The 10 Best Home Decorating Apps!

If you’ve ever wished for an easier way to plan your next room remodel, visualize design changes before you start, keep track of design ideas, or just stay a little more organized with home-related tasks, this post’s for you! There are so many apps that can make everyday home and interior design projects feel simpler, more manageable, and even a little more fun. I’ve rounded up a mix of my personal favorites and the top picks from my 300k+ Instagram followers to share the go-to apps for home and design lovers like us! (post includes commissionable links; for more information, see my full disclosure statement {here})

1. Canva

Download Canva: App Store | Google Play

The Canva app makes it easy to create mood boards combining furniture, color palettes, textures, and inspiration images all in one place. It allows you to turn scattered inspiration (such as everything you’ve pinned to a Pinterest board) into a cohesive design plan, allowing you to make sure everything works together before making final design decisions.

Simply search their thousands of templates for “mood boards”:

and select the style that you’re looking for. Then make any color or text changes to the template and upload your mood board photos. As an example, I used a Canva template to quickly make this mood board for our future laundry room:

Sources: Checkerboard tile flooring | Blue toile wallpaper | Farrow & Ball paint color | Farmhouse sink | Slim shaker cabinet door design (as seen on {this vanity} | Luxe gold faucet | Ball knobs | Cabinet pull | Scalloped beaded flush mount light

Beyond mood boards, Canva can be used to edit photos (including adding text to them and removing backgrounds), make printables and checklists (I used it to create my travel checklist), design invitations and cards, and more. I actually used a Canva template to create each of the app graphics within this post!

You can use many of Canva’s features for free, but some of the more advanced features, including full use of their template library, require the Pro plan with a small monthly fee. Use their free trial to see if it’s worthwhile for you to have the upgraded plan (for me, it’s worth every penny)! You can also use Canva on your desktop, and anything you create syncs to your app.

2. ChatGPT

Download ChatGPT: App Store | Google Play

For AI renderings, I tried three of the top interior design apps and didn’t get results anywhere near as good as I did using ChatGPT. Simply upload a photo of the room that you plan to remodel and ask ChatGPT to remodel it in a specific style. Unlike design apps where you’re limited to styles like “Midcentury Modern” and “Cottage Chic,” you can use the names of your favorite interior designer, or you can just describe your style in detail.

As an example, I uploaded this photo of our kitchen from before our recent remodel:

and gave it the prompt: “Remodel this kitchen in the style of Driven by Decor. Tell me what you would do and create a new image of the remodeled kitchen.” What it came up with is actually pretty impressive:

From here, I could then ask it to swap out the bar stools or lighting, paint the walls a different color, or just give me a completely different option. One issue I’ve found with ChatGPT is that when you ask for a single change, it often changes other things about the room that you didn’t ask for (which is super annoying). So when I ask for a single change, I always tell it not to change anything else. For example, “Change the barstools to similar stools that don’t have a back. Don’t change anything else.”

Want to see what our remodeled kitchen actually looks like? Check out our kitchen remodel reveal {HERE}!

I’ve also been using ChatGPT to help with some of the cabinet layouts in our new build. For example, I have a 48″ space in our kitchen that I want to fill with floor-to-ceiling cabinetry and after having it render several different options, this is the sketch it created that checks all the boxes:

Some tips for creating a sketch like this are to upload inspiration photos of similar designs you like, be specific in asking ChatGPT to sketch it to scale, and input the exact dimensions of your space (including ceiling height) at the start.

With the free version of ChatGPT, you can generate 2-3 images a day, but you’ll need to upgrade to a paid version for more. Also check out Claude as a similar alternative to ChatGPT that I’ve heard a lot of people rave about.

3. Tody

Download Tody: App Store | Google Play

If you’re someone who loves a beautifully kept home but struggles to stay on top of all the cleaning and maintenance tasks, TODY is a game changer! TODY helps you create a personalized home care to-do list that’s organized in a simple, visual system that helps you prioritize tasks. I started using it to keep track of our long-term maintenance tasks, such as changing A/C air filters, dusting ceiling fans, turning mattresses, etc.

but you could also choose to include daily and weekly tasks such as vacuuming, washing sheets, cleaning your shower, etc.

All of the basic functions for creating your to-do list on TODY are free, but the upgraded paid plan includes the option to invite other family members to sync with your list. You can then assign tasks to specific family members and turn cleaning into a game for your kids as they work to check off their tasks and stay ahead of the cartoon character “Dusty.”

4. Pinterest

Download Pinterest: App Store | Google Play

Pinterest has been around forever and has changed a lot over the years, but it’s still incredibly useful for interior design! I consider it the ultimate organization tool for interior design project inspo, making it easy to gather, save, and organize inspiration all in one place, so you can turn your favorite ideas into a clear vision for your home.

