold
It can often be difficult to visualize a space, particularly if you are carrying out extensive renovation works. So, to help you understand exactly what furniture will fit from PlumGoose.com and other places, you can import your own floorplans, taking out walls, ceilings or creating new openings with Home Design 3D Gold. It works in 2- or 3-D and you can share with others so everyone is up to speed on the changes that are being carried out.
MyPantone
Getting the right color in your home is a must, and if anyone knows about color, it’s Pantone. What they say goes, so this app is fundamental when you’re trying to put together complimenting color schemes. It expertly identifies colors in photographs, showing you what colors will compliment it. This allows you to communicate with your decorators, paint suppliers and designers with ease, showing them the exact color palette you have in mind for your home.
Zillow Digs
Zillow is an online database that allows users to search for the prices of nearly every real estate address in the U.S. They’ve now expanded to offer this same helpful advice for home design and improvements. Zillow Digs gives you access to its database where you can find estimates on interior design projects. Once you’ve found one that is in keeping with your budget, it will then show you which retailers you need to get in contact with to get your products.
The beauty of this app is not only that it allows users to remain within their price point but it also provides you with great advice from interior designers.
Curate
One of the finishing touches to your home will be pictures and paintings, and thanks to the team behind Curate, you will no longer have to try and mentally visualize what a picture will look like in your chosen setting. Instead, you can upload a picture of the blank wall where you’re thinking of hanging your painting and you’ll instantly see how it looks when it’s hung in this place! It’s a great way to make sure a painting is going to look right before you start drilling holes in the wall or buying expensive pieces of art.
The app also allows you browse your favorite galleries and artists to provide you with inspiration.
MagicPlan
Make measuring up effortless by using the innovative app, MagicPlan. This removes the stress and hassle of having to draw floor plans and take measurements by cleverly giving you the distances between two spaces through a snapshot on your phone. You can annotate all of your photos with your measurements so you can take these with you when you’re shopping for new pieces of furniture, making sure you never buy something that won’t fit into your home again.
BrightNest
It’s important that you stay on track during the redesign process and helping you to do this is BrightNest. This cool app acts like your own personal assistant, helping you to organize all of your tasks so you get them complete before they’re due. You’ll get reminders of when things are coming up as well as advice on how you can improve how you’re currently doing things. This app will help you to carry out DIY improvements quickly and efficiently, while also providing you with ideas you might not have thought of.
Madeleine Craig works in an office by day, but evenings and weekends are when she has time for her true passion; interior design.
