Most home improvement projects involve a lot of running around to find ideas and buy supplies. Wouldn’t it be easier if you could have your project information stored on your smartphone to access anywhere? Here are five apps that can help you plan and execute your project with the tap of a finger.

Portable Interior Design

ColorSmart by BEHR Mobile

This free app for iPhone and iPad lets you explore BEHR colors and preview them on a wide selection of virtual rooms from formal living rooms to casual kitchens. Match existing colors in your home by taking a photo, and the app will find the closest BEHR color. If you want a fresh new look, check out their designer palettes for ideas.

ColorSmart lets you save all of your information in your phone so that you always have it with you. Use the paint calculator feature to find out how much paint you’ll need and then go purchase it using the store locator.

Houzz Interior Design Ideas

Houzz is the dream site for interior design ideas, and now the same inspiration comes in a free app for iPhone and iPad. Access 500,000 gorgeous photos on every feature of the entire house and discover possibilities you never thought of. Houzz lets you save your favorite images to an idea book, so that you have them at your fingertips and offline as well.

The Houzz app also helps you locate contractors, interior designers and other home improvement professionals. If you’re meeting someone offsite, you can use your iPhone or iPad to share your idea book.

A Virtual Toolbox On Your Phone

Carpet and Floor Calculator

Easily estimate your carpet and flooring requirements with this free app for iPhone and iPad. The app boasts five handy tools that allow you to calculate cost and material needed for carpet, floors, tiles, and wallpaper. Measurements are available in both metric and standard, and you can switch between them as often as needed. You can also save and email the figures.

Additional project costing features are available for $0.99.

Photo Measures

This $4.99 app for iPhone and iPad can save you a bundle in time when shopping for home items and improvements. Use the app to take photos of your rooms and write their measurements directly on the images. You can add text comments and categorize the photos for easy viewing, emailing and exporting as PDFs or JPGs. Whether working with contractors on new cabinets or buying furniture on your own, you’ll never again have to guess whether something will fit.

iHandy Level

The iHandy Level is part of the iHandy Carpenter Toolkit suite of apps, which now offers a free version of the Level for iPhone, iPad or Android. The app shows a graphical level and a degree measurement within a beautiful wood grain display. Using it is as simple as setting your smartphone on the surface you want to check.

Unlike some other levels available as free apps, iHandy Level can be calibrated for exceptional accuracy.

Image Credit: Some rights reserved by William Hook

Chris Keenan is a blogger for a realty company, specializing in murray hill new york apartments.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 13th, 2012 at 3:53 pm and is filed under Gadgets. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.