Five Fantastic Apps for Interior Designers

Interior designers are taking their business into the virtual world as innovative apps offer them new ways to do business.

There is a plethora of outstanding mobile apps for smartphones and tablets, with the following five providing particular benefits for  interior designers:

1. Moodboard

An iPad exclusive, Moodboard gives users the opportunity to collect images that bring them inspiration and affix those images to a large visual board.

Images can be uploaded from either the users’ own image libraries or directly from the web – the application keeps track of the website link – after which users can use social media or email to share them.

Moodboard works with high-res images and provides users with some basic photo editing tools including drag-and-drop functions. It also has its own collection of colour palettes and backgrounds, allowing users to personalize their boards.

2. Palettes

Palettes is ideal for colour enthusiasts, giving users a chance to create and maintain their own colour palettes quickly and easily.

Users can look online for photos and websites to capture colours, or they can make their own colour schemes. The free version allows them a chance to collect as many as five different colour models, with the paid version giving them more storage and allowing up to 25 different colours per palette.

Palettes work with HTML, RGB, CMYK, HSB and hex formats among others and has a simple interface, making it easy to use.

3. iHandy Level

Created by an interior designer for interior designers, iHandy Level comes in particularly handy when it comes to wall hangings.

It serves as a virtual bubble level, providing users a chance to tell whether frames are straight or on an angle. The app works whether the phone is being held horizontally, vertically or on its side.

The free app also allows users to adjust the sensitivity, meaning greater accuracy.

4. Sun Seeker: 3D Augmented Reality Viewer

The reality viewer makes use of an iPhone’s built-in GPS system to allow users to easily determine which direction they are facing in a room, with added features pointing out the trajectory of the sun.

By simply taking a photo out of a window, the app offers a 3D view that shows where the sun will be at various times of day.

This gives both interior designers and architects a chance to maximize furniture placement and room usage to ensure optimal natural light.

5. Home Design 3D

Home Design 3D allows users to create and review floor plans and interior design plans in either 2D or 3D.

Users can create their own floor plan of square or rectangular rooms and then drag and drop furnishings, add colour to walls and test out different floor textures, giving an overview of a room before the actual physical design has even started.

While Home Design 3D does not have overly delicate graphics, it offers a general idea, giving designers a chance to perfect colour schemes and the look and feel of a room.

By Kelly McGregor