10 Best Apps for Home Improvement Projects

Before you start your next home improvement project, pull out your smartphone and download a few apps. There are so many apps on the market today that can help you have a smooth home improvement project. You’ll find apps to calculate needed supplies and estimate total project costs. Other apps help you pick just the right paint color or determine the best furniture arrangement for your living room. You can even find apps that stand in for rulers, levels and other tools. Some of the most popular–as well as our favorite–home improvement apps include:

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1. Handy Man DIY

Get started with your home improvement project with this full-featured planning app. The Handy Man DIY app calculates a number of different things, from square footage of a room to cost estimations per each project.

With this app, you get access to a lot of tips and information that can help you stay on track during your home renovation project. You are also able to create a virtual list of items needed for each project and create a shopping list through Handy Man DIY. The app includes how-to videos and guides for common the most common household projects.

This specific app is only available on the iTunes store. A great alternative to it is the Handyman Calculator, which we have linked to below.

iTunes: $1.99
Google Play: Free (Equivalent)

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2. ColorSnap

ColorSnap can help you pick the perfect color for your home–all on your phone. Sherwin-Williams has a huge selection of any color you could possibly imagine painting your walls with. This app makes painting a little easier than it would otherwise be.

The features of this app include a photo color matcher, a paint previewer, integrated help screens and the ability to create your own color palette.

This app is conveniently available on both iTunes and on Google Play for the low price of free.

iTunes: Free
Google Play: Free

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3. Color Capture

Color Capture is a lot like ColorSnap, but still worth mentioning. No need for paint swatches with this paint-store app. Snap a picture and find the Benjamin Moore shade that most closely matches your photo subject. You can find coordinating colors and browse color families. Much like ColorSnap, Color Capture also lets you snap pictures of colors you like and use those to create custom colors at the hardware store. This app also has a handy built-in QR code reader.

The Color Capture app is also available for free download for both Android and iPhone users.

iTunes: Free
Google Play: Free

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4. HB Color

This app from House Beautiful (or Home Depot, for Android users) not only provides paint swatches and real-life room photos, but also lets you see side-by-side comparisons of your top choices. A color personality tool helps you select your own personalized color scheme, and you can find top picks from House Beautiful editors. The app features a handy “color river” with 669 paint colors. This enables you to search by colors, spaces or even moods.

The HB Color app is only available for iPhone users. However, a great alternative for this app is the Home Depot Project Color app, which is available for Android users. The Project Color app lets you see what certain paints and stains would look like in your house before you actually buy.

iTunes: $4.99
Google Play: Free (Home Depot Equivalent)

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5. Paint Tester

Much like the Home Depot Project Color app, the Paint Tester app allows you to digitally test your ideas for color schemes on your walls without wasting time painting and repainting while you find the perfect shade. You can also tape a paint sample to the wall, snap a picture and use the app’s tools to “paint” the wall with your color swatch.

Being able to see what your walls would look like in a certain color before you purchase the paint is a handy way to save money and avoid making a mistake. Having this on your toolbelt is convenient if you are facing any dramatic paint jobs in your home improvement project.

This app is available for free download for both iPhone and Android users.

iTunes: Free
Google Play: Free

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6. Ruler 2

Need a quick measurement, but can’t find a ruler or tape measure? Ruler 2 offers a quick stand-in. The app–costing $2.99–includes a pointer that you drag along the length of the item you want to measure–a sort of virtual tape measure. Ruler 2 measures in both U.S. and metric units. This ruler can also save your measurements, which can save you time because you don’t have to constantly remeasure a wall each time you return to your project.

This exact app–Ruler 2–is only available through iTunes. However, Google Play offers a close alternative, which is free to download. This alternative is simply named “Ruler”.

iTunes: $2.99
Google Play: Free (Equivalent)

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7. iHandy Carpenter

Turn your smartphone into a carpentry toolkit. This app gives you a surface level, plumb bob, steel protractor, bubble level bar and ruler. This app really lives up to its name because it consolidates many bulky tools down into your phone, which you likely carry around all of the time. Your phone is lightweight and small, which is what helps make this app so useful and versatile in any construction project.

This app is available for both Android and iPhone, so anybody can ditch their old surface levels and switch to using the iHandy Carpenter app.

iTunes: $1.99
Google Play: $1.99

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8. Home Design 3D

Want to see how a particular home improvement project will look when it’s finished? Home Design 3D allows you to build a 3D model of your home so you can test renovation ideas. While 2D floor plans will do in a pinch, sometimes it takes a 3D model for you to be able to fully visualize what you want out of your home improvement project. This app allows you to see what your finished project might look like before you even bust out the toolbox.

You can download this app using one of the links below. This app is free to download.

iTunes: Free
Google Play: Free

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9. Dream Home

Get inspiration and stay up-to-date on the latest home improvement styles. Dream Home is a digital catalog showcasing interior design trends. This app gives you access to high quality pictures of uniquely designed interiors in order to inspire you. Sometimes it is much easier to decide what is best for your living space when you see how it looks in another space.

Whether you are looking for examples of bathrooms, kitchens, living rooms, or architecture ideas, the Dream Home app can help you.

Unfortunately, this app is currently only available for Android users. This app is free on the Google Play store.

iTunes: Unavailable
Google Play: Free

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10. Bright Nest

Keep track of all your home maintenance tasks. Bright Nest sets up reminders for specific maintenance tasks and offers suggestions on schedules for routine maintenance. You can also maintain a detailed service history with information such as the company that performed the service, date performed and cost.

This app is not only great during a home improvement project, but you can keep it on your phone even after your project is complete to help you stay on top of general maintenance and cleaning procedures.

Bright Nest is available for free download for both Androids and iPhones.

iTunes: Free
Google Play: Free

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By downloading these apps, you are adding another valuable tool to your toolbox: your phone! These apps are all either free or very cheap–and their usefulness is priceless.

In addition to using these apps, keep in mind that your phone has the capability to view most major hardware store chains so you can quickly view their products and their current stock without taking a trip out of your way. Utilizing your phone is the best way to cut tons of unnecessary costs during your construction that you can put elsewhere into your dream home improvement project. Whether your project is big or small, you can find apps that will help from planning to implementation.