How to transform your home and garden using apps!

You may believe that you have the physical tools, and the knowledge, to undertake your own redecorations and landscaping at home. This is the case for many DIY lovers out there – and we have no doubt that the vast majority of you reading this could do a perfectly acceptable job – but the difference some well-chosen apps could make for your home and garden, is quite significant. They have the ability to replace some tools, and in many cases do a better job, and crucially they can give you the inspiration to come up with the best possible look for your home and garden. They also give you choice and the ability to visualise how your new colours, furniture and plants will look in your space.

Planning is a key part of this process, and there is a simple logic behind a large project – the longer it takes, the better the end result will be, allowing your home improvements to actually last longer. We hope that the advice in this feature will help you work more efficiently, and creatively, than you would have without these brilliant apps.

A quick measure

The Measure app received a lot of attention when it was first announced, but it has garnered a lot less recognition since then. However, it is incredibly handy for giving you very quick measurements of almost any area, or object, when you need them, and the end results are accurate enough to work with.

Plan your rooms

Once you have some measurements, it is a good idea to build a basic plan of the rooms you wish to redecorate and improve to help you evaluate your desired layout and interior design. Our advice is to pay close attention to the furniture so that wholesale changes will not look too cluttered when you have finished. Creating a basic 2D plan in Draft Paper is an excellent way to start.

1 Get Draft Paper

Draft Paper is a very simple app that is designed purely to let you draw simple plans, which you can use for an overview of all the rooms you are working in.

2 Perfect dimensions

The app can use dimensions to let you draw everything to scale. This will ensure that you do not make the common mistake of mismatching crucial areas and measurements.

3 Build it up

Simple shapes can also be inserted to represent your furniture. If you take your time, you can create relatively complex plans of every single room in your house.