If taking the hassle and guesswork out of revamping your home sounds like a breath of fresh air, then you’ll want to check out our roundup of the best user friendly interior design apps on the market. Now you can stay abreast of trends and plan your next project from the palm of your hand.

Whether you’re building a new home, remodeling your existing one, or simply trying to redecorate an outdated space, these undertakings have the potential to become very stressful in an instant. Attempting to stay within budget and on schedule, keeping ideas and plans organized, visualizing the space, and even arguing with your sigg-O over which shade of beige works best in the living room are some of the common challenges homeowners face when trying to give their space a facelift.

Another hurdle can be the overestimation, or resulting waste of construction materials, as well as the source and type of materials – the greener the better – which is where a couple of these interior design apps become quite helpful in their ability to locate or suggest eco-friendly finishes and furnishing for your projects.

Fortunately, for your convenience, we’ve gathered a few of the most popular and well-rated–and all free!–mobile apps on the market, so pull up a chair and let’s get started!

1. Houzz

With over 8 million high-resolution photos, Houzz is the destination for professional remodeling and redecorating ideas and resources. Unlike many of the photos on other apps like Pinterest, Houzz is chock full of professionally curated projects – from architects to interior designers to interior decorators – there isn’t a shortage of beautifully executed homes. Furthermore, it also has furnishing and professional resources, which can help you locate that reclaimed wood entertainment center you’ve been looking for, or hire the perfect interior designer for your upcoming project. 

2. Wayfair

Unlike the others, this app doesn’t have any fancy or high tech virtual views, but it does give you the power to pick your décor from the comfort and convenience of your smart phone or tablet. From natural rugs to eco-friendly sofas, the Wayfair app can help homeowners choose their décor by browsing furnishings quicker and easier than shopping for it in person.

3. Planner 5D

This app allows you to view your space in multiple ways – 2D, 3D, and 5D projections, but you can begin by creating floor plans of your own or choosing from the existing selection. The interaction is as simple as drag and drop and it allows you to pick home furnishing so you can get an idea for how certain items will look in the room. In addition to that, you can easily transform your floor plan into a 3D rendering which allows you to view chosen areas of the completed space. And, if your resources permit, with the aide of virtual reality glasses, you can utilize the app’s 5D technology and actually “move” or “walk” throughout the space in real time.

Homestyler Interior Design

Brought to you by the maker of AutoCAD, a popular tool among professional interior designers is Homestyler Interior Design from Autodesk, Inc. This combines the planning capabilities of the Planner 5D app with the convenience of the buying options on Houzz. Play around with your potential purchases and make sure that they look great before whipping out that credit card. This app also allows for wall color previewing and you can even incorporate your own home interior photos for the most realistic outcome possible.

Paint Harmony

If you’ve ever tried to visualize a wall color with a tiny can of sample paint, then you know how many factors can ultimately affect the end result of this experiment. Not only can lighting play a role, but the surrounding wall color (the one you’re trying to paint over) can play tricks on your eyes by influencing the tint or shade of the sample hue. In other words, unless you paint an entire wall, it’s really difficult to know how the color will look.

And although the colors in the app aren’t one hundred percent accurate, you can easily fill in an entire wall with the touch of a finger. This app works in real time by allowing you to move the device over your walls and watch the color magically change on the screen, or you can use previously snapped pics on which to try out your new colors.

Now that you’ve read our rundown of the latest interior design apps, we want to hear from you! What did you think of our suggestions? Do you prefer doing it yourself, or hiring professionals for your projects? Let us know your thoughts on the EcoSalon Facebook page!

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Overwhelmed by the number of wall paint colors to choose from? Here’s why you shouldn’t be.

Back in the day (I can’t believe I say this now), I rented my first apartment and was so excited to decorate… until I made my way to the paint swatch aisle and broke out in hives. Seriously, how are there so many colors?

And do we really need 75 different shades of white? I’m not a fence-sitter by any means, but I didn’t expect choosing wall paint colors to be more complicated than finding a guy (I think I need to take a course or something).

It’s not like you’ve got an interior decorator to throw you a bone, so here are the hard-and-fast rules of finding the perfect wall paint colors for your humble abode:

1. Choose a point of inspiration
Your home is a reflection of who you are – in a sense, your wall paint colors can say it all. You might choose a bright green that punches people in the face… or you might chicken out and choose a kinda-off-white-but-not-really. Both say everything without saying anything.

Go through your belongings (especially ones that will stay in the room you’re painting) and pick out the ones that inspire you the most. Do you see common threads of color? Are there colors you’re drawn to? This will help you establish a starting point.

2. Define the space’s mood
Don’t look at how the space currently is, but what you want it to become: Do you want it to be a relaxing retreat? Or a lively meeting place? Or a creative oasis? The mood you want to achieve will help you research suitable color palettes.

3. Do an inventory
Take note of the flooring, lighting and other key elements of the room you’re choosing wall paint colors for. You don’t want to fall in love with a color, only to find it clashes with your carpeting or your lighting makes it look washed out.

4. Choose your boldest color first
Use the 60-30-10 rule: 60 percent of a dominant color, 30 percent of a secondary color, and 10 percent of an accent color. In the case of your room, 60 percent are your walls, 30 percent upholstery, 10 percent a funky lamp, flower arrangement or painting.

If you’re going with two bold colors (one as your primary, one as your secondary), make your accent a neutral to give your peepers a breather. Since I live in a small space, I tend to go with bold primaries, neutral secondaries and bold accents – you know, to avoid living in a dungeon.

5. There’s an app for that
Most paint brands now have apps to make choosing wall paint colors less overwhelming. Check out these ones from Benjamin Moore, Dulux, Glidden, Olympic and Behr. There’s also a super cool app called Paint My Place that allows you to paint your room without lifting a brush.

6. Take your wall paint colors for a spin
Like I said, you never know what a paint color’s going to look like until you test it out. You might find your room’s lighting makes it look darker than you’d like it to be, or it’s not creating the mood you’d hoped for. Once you’ve narrowed down your choices, buy a paint sample along with samples that are a shade or two lighter (since paint tends to dry darker).

Take each paint color, apply them to pieces of foam board and stick them to your walls. Position them in several parts of the room to gauge how they look throughout the room as the light changes.

7. Don’t be afraid to be bold
Go with your gut: If you’ve fallen in love with a vibrant green or a neon orange and you just have to fit it into your home somewhere, then do it! You want your home to scream, “This is me,” not whisper, “This is kinda sorta maybe not really me.” Paint isn’t permanent – you can always change it, but you can’t change what-ifs.

Once you’re at the store, paint-chip in hand, ask about their selection of environmentally-friendly paints. The majority of paints available today are harmful to the environment and the air quality in your home. They contain:

• VOCs: Volatile Organic Compounds pollute the air in your home and can cause nausea, dizziness, eye irritations and respitory issues. They can creep their way outdoors too.
• Fungicides and biocides: These extend the paint’s shelf life and can be detected in the air up to five years later. What’s worse, if the leftover paint’s not disposed of properly, they can seep into the groundwater.
• Pigments: These are used to tint the paint to your chosen color. Avoid chemical pigments and look for paints made with all-natural.

Most brands now have environmentally-friendly paints available. Look for paints that have low VOCs, low biocides and natural pigments. Study paint can labels and company websites for more details.

Steer clear of oil-based and solvent-based paints. Your best options are milk paint, natural paint and latex paint with very low biocide and VOC levels.

How did you decide on your wall paint colors?

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Image: Scott

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