I recommend creating a Pinterest board for each renovation or makeover project that you’re planning, dividing up larger projects into multiple boards. For our upcoming new home build, I’ve created a Pinterest board for each future room in our home (i.e., master bathroom, laundry room, kitchen, etc.). I pin everything from paint color inspo to cabinet and vanity styles, tile combinations, ceiling details, room layouts, and furniture pieces, rugs, lighting, and decorative accessories I’m considering for each space.

You can pin an image from almost any website to your Pinterest boards, or you can scroll your Pinterest home feed or use the Pinterest search feature to find inspiration. The boards you create can be kept either public or private. If you find a Pinner that has a similar style to you, you can follow them on Pinterest (simply go to their home page and click the Follow button) so that some of their future pins show up on your home feed. If you’re not already following Driven By Decor on Pinterest, you can find me {here}.

5. Measure

If you have an iPhone, you may not know it, but you already have a helpful free app installed on your phone called Measure. You can use it to measure the length of anything by clicking on the start and end points, such as I did with our entryway console:

I wouldn’t count on the measurement being 100% exact, but I tested it out on several objects, and it’s pretty accurate (it measured my console within 1″ of the true measurement). It’s perfect if, for example, you’re at a store and you see a great piece of art and you’re wondering what the dimensions are. If it detects a shape like a rectangle, it will lock in on it and give you dimensions like this (I checked with a tape measure, and these dimensions were spot on!):

You can also toggle the button on the bottom of the app over to Level and use your phone as a level – it’s perfect for leveling art or a wobbly table!

6. Paper

Download Paper: App Store | Paper is not available in Google Play for Android users – Sketchbook and ibis Paint are popular Android alternatives

Have you ever had an idea pop up when you were on the go and wished you had a paper and pencil to quickly sketch something out? Maybe you were in a design shop and saw a furniture layout that gave you inspo for a new layout for your own home. Or after seeing a gallery wall at a restaurant, it gave you an idea of how you could rearrange your own art. The Paper app makes it easy to sketch on the go whenever design inspiration hits!

It has tons of different sketching tools and color choices, and once you have a few sketches in the app, you can start organizing them into sketchbooks so they’re easy to find and refer back to. It feels like flipping through a real sketchbook, but with all the convenience of having it right on your phone. I love that the interface is so basic and intuitive that you can download it and start sketching away with little to no learning curve.

7. Color Expert & 8. Color Portfolio

Download Color Expert: App Store | Google Play

Download Color Portfolio: App Store | Google Play

If you need help choosing paint colors, Sherwin-Williams’ Color Expert app and Benjamin Moore’s Color Portfolio app can help! With both apps you can (1) explore the full fan deck of colors virtually:

and (2) use one of their supplied photos or upload a photo of your own room to see what different colors will look like in that space:

The Color Expert app also has a new AI-driven feature that will read your room and find color recommendations that complement the hues of your furnishings and other objects in the space.

I think both of these tools are great for exploring possible color options, but they aren’t a substitute for getting paint samples before making any final color decisions! I highly recommend getting the large peel-and-stick paint samples from Samplize {here}. Unlike digitally printed color samples, these are true painted samples that will give you an accurate idea of what each color will look like in your home without having to paint a zillion swatches on the wall.

9. Planta

Download Planta App: App Store | Google Play

If you love home decorating, chances are you have several plants in your home because they do so much to add life to a space. And while Planta isn’t exactly an interior design app, it’s a handy tool for making sure your plants stay as vibrant as your space.

I definitely don’t have the best track record for keeping plants alive, so I’ve thrown in the towel on finicky plants like fiddle leaf fig trees (I finally bought {this faux fiddle leaf fig tree} after killing three live ones):

But I still love having live plants throughout our home, and I credit my success in keeping my plant crew alive with (1) the fact that they’re mostly hardy suckers like snake plants, jade, and pothos and (2) I use the Plant app for watering reminders.

When you first download the app, it asks you where your plants are located (indoors, potted outdoors, and/or in ground outdoors), your commitment level (for me it’s low – it’s gotta be easy to care for to survive in this house!), your skill level, and whether you want reminders. From there you can start adding your plants, including the type of plant, what room they’re in, how much light they receive, and a photo:

I have the free version of Planta, which is simply for watering reminders, but there’s also a premium version that uses photo recognition to identify plants, diagnose plant problems & fixes, give fertilization alerts, and track growth, progress, and plant health.

10. Reader’s Choice

This is where you come in – I’d love to hear about any apps that you’ve found to be helpful for managing or decorating your home. Leave any favorites in the comments or shoot me an email, and I’ll choose one more to add to our list!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend,