Sprucing up your home, or even building a new addition, is best done with some planning. Fortunately, plenty of apps are available for Android and Apple smartphone or tablet users to help with the design, planning, professional consultation and even buying stages of freshening up a space – whether that means a full room renovation or a simple paint color change.
According to U.S. News & World Report, these are the seven best free interior design apps for consumers:
Best for connecting with design professionals: Houzz
Houzz has a strong reputation for helping people plan and prepare for home remodeling and design, as well as providing access to a network of professionals and a marketplace for home decor products. It’s no surprise the Houzz app offers all the features available on its website, including access to your saved ideabooks and 3D virtual room staging. The Houzz app also interprets your interior design style based on the photos you save to ideabooks – the more photos you save, the more accurate and detailed the style insights will be. Compared with other home design apps, Houzz offers the best way to connect with professional designers and includes customer reviews, project budget ranges and contact information.
Best for creating floor plans: Keyplan 3D
There are many floor plan creator apps available to smartphone and tablet users, but many have gone behind a paywall that could make drawing a floor plan the old-fashioned way – with a paper and pencil – more appealing. Fortunately, Keyplan 3D offers a free alternative for your phone or tablet that makes it easy to measure out the boundaries of a room, insert furniture to see how it fits and then see the completed plan in 3D format. There are still in-app purchases if you’re looking for a more extensive floor plan experience, particularly if you’re making more in-depth home plans or working professionally, but the free from-scratch floor plan option allows you to plan out any kind of room with furniture, appliances, fixtures and more.
Best marketplace: Wayfair
Wayfair says it offers more than 22 million products in its marketplace, and its app allows you to benefit by planning what will fit best in your home while also shopping for it. The app’s “watch” feature includes plenty of videos that highlight new products that may be of interest to you, discuss interior design trends and offer advice for designing and furnishing your space. While you can favorite and save items you’re interested in, the “recently viewed” feature in the account section also makes it easy to look back on items you’ve browsed in case you forgot to save something. You can order directly through the app and track packages as you wait for them to arrive at home.
Best for choosing paint colors: Project Color by Home Depot
If you’re looking for an app that will help you make decisions when it comes to painting walls, trim and other parts of your house, look to Project Color by Home Depot. The app allows users to explore color swatches as well as preview paints and color combinations in your own room by snapping a photo. The augmented reality isn’t perfect, but it can give you a feel for how a new paint color would work in the space. If you’re out and about and see a building, plant or even fabric color you think would work well in your home, you can take a photo through the app or even import an image through Pinterest to find the closest color option sold by Home Depot. You can even order paint samples with free delivery, or buy paint for in-store pickup through the app.
Best for finding a contractor: Angi: Find Local Home Services
Whether you’re planning a kitchen renovation or simply need a drain clog fixed, Angi offers the same in-depth analysis of project scope and cost on its app. This app serves as the streamlined mobile option for those who have used either HomeAdvisor or Angie’s List in the past, as they’re now both under the Angi brand. You can store plans and contractor information for your project in the app, and also be put in touch with local contractors. If you wish to browse professionals and their customer ratings, the app’s directory (under the “more” button on the menu) lists details and contact information, connecting you with local companies based on ZIP code. Or, if you prefer to be contacted by pros directly, provide your contact information and some basic details on your project to start receiving quotes.
Best for trying out room design: DecorMatters
This app aims to help you exercise your interior design muscles with decorating challenges, room inspiration and shopping options. When you want to design a space, you have the option to take on a guided challenge, which gives you the opportunity to earn coins and badges in the app like a game, start with a template for a virtual space or even use your camera to capture the room you’re in and try out furniture with augmented reality. The app does have a monthly subscription if you want to take photos of your own space to design or use the AR in your real room, but the templates often offer enough variety to get a feel for the real-life space you have in mind. Still, you may find the furniture and decor selection limited if you’re not subscribing or working to earn coins.
Best for designing for fun: Design Home
There are times for serious planning for a new room design or renovation, and there are times you just want to pretend you’re an interior designer. Users can tackle design challenges when they open the Design Home app, like a hypothetical client scenario in which you must design an inspiring living room for a getaway home in Vancouver, Canada, for an aspiring writer. All items you put to use are real, with brand and pricing information available. To complete a challenge, the app gives you a fake budget to spend on decor, and you can earn play money for completing a challenge. However, users warn against using real money to expand your budget in challenges – the app notes that you can turn off in-app purchasing in the settings.
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Photo Credit: Sharaf Maksumov / Shutterstock.com