Let’s face it, your home is probably the most valuable thing you will ever own, and most of money you’re working so hard to bring in goes towards buying, furnishing and looking after it, so of course you want to make it somewhere that you really want to spend your time.

But with work dominating your time, how can you get the household chores done without completely sacrificing sleep? The good news is that while you’re putting in the hard graft in the office, you have your loyal friend the smartphone by your side to take care of matters at home.

There are now a whole host of innovative apps that are designed to help you keep your home exactly how you want it, and we have pulled together a list of five of our favourites.

Give them a try and you could be coming home to a warm, welcoming, spotless home, where you have neatly ironed shirts on tap and even that pesky flatpack coffee table has finally been put together, all thanks to your smartphone:

Hive:

After a late night in the office and a long commute, the last thing you want to come home to is a freezing flat. By hooking up with a clever (and good looking) home thermostat, the Hive app allows you to switch on the heating or boost the hot water with just a couple of taps of your smartphone.

That means no more paying to heat your house when you’re not there, and you can have it nice and toasty with a hot shower waiting for your return. FREE (Requires home hardware)

This could spell the end of the common or garden thermostat

LightWaveRF:

If controlling your heating isn’t enough for you, this app takes keeping a smart home to a new level, enabling you to adjust lights, sockets or even radiator valves while you’re home or at work.

You will of course need LightWave products installed, but it can help you save money on bills, improve security when you’re not home or even create mood settings so the ambiance is just right ready for your, or your partner’s arrival. FREE (Requires home hardware).

MoppedUp:

If you’re among the 1 in 4 people that now have a cleaner, this clever new app will allow you to communicate with them in a much smarter way so your home is exactly the way you like it when you get in from work.

No more leaving scribbled notes or kicking yourself for forgetting to ask your cleaner to give the fridge a good scrub, you can now quickly create task lists on the go so they focus their time on the tasks that really matter each week.

Your cleaner can suggest to you what needs doing and even add items to a shopping list for you, so you won’t be running out of home essentials at inconvenient times anymore.  And if you’re one of the 3 in 4 people who don’t have cleaner, MoppedUp will help you find a recommended one in your area. £2.99 (or FREE for cleaners).

Cleaners are no longer thought of as a luxury to many busy people

Task rabbit:

One of the inevitable by-products of putting in the extra hours at work is an ever-expanding to-do list of chores at home. So why not just get someone else to do tackle your tasks? With tens of thousands of ‘Taskers’ on hand to do everything from putting up shelves, mowing the lawn or even waiting in line at the Post Office for you, you can free up your valuable leisure time for doing the things you actually want to do. FREE

Laundrapp:

When you’re working late to meet a deadline, the last thing you want to worry about is sorting out clean clothes for the rest of the week, but help is now at hand from the app that promises to be a remote control for your laundry.

With just a couple of taps of your smartphone you can have your clothes collected, cleaned and returned to you neatly pressed and ironed. It is now available in over 50 towns and cities, so no more excuses for turning up to a meeting looking like a dishevelled wreck. FREE