16+ Handy Home Improvement and DIY Apps

What kind of tools do you have in your toolbox? Does your collection include your smartphone? It should, since your phone can be turned into a wide array of useful tools with the help of these awesome DIY apps! For those of you who are interested in home improvement, carpentry, and other DIY projects, check out these DIY apps to see how they can make your life much easier.

Level Apps

If you’ve ever hung up a picture frame or a shelf, you know how important it is to have a good quality level in your toolbox. Make it easy to make sure everything in your home is not crooked by having a level app on your phone so you can whip it out of your pocket at any time.

Multi-Measures (iOS, Android) has both a surface level and a spirit/bubble level, but this DIY app also includes many other tools that you might find useful, such as a plumb bob, compass, and decibel.

iHandy Carpenter (iOS, Android) is similar to the previous app; it includes a level, surface level, plumb bob, and a few more tools. It’s nice-looking and pretty popular with DIYers. However, if all you need is a level, you can just download the iHandy Level Free (iOS, Android).

Measuring Apps

Home improvement includes lots of measurements, unless you like cabinets that don’t fit or furniture that’s too big for your space. A measuring tape always works, but why not use your phone instead so you don’t have to bring your tape to every store you go to?

Dimensions (iOS) is a great DIY app that measures many distances in your home and your yard and saves all of your measurements for you. You can measure your walls, your garden, and even tiny objects! The app also comes with several other features.

There are so many measuring apps that it’s impossible to mention them all, but some notables are Smart Measure Pro (Android), Dot Measure Pro (iOS), and Easy Measure (iOS, Android).

If you need to send over a whole list of measurements to your carpenter or your interior designer, or if you’re shopping for furniture and need to bring a lot of measurements of your home with you to find the perfect fit, you can save all of your measurements and put them around your pictures. You’ll be able to do this with the Photo Measures Lite (iOS, Android) app.

Painting Apps

You’re probably doing (or planning on doing) a lot of painting if you’re a serious DIYer or even just a homeowner. A good painting app will make this task a lot easier to plan for and complete.

Several paint companies have their own apps, but a well-liked one is ColorSmart by BEHR (iOS, Android). You can perform color-matching with your phone, as well as finding paint color schemes and testing out your paint colors in various photos of rooms and styles in the app.

Prefer to test out paint colors of actual photos of your rooms? Get the Paint My Place App (iOS) and do just that. It uses several paint brands so you can choose your favorite one. Change the paint colors of a room or the exterior of your home and narrow down your selections before heading over to the paint store.

If you just need to know how much paint you need to complete your project, the Paint Calculator Pro (iOS, Android) will help you find out. The app also will inform you how much your painting project will cost you and quotes from pros if you’re considering hiring help instead of doing it yourself.

Gardening Apps

Have a garden or a yard you’d like to add a garden to? Or maybe you just need help with increasing your curb appeal with landscaping? Check out these gardening apps and see how your phone can make your outdoor space more beautiful and functional.

Garden Plan Pro (iOS) is an all-comprehensive app that will help you design your garden, know when to plan certain corps, know where to plant your seeds depending on sun/shade, and set reminders that help you maintain your garden throughout the year.

The Garden Compass Plant/Disease Identifier (iOS) app is great for beginning gardeners and landscapers. You can use the app to identify plants that are already around your home by taking a picture of them. It also identifies diseases and pests.

New to gardening? The When to Plant (iOS) app will tell you exactly when to plant whatever you want to grow. You’ll put in your zip code and get all the information you need to begin gardening. For those of you who don’t have an iPhone or iPad, you can also download this app onto your laptop or computer.

Carpentry Apps

Whether you like to make or refinish furniture, you’ll benefit from adding a few carpentry apps to your smartphone.

Woodcraft (iOS) is a handy DIY app to have if you like to build. It develops 3D models of your creations and helps you come up with a list of measurements of wood to buy so nothing gets wasted. This app will be very useful whether you’re looking to build simple shelves to fit a weird space in your garage or to adjust measurements on a DIY furniture plan to better fit your home.

I.D. Wood (iOS) helps you identify the various types of wood so you can select the best type for your project. If you’re refinishing an existing piece of furniture, you can use the app to find out what wood it is and how to best refinish it.

This list only barely scratches the surface of the world of DIY apps. There are sewing apps, floor plan apps, decor and furniture shopping apps, and even garage sale and flea market apps! Whip out your smartphone and find out just how useful it can be. And who knows what our phones can do for us in the future, even just a year from now.

What other DIY apps do you love? This list needs more android-compatible apps, so feel free to add your favorite DIY apps in the comments!