When it comes time to repaint your interior, whether you’re looking to do a 180 or you simply need a refresher, there are likely two main issues you’re going to face. The first is choosing the color that’s going to work with your furniture and accessories as well as giving you the aesthetic you crave. The second is figuring out how much paint to purchase to ensure proper coverage without having tons of product left over, taking up space in your garage. But as the saying goes, there’s an app for that. In this case, there are actually two applications that can help you out. The Fast Paint Calculator app will help you to decide the amount of space you need to cover and how much paint it will take to do so, while the Color Capture app allows you to take inspiration from the vibrant world around you to find the perfect hue for every room in your house. Here’s how they can work together to make your next painting endeavor the easiest you’ve ever experienced.

Fast Paint Calculator will set you back 99 cents, but considering how much you stand to save by purchasing just the right amount of paint, it’s likely to pay for itself with the first use. You’ll start simply enough by inputting the dimensions of your room (length, width, and height) in feet and inches. From there you can decide if you want to add a second coat and/or paint the ceiling along with the walls. This information will allow you to calculate the number of gallons needed. You can also change the coverage per gallon if you use a higher-coverage product like paint and primer in one, for example. And you can also enter the price per gallon to calculate the total cost of your project. Finally, you can email your project information.

But that only helps you to figure out how much paint you need. Until you know what color you want to purchase you’re not going to get very far with your cosmetic overhaul. Luckily, Benjamin Moore’s free Color Capture app can help you here. Suppose you want to mimic the velvety purple of the irises in your garden, there’s a particular shade of yellow in your favorite Kandinsky print that you’d like to use as a backdrop for your framed copy of the work, or you’ve fallen in love with the color on your friend’s wall but she can’t remember the name or number of the hue. All you have to do is snap a pic of your inspiration to search the catalog of more than 3,300 paint colors and find the closest match. From there you can save and share faves, create custom color combos based on your snapshot, and even flip through preset color brochures for ideas. And of course, the app will help you to locate the nearest Benjamin Moore store.

These apps won’t give you the keys to a fabulous kitchen remodel Los Angeles to Fort Lauderdale, but they will help you to pick your perfect paint color and ensure that you have enough product on hand to get the job done (without overspending on extra). And considering you can get the pair for less than a buck, it’s high time you got started planning your next painting project.

Editor’s Note

Thanks to Evan Fischer for this guest post. He is a freelance writer and part-time student at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, California.