Where is the sun?” isn’t the first question many home buyers ask themselves when they enter a property. But it is the first thing Graham Dawson wonders, which is why he created the Sun Seeker app to help buyers and renovators work out a property’s dark and light side.
This is not the only question answered by the hundreds of apps pitched at renovators: Who should I hire? How should I decorate? What colour should I paint my walls?
These can all be answered via high-tech research tools that fit in your back pocket.
Coming from a background involving astrology and astronomy, Dawson knew that sun exposure to a property was of paramount importance to not only his decision to buy, but also any renovation he might consider.
That’s why, in 2009, he created an app that augments the camera function on smartphones to track the position and path of the sun.
In a world where the expression ”there’s an app for that” is almost a cliche, it’s important to be able to find the best apps for your purpose.
So for those who are brave enough to commit to a renovation, here are 10 of the best apps that will help, inform and maybe even entertain you throughout your project.
Sun Seeker: 3D Augmented Reality Viewer ($5.49)
As the cooler months roll on, it’s apparent that maximising sunlight can make or break the sale of your home. So if you’re planning to renovate for sale, it might be wise to plan your design in a way that maximises natural light.
Now that smartphones have a compass function, apps such as Sun Seeker are able to overlay the camera with additional information, including the solar path of the sun. Since Dawson created the app, it has been downloaded almost 85,000 times. Sun Seeker
MagicPlan (free)
Using the camera function, MagicPlan measures and draws your floor plan. Simply stand in the centre of a room, point your camera at all four corners and you’re done.
Having your floor plans in PDF, JPG or DXF format is a good way to wrap your head around the current layout of your house. MagicPlan
Home Design 3D ($8.49)
Home Design 3D is a level up from MagicPlan. Relative to other apps, it may seem a little expensive but, in essence, it’s a slimmed-down version of PC software used by professional designers, which costs $43.
You start by drawing up the rooms of your house before adding various items of furniture. You then hit the 3D button and you can fly through the property and view it from every angle.
This allows you to work out what you like and, more importantly, what you might change. Give the free trial version a whirl and see what you think. Home Design 3D
The Builder App (free)
You’ve drawn your concept, now it’s time to bring in the professionals. Specific to Australia, the Builder App puts renovators in contact with both tradies and suppliers.
The coolest feature of this app is the ”get quotes” function, which sends out a message to all the relevant tradies and suppliers within 25 kilometres, who then contact you with a quote. The Builder App
Handy Man DIY ($1.99)
If you’re a bit of a renegade and want to save money by doing the smaller jobs yourself, here’s the app for you.
Handy Man DIY provides step-by-step videos and instructions for simple renovation tasks. It also has features for storing information about your rooms and costs. Handy Man DIY
iHandy Carpenter ($1.99)
This is a virtual tool kit for ”hands-on” renovators. It comprises the five most common tools used by carpenters – a plumb bob, surface level, bubble level bar, steel protractor and steel ruler.
Try before you buy – you can get the iHandy Level app free. iHandy Carpenter
Houzz Interior Design Ideas (free)
This app is a great way to become inspired about both interior and exterior design. It features more than 500,000 photos of properties that you can browse by style, room and location.
It may be time to retire your scissors because this app, in effect, does away with the tradition of creating scrapbooks from home magazines. Houzz Interior Design Ideas
Dream Home (99¢)
Similar to Houzz, Dream Home is all about having a stickybeak at other people’s designer homes and pinching ideas.
It’s the interactive element that differentiates this one – users submit their own interiors, others rate them, and those that rate well go in the ”popular” section. A good way to tap into the design trends of tech-savvy home owners. Dream Home
ColorChange ($2.99)
So you’ve finished your house and you’re left with the all-important decision of what colour to paint it. ColorChange allows you to take a picture of a wall and apply different colours to see what you like.
The ”magic” function cleverly excludes things such as doors and windows.ColorChange
Dulux MyColour (free)
Find yourself in someone else’s house and want to copy the colour of their walls? Or did you glimpse the perfect shade of ethereal orange in the sky as the sun set at the end of an emotionally significant day and realise, ”Hey, maybe I should paint my room that colour?”
With Dulux MyColour, you simply snap a picture of something, tap the photo where you think the winning colour is, and the app will tell you the name of the paint that most closely matches that colour. The app is free, the Dulux paint isn’t. Dulux MyColour