Redesigning your home from the inside out is easier than ever before. The internet provides comprehensive tips, videos, how-tos, and more, and these resources make the process seamless. While your steps will vary based on the specifics of your redesign, the following areas are a great place to start.
Apps to Redesign Your Home
If there’s one thing every homeowner should know before they begin remodeling their home, it’s the difference between cost and value. A low cost may be great today, but a good value lasts for a lifetime. The following five technology platforms are the best way to ensure you get the right value on your home redesign.
Research Design Ideas
App: Zillow Digs
Whether you have an idea of what you want but you don’t know how to bring it to fruition, or you’re starting from scratch and need to be inspired, Zillow Digs is a great ideation tool. You’ll have access to tens of thousands of home renovation projects and a wealth of photos of each one. Browse through them, consider what would work in your own home, get inspired, or search for exactly what you want and narrow down your options. Either way, this app is a great way to boost your creativity.
Find the right material and color balance
App: HOVER
Choosing the right materials and colors for the exterior of your home is important. The right combination will help bring together your redesign, while the wrong choices can accentuate flaws. When it comes to colors, we suggest choosing two shades or two tints from a single color strip. Use one for the trim and the other for the rest of your home. You can choose a third color to act as a contrast accent color on a focal point, such as the front door. With HOVER, you can visualize these colors and materials on a 3D model of your own home. You can take a few pictures of your home and receive a scaled 3D model to try out various siding, roofing, window types and colors with the swipe of a finger.
Find a reputable contractor
App: Yelp
While searching for a contractor, you’ll need to strike a balance between cost, quality, and time. Yelp is an easy way to review your best options. That being said, it’s not unheard of for fake reviews to be published by a company that wants to increase their business without putting the work in.
The good news is that it’s fairly easy to note what’s real and what isn’t. A review that’s overly enthusiastic may not be valid. A short review from a new Yelp user – or a Yelp user with only one review – may not be accurate.
Look for detailed reviews from people who’ve reviewed other businesses. Read through a number of them and make a note of any themes that seem to be repeated over and over. For example, if one review says a contractor was late to their first meeting, but another dozen mention how timely and reliable the contractor was, then you can likely give them the benefit of the doubt that their tardiness was not typical of their level of service.
Get a quote
App: HOVER
HOVER is also a great way to communicate your design choices with your contractor. The platform offers contractors detailed exterior measurements of your home that they can use to quickly provide you with a fair and accurate estimate. If your contractor isn’t already using it, bring them into the know on this time- and cost-saving app.
HOVER also gives you a chance to make sure that your ideas and the plans your contractor has come up with are in sync. It can be difficult, costly, and perhaps even impossible to make changes once construction has begun so the sooner you can get on the same page, the better the project will turn out.
Landscaping.
App: Pro Landscape
Landscaping shouldn’t be a throwaway concern. Plants that are well placed significantly improve the curb appeal of your home. PRO Landscape allows for instant viewing of thousands of landscaping options. Just take a photo of your property and then choose from more than 12,000 objects, from fountains, to bushes, to trees. The program includes a local option that offers the most popular plants used in your specific region.
We recommend looking for plants that are native to your area and work well in your particular type of soil. You should also consider choosing some edible options. Why grow a simple bush when you could grow one that provides fruit in the summer? Not only do edible plants tend to be better for your soil, but they can provide fresh produce year after year.
These five steps are all you need to get started on the exciting remodeling journey ahead of you. If you remember only one rule, remember this: Balance form and function and the rest will follow.
