Home Improvement Apps We Love

Remember when you subscribed to furniture and home improvement magazines to get all your brilliant DIY ideas? Thanks to the internet, you no longer have to flip through the pages of a catalogue to remodel and redefine your living space. With the convenience of smart phones and tablet devices and an enormous library of available apps to customize them, you can download almost everything – including home improvement and design ideas!

Whether you’ve just decided a renovation is in order, you’re ready for an interior design change, or you’ve decided to tackle a do-it-yourself home improvement project this summer, all you need to get started is an inspiring home improvement app to spark your imagination.

Here’s a list of our favorite home improvement, interior design, and DIY project apps to help kick off your next renovation project:

INTERIOR INSPIRATION

Most of you already know about Pinterest, but for those of you who don’t, it is THE social media platform where creative minds meet and interact. A quick search within the app for anything from doors to wallpaper will generate thousands of unique pins to browse through. You can find a ton of ideas for your home, including some simple and effective tips to make your DIY project an instant hit.

While many may think that Pinterest is targeted toward women looking for fashion and beauty related topics, there is so much more to it. Pinterest is among the best apps for finding home improvement information in all areas, including: landscaping, furniture design, architecture, paint colors and much more.

For us, Pinterest is quickly becoming a favorite channel to share product photos, project updates and design ideas. So while you’re browsing through your favorite pinboards, give us a follow – we’ll happily follow you back!

Download Pinterest for iPhone/iPad

The Houzz Interior Design app is a close second on our list of favorites in the design category. Called the “Wikipedia of interior and exterior design” by CNN, Houzz features over 5 million high-resolution images of home design ideas to inspire you. With its “ideabook” feature, you can save images in a virtual scrapbook to search and share with your contractor later!

Houzz makes it as easy as possible to find finished examples of home design projects for you to draw inspiration from. And since contractors like Signature Windows have their own pages, it’s easy to find the perfect company to assist with your next home improvement project … hint, hint!

Download the Houzz app for iPhone/iPad

Last but not least, there’s Paint Tester. This app does exactly what you think it does … it will test the look and feel of any paint color for any room in your house! Choosing just the right color can be a tough job, and it’s easy to get it wrong the first time … we love this app because it will save you a ton of time by quickly narrowing down your color choices. Just upload a photo of the room you plan to paint and then choose a paint color to test it out. You can even snap a pic of the color swatch you’re considering and apply it to pictures of your own home.

Download Paint Tester for iPhone/iPad

MEASURE TWICE, CUT ONCE

For those of you who are particularly skilled at DIY projects, iHandy Carpenter is a must-have app. It’s designed to provide the functionality of 5 essential tools, including:

• The plumb bob – to make sure walls and doors are straight and even
• The surface level – to make sure everything is level
• The protractor – to measure all those tricky angles (up to 180 degrees)
• The ruler – to measure dimensions (both inches and centimeters)

For bigger projects like full room additions and large scale remodels, we’d recommend a more heavy-duty tool app. Dewalt Mobile Pro is a serious reference tool designed specifically for construction pros, but with it’s integrated “favorite” and “history” features, searching for and saving complicated calculations are a snap.

REPAIR OR REPLACE?

We’ve all been there … the sink has backed up, and since you really hate that old faucet anyway, you convince yourself a whole new sink is in order. You shop, you buy, and then it hits you … you have no idea how to install anything. The Family Handyman DIY Tip Genius can help.

This app easily made it’s way toward the top of our favorites list. When you’re looking for home repair tips and tricks, or even full-blown instructional guides for larger-scale home improvement projects, it’s a great place to start.

And if you’re handy enough to install a sink all by yourself, chances are pretty good you’ve at least considered a full-scale remodel. There are a ton of decisions to make when tackling a project of this size, but MagicPlan can help. To get started on that new room you’ve been dreaming about, you’ll need a floor plan to work with – and in our opinion, MagicPlan is the right tool for the job.

To create your ideal floor plan, you won’t have to take (or remember) detailed measurements, and you won’t have to move your heavy furniture either because MagicPlan uses the camera of your phone to virtually map the area for you. All you need to do is point and shoot. This app allows you to combine rooms, make notes, and even mark the windows and doors as well!

Download MagicPlan for iPhone/iPad

WINDOWS & DOORS

Speaking of windows and doors, we’ve saved the best for last! Among all the home remodeling, repair and design apps out there, we love Window & Door apps the most … okay, maybe Pinterest is up there too (but only because it has so many great window pictures!).

Two of our product partners have their very own apps, and we couldn’t be more impressed.

If you just don’t have time to make it to one of our showrooms, Window Shopping by Marvin Windows & Doors might be the perfect app for you to download. It’s a great little resource designed to help homeowners like you learn more about the window and door designs available. You can take a picture of your home (inside or out), and virtually upgrade your windows with various new styles. You can even save your designs and share them with us!

Download the Window Shopping App from Marvin Windows & Doors

And when you’re done window shopping, take a look at Marvin Finishes. This app allows you to customize windows by virtually “trying on” different wood species, interior paints and stains, and exterior colors.

Download the Marvin Finishes app

If new fiberglass windows are on your wish list, but you don’t really need stainable wood interiors, you should download the Built to Last app from Integrity Windows. The app includes a host of reference materials related to the Ultrex fiberglass window line – including product catalogs, brochures, presentations, case studies, videos, and the Integrity blog feed. Plus, it has an extensive photo gallery you can explore for inspiration. And when you’re done researching, you can pull up the integrated Dealer Locator to find our nearest showroom!

Download the Integrity Windows app

If you have some favorite home design / remodel apps, please let us know in the comments below – we’d love to hear about your projects too!