10 digital tools to help you DIY your dream home
Even in today’s digital age, you still can’t quite design a dream home in just a matter of clicks. You can, however, use a number of online resources and a phone full of apps to help the whole process operate smoothly. (Click on the underlined text to open the link)
Like a Pinterest board full of inspiring home remodels,
Zillow Digs features photos from designers and contributing
members. Pore over the pictures and borrow ideas for your
own projects. Zillow even estimates the remodeling costs
for your favourite projects.
No other DIY app takes such a complete look at the tools
we use to make our homes more beautiful, safe, energy
efficient, and enjoyable. Bob Vila’s Toolbox even offers
quick audio tips and 18 short videos to walk you through
the basics of tool use. It’s a super-informative, well illustrated
instruction manual come to life.
For carpentry and floor work
For carpentry gurus – or for anyone who likes learning
about trees – I.D. Wood is pure nirvana. With an extensive
list of the world’s woods, from Abacate to Zebrano, this app
schools you on durability, timber grades and sizes, common
uses, and more.
For choosing colours
Is one paint company’s Foggy Wisteria the same as
another’s Lavender Mist? HB Color cuts through colour
confusion with a smart palette of functions. Zero in on
your intuitive preferences with a quiz, peruse colour
combinations recommended by decorators and House
Beautiful editors, or fish from the “Color River” to find the
moods, shades, and tints that fit your vision.
For keeping To-Do lists in check
A virtual hub for your remodeling and repair needs,
HomeSpot HQ lets you upload lists, paint chips, and
warranties to keep all your information in one portable
place. The tool will even send reminders for essential
maintenance chores so you’ll never again forget to change
your air filter.
Forget about graph paper – MagicPlan turns your
smartphone’s camera function into a floor-plan tool.
Easy-to-understand tutorials help you take a 360-degree
photograph, which you then load into the app. This tool
generates an interactive floor plan that you can save,
export, and use as a basis for your next renovation.
For saving dimensions
Looking for a fast and easy way to save and share
information like room dimensions, door and window
sizes, or cabinet lengths? Use the app IMAGinE Measures
to mark up photos on your phone with measurements
and notes. (The app also calculates angles based on
measurements).
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Billed as a virtual laser level, sightLEVEL uses the phone’s
camera and accelerometer to determine angles and slopes.
Just hold your iPhone or iPad sideways and tilt until the
bubble is centred. You can even use it to find the slope of
something.
Five-star renovation app Handyman Calculator offers
a wide variety of customizable calculators to help you
determine the quantity and cost of materials for your next
job. In addition, you can use it to create shopping lists,
plan future tasks, and flip through DIY tutorials.
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Imagine Mark On Call as a pocket-size personal assistant.
This app enables you to map out the floor plans of rooms
based on their real-life dimensions. You can then move
on to enrich the layouts you create with furniture, textiles,
and flooring types, either extracted from your photos or
from the app’s library.
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