Life Made Easier With Home Automation

When designing our home, we knew we wanted to have some form of home automation. So what is that exactly? It’s when you turn aspects of your home a “smart home” and can control things like your TV, music, lighting, and thermostat all with your remote control or app on your phone. Today I’m sharing a few ways how we incorporated some pretty cool technology into our new home!

We used Insight Automation in our previous townhome to add a surround sound system and loved it! They are a local Charlotte company and took care of all of our electrical & tech needs. We love watching TV and movies and think the sound quality of surround sound speakers (and subwoofer) make such a difference. So when we were designing our new home, we knew that we wanted another surround sound system. We added a whitewashed cedar ceiling and the guys at Insight Automation were able to seamlessly blend the speakers to where they are barely noticeable. We didn’t want to use a sound bar over our fireplace- especially since we got a Samsung Frame TV, so we knew the built-in way was the way to go. Last time our subwoofer was tucked away in a corner of our living room but in this house we didn’t have a good place for it. At first we thought we were going to have to do an in-wall speaker & amp (which is way more $$$) but luckily we discovered that our subwoofer would fit perfectly in our built-in cabinets. Another pro of having extra storage!

And can you guess how excited I was for the universal remote?!! We have a system called Control4 that makes controlling our TV and music so easy. We can control our TV, DirecTV, speakers and Apple TV all through this remote and also through an app on our phones. In our last house, I told Ryan I couldn’t handle 4+ remotes laying all over the place once we moved so this remote was a must-have! In the next few months we are also going to upgrade our light switches in our living room and add a smart thermostat so they can be controlled through the remote & app as well. How cool is that?!

I am a huge fan of technology and sometimes nerd out over this stuff but I think it’s amazing how far along technology has come over the years. We literally went from 4 remotes down to 1 with this new system… Marie Kondo would be so proud! We also have all the wiring and devices in a coat closet so that everything is easily accessible but also tucked away out of sight to keep the living room as clean looking as possible. Ryan had this vision in his head from the very first floor plan design with the architects. I know it’s not the prettiest photo (cords everywhere!) BUT I thought it was important to show you a behind-the-scenes look at the technology hub for our house.

Another feature we carried over from our old house to the new one was Phillis Hue bulbs. These offer another type of home automation that might be better if you don’t want to replace a light switch and I think they work especially well for lamps. We’ve been using the standard Hue smart bulbs for years but now they also make weatherproof outdoor bulbs. We had Insight Automation put 3 can receptacles on our front porch so that we could then add the outdoor LED bulbs. Ryan programmed them to come on at sunset and go off at a certain time at night. That way our front porch is lit up when it is dark but we don’t have to remember to turn them off each night. It’s also a great feature to have if you are on vacation but want to make it look like you are still home. I love that these bulbs can also be controlled with Siri.
Did y’all enjoy this tech-focused post? Of course I love sharing home decor with y’all but I’m also so interested in ways to incorporate technology into your home to make your life easier and more convenient. Do you guys have any “smart home” features in your homes? Let me know in the comments below and thanks for reading!