Like anything you may not have experienced before, first time renovating (or even second, or third) can be daunting. There are a hundred new terms you should become familiar with, there will be learning curves you weren’t prepared for and you’ll likely make more mistakes then you can count. The best way to proceed is to equip yourself with the tools to best approach each stage of the process. Now there is not only an app for every step of the design process, but apps that replace tools, allow you access to a community of professionals and simply make services more convenient. The power of convenience is located in the palm of your hand, you just have to know how to harness it. We’ve done the ground work and rounded up the 4 apps that you need to download to make your planning that much simpler.

Houzz

Houzz is a home owners dream. This is no exaggeration, it’s a Pinterest like hub solely dedicated to home inspiration, renovation ideas and a shop and services tab. Quite literally a platform that services all your requirements in a seamless experience and it’s free. After you find an image you like on the portal you can save it for later in your own curated ‘Ideasbook' or you can shop it in the same space. With over 16 million photos for you to browse and endless content to peruse it is the destination for renovators, redecorators or simply design fanatics.

Airtasker

Airtasker is the perfect platform for rookie renovators. If you have an odd or small job as a part of your renovation that you don’t feel confident completing but don’t want to call in a trade for 15 minutes work, you can list your task and set your price for a pool of people to apply to complete the job. This can even cover removalists, deliveries or furniture assembly depending on your requirements and you have the option to proceed with the job or not

MagicPlan

MagicPlan is best for the ground work and allows you to capture professional level floor plans by just using your smartphone camera. From here you can edit, adjust, add notes, annotations, products or prices to make this a clear guideline for all your home improvement decisions. It’s hard to make a call on size or shape when you don’t have all the information, this handy tool is the foundation for a wall planned and expertly executed renovation. 

Gumtree

A last little honourable mention must go to Gumtree, which allows you access to hundreds of products Australia wide, anything from lounges, to timber, materials, plants and almost anything you can think of. If you can dream it, you can be assured that someone has listed it on Gumtree. For your renovating plans, this is a brilliant destination to pick up building materials at a reasonable price and often if you search hard enough for nothing more than it costs you to remove them.

Disclaimer: Property Value is not affiliated with any of the above companies or platforms

Rosalie Molloy

Creative Director
www.notsavinglives.com

Posted: 22 May 2018