If you are in the process of redecorating, you might want to put down the hammer and pick up your cell phone. With a number of design and decorating apps to choose from, there is sure to be an application that can help with your next project. Here are a few of the best.
Color 911
It’s often the first hurdle when redecorating a room or designing a new motif from scratch: what color palette do you use? Color has a huge impact on a room’s vibrancy and look, and can even affect your mood. Darker colors tend to be more subdued, while lighter colors can brighten a room and your spirits. If you are having difficulty deciding on a color scheme, Color911 is a must-have. You can select from pre-existing color schemes, create your own colors, or combine colors to create all-new palettes. It’s easy and intuitive.
Cataluv
Imagine if Pinterest made it easy to buy the items in your feed. That is Cataluv in a nutshell. With Cataluv, your daily feed includes inspiration from a wide range of retailers in the design and home decoration industries. If you like an item, you can find out more by clicking on it, including the item’s price. Best of all, you can buy it directly from within the app. Non-furniture items can be returned within 30 days, no shipping costs included, and shipping fees for new items are clearly displayed. Yes, Cataluv is a Super Pinterest!
LikeThat Decor
Does this scenario sound familiar? You have a specific item of furniture that you are interested in buying, but you don’t know the name. What do you do? Well, with the LikeThat Decor app, you can search similar products visually. Yes, instead of searching for a product or product type by name, you can simply search by image. All you need is an image of the item you’re interested in, or an item that is similar to the one you’re seeking, and the LikeThat app will do the rest. It’s easy (and so simple it’s amazing more apps don’t do the same thing).
Photo Measures
This app may not be for everyone, but for the people who do find a use for it, it will likely be irreplaceable. With Photo Measures, you can photograph a room (or piece of furniture) and then annotate the image to mark measurements and dimensions. This information can prove invaluable when shopping for furniture, determining the layout of a room, or building custom furniture to fit a specific room within your home. If you’ve ever taken graph paper and drawn a rough layout of a room on it, complete with measurements, then Photo Measures is your friend.
Design Sponge
The Design Sponge application takes the popular online design blog and condenses it into a mobile-friendly layout. With the app, users can easily and intuitively view the latest posts and sections (like Before & After or Home Tours), zoom in on photos, browse through posts in-app, share posts on social media, and save their favorite posts for later viewing. In essence, it is the ultimate expression of what Design Sponge can and should be on mobile. If you frequent the website on your laptop or desktop computer, downloading the mobile app is a no-brainer.
iHandy level
If you don’t have a level but want to ensure your frames are mounted straight, you can use the iHandy level on your smartphone. Available for both Apple and Android devices, the iHandly level uses your smartphone’s built-in accelerometer to measure straight and true. Once properly calibrated (the calibration process is simple), it is incredibly accurate. So accurate, in fact, that it will measure your phone’s variation from level by a tenth of a degree. Surely that must be better than simply eyeballing an air bubble as it skirts in-between two markings, no?
Redecorating Will Never Be the Same
To use an old cliché, when it comes to decorating, there’s an app for that! From apps that inspire to practical tools that can help you plan and execute, design and decorating apps come in many shapes and sizes. Find the apps that suit your needs and have fun! When it comes to redecorating your home, your cell phone might actually just be the most important tool in your tool bag. With carriers nowadays offering unlimited data for consumers, you don’t even need to worry about the amount of time you’re spending on these apps. Now go decorate!
