Decorating Apps
Once Uni’s done and the days of the student pad are over, you’ll need to find yourself a place for post-student life – maybe just as messy but with slightly more of a budget than your student loan behind it! If you’re not much of a style expert but want to get a fresh feeling into your home then there are always publications such as magazines and websites to help.
Mobile phone and tablet apps can be added to that list too, so let’s take a look at the best of the best to see which programs can best help you to decorate your new pad on a budget.
Houzz
An app with a photo library featuring more than 300,000 original images taken by designers and decorators, each of which presents an insight into modern interior design and getting the best out of every room in the house, along with recommended branded items such as Dreams beds. The easy-to-use layout of the app allows you to scroll through many different themes – sorted by room, predominant colour as well as profiling each designer who contributed. Store your favourite ideas away in different Ideabooks so that you can return to a folder full of inspiration the next time you open it.
“Ben” Colour Capture
If you’re already arguing over what colour to paint the walls, then paint manufacturer Benjamin Moore & Co has something for you. Next time you see a shade which would go beautifully in your plans for the decoration, simply snap a picture of it and the app matches the colour to the correct shade it has available, as well as suggesting complementary colours which would go great together in any one of your new rooms. You never know when inspiration will strike – so it’s good to have this app stored away for the time you need it.
Mark On Call
This interior design and layout planner can be used to lay out an entire floor plan, allowing you to set the dimensions and placing of the walls and furniture as well as the colours and designs of what’s inside them, for everything from leather couches to gingham print on the walls! The Mark On Call app will save you from sketching down every design idea until your wrist is sore – and transfer it to your app-tapping fingers instead!