11 Useful Home Improvement Apps

couple in room with one using tablet and the other painting a wall
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There's an app for everything these days, including planning and executing household projects. If you have a smart device, you can use it to take measurements, find a stud, or plan out an entire remodel. Here are some great options to consider.

1. Houzz Home Design and Remodel

This uber-popular app is highly rated for a reason—it provides a well-rounded host of resources when improving or designing your home. You can share images with family or fellow enthusiasts, find professionals to consult or hire, figure out where your new rug will look best, or simply find some inspiration.

2. iHandy Carpenter Toolbox on Your Phone

ruler app for carpentry

This is an app you’ll want to keep around for the basic maintenance and Weekend Warrior tasks that never end. Regardless of your experience level, iHandy Carpenter makes it easy to measure, plan, and install with five tools at the touch of a finger—a plumb bob, a surface level, a bubble level bar, a protractor, and a ruler.

3. iScape Landscaping App

Planning the landscaping portion of home improvement also requires some design skills. Enter iScape, a well-reviewed app that allows you to design the entire landscape before putting a shovel in the ground. Your completed design can easily be shared with your spouse, friends, and contractor. You can even order supplies with the Buy and Deliver feature.

4. Home Improvement Calcs

Every homeowner knows that planning is an essential step in any DIY project. Home Improvement Calcs provides over 170 calculators all in one spot. This allows you to figure out how much gravel or bark mulch you’ll need, in addition to providing quick math when working with concrete or bricks, electricity conversion, rough framing, or HVAC systems. You’ll find calculators for linear, square, cubed, degree, pitch, and grade measurements.

5. ProjectColor by The Home Depot

home depot color choosing app on phone

Choosing paint colors can be a frustrating task. Home Depot aims to make it less so with tools to see the room before the paint hits the wall. ProjectColor allows you to take pictures of colors on the wall, bed, or sofa and provides color match suggestions. You can browse, find sample rooms to use as inspiration, and save your favorite color options.

6. Pinterest

Yes, it’s the same Pinterest you’ve known and secretly spent too much time perusing. It’s the ultimate idea site (and app) and a great place to start with any DIY project, from crafts to kitchen remodels.

7. HomeAdvisor

Owned by Angie’s List, HomeAdvisor is steeped in information in regards to local contractor services. If you’re looking for someone to work on any level of home care, you can locate, vet, ask questions, and schedule contractors through the app.

8. Home Outside

exterior design app on phone and tablet

This is another way to design your landscaping using 700 preloaded elements you can rearrange to your liking. Fill your virtual space before committing to the cost and back labor of completing the physical one. In addition to trees, shrubs, and flowers, you can design your decks, walkways, fire pits, etc., then place them in different areas until the plan works for you.

9. Wayfair

Especially in the growing era of internet shopping, Wayfair has made a name for themselves as the ultimate home and garden ‘find it here’ site. But before committing to a couch, rug, or patio set, you can use the app to get a better vision of what it will look like in your space using a 3D room simulator. This room planning feature makes the job much easier if you’re deciding between several pieces or configuring the best layout.

10. iHandy Level

Yep, it’s a level without being a level. Make hanging bulky artwork and shelving easy, and take the pain out of lining up multiple frames on a wall.

11. Photo Measures

Going back to the planning stages, this app measures your room with a simple picture of the space, then stores that information on your phone for when you're shopping for wallpaper, paint, flooring, cabinets, or couches.