What will your living room look like if you give the walls a fresh coat of paint? And which colors are exaggerated or just boring? At you can find the best materials and paint colors for your room. It is difficult to imagine from memory how a room will come out, and the image of samples is limited. That’s why there are paint apps that do show color. Do not forget your tampering with samples that have little say, your smartphone and the right app can make your living room or bedroom fully virtual paint as often as you want. Just about every manufacturer has a paint app on offer these days, although many independent developers also market their own.
With Paint Tester for Android, you can quickly give your interior a different color. After opening the app, take a photo of the room or select one from your photo library. Then you choose – from almost all colors that your screen can display – the desired color, and the app tries to display the walls in it. This usually works fine, but sometimes it doesn’t if the software doesn’t recognize where the wall starts and the window ends, for example. Simple and contrasting shapes, such as a black TV screen on a white wall, are usually no problem, as they are neatly painted around. You can indicate with a slider how aggressively Paint Tester works when coloring objects. If the app approves a chair or table, you can usually undo that. If there are still errors, there is a digital eraser with which you can erase surfaces manually. You can save the final result for later viewing, color comparison, or sharing on social media. A disadvantage of the app is that the free version shows a cartload of advertisements and that the photos taken are only available in a low resolution. For higher resolution photos, you must use the paid version. It costs 2.89 euros and is ad-free.
Social interaction
The manufacturer Akzo Nobel has also released two apps for its paint brands Sikkens and Levis that use augmented reality to apply a virtual lick of paint to your walls. That of Sikkens, Expert, is intended for professional painters who want to convince their clients but offers largely the same possibilities as that of Levis, Visualiser. Visualizer allows you to take a panoramic photo of your room. It gives a better picture than a photo of one wall. Then it’s a matter of tapping with your finger to change the color of the walls. It is also possible to combine colors, such as a main and an accent color. An important part of the app is the social interaction between friends and acquaintances. You can save and share color ideas and your friends can make suggestions and suggestions.
Playing with decor pieces
If you want to go a step further and completely redecorate your home, Homestyler is a valuable companion. If you take a photo of your room in the app, you can virtually completely redecorate it. Not only can you paint the walls, but you can also add furniture, carpets, paintings, and other decoration – from existing brands. Coloring the walls is unfortunately not automatic, you have to do that ‘finger painting’. But the opportunity to play with set-pieces makes up for a lot. The app also has a nice augmented reality mode in which you walk through the room, past the new set pieces that have been set up. In addition, Homestyler also values the user community. You can upload your master creations, ask for comments and tips from others, and follow other virtual interior decorators. A disadvantage of the free app is that it only works optimally on relatively strong hardware. On an older Apple iPad Air 2, the app regularly crashes and does not work very fast. And also know: photographing and arranging the rooms well, so that the proportions and dimensions of the objects are correct, takes time and practice.