Phone Home. Home decorating Apps are here!

I just got my IPhone for Christmas. I'm still on the learning curve due to my age but get regular "lessons" from my college son. Among the coolest of the mobile apps are tools for home improvement - from DIY to decorating and from organizing to shopping. Here are three apps you might consider downloading.

"PaintSwatches" You're ready to take on that living room redecorating job, starting with walls and trim. But which colors look good together? This app organizes and simplifies the color picking phase of your job. First you create a page called, say "living room". Then you touch the screen and choose from thousands of paint colors from six manufacturers, all displayed in a scrolling palette. Once your done choosing colors, you drag the paint chips to a work area on the screen, where you move them around and see which ones look best together. Aquariform Designs, $1.99

"Home Sizer" Designing a new home? Selling your current home and trying to estimate the size? This is the toy for you.You enter the dimensions of your room using a scrolling function that includes a nifty little space for "room notes". Keep adding rooms and dimensions, and the app automatically computes the total square footage and usable area. It also has a function for estimating the cost per square foot of your rooms or the whole house, plus a mortgage calculator. Armchair design $2.99

"IHandy Carpenter" This is a strangely thrilling, even addictive, little app. You get five professional tools: a plumb bob, surface level, bubble level bar, steel protractor, and a steel ruler. Even if you're not a pro, you'll love the amazingly realistic look and feel of the tools. Ihandy Soft, Inc. $1.99