In today’s world, smart gadgets are taking over offices and households. As the term ‘Smart homes’ is now emerging, technology is being integrated into our daily lives. What becomes a challenge for home décor artists is keeping the home stylish along with incorporating the gadgets into it. What interior designers are doing is now is that they are incorporating stylish pieces of home décor into gadgets. This not only makes the home look aesthetically pleasing but also ensures that the home is technologically advanced; aiding the home-dwellers. This makes sure that gadgets can be controlled remotely and with ease when living in the home. Whether it is controlling the lights or opening the garage door, everything can be controlled by the help of smart home approach.
Make sure that you do not end up cluttering your homes with way too much gadgets and end up getting a non-homey robotic feel to the living space. Minimalism is the key to every home whether it is smart or not; as it maintains a non-cluttered and basic feel. Creating an environment that is relaxing yet technologically equipped is a meticulous balance that needs to be maintained.
Blend technology with your conventional home décor.
The theme of the room needs to blend in with your gadgets. If you keep a huge purple coloured speaker on your stark white table, it will stand out as an alien in the surroundings. Make sure that your technological devices look like they are part of your living space instead of dominating the living area. Try to blend in your tech by styling it with the surrounding items that belong to the same colour palette.
Shapes, designs, patterns and textures, when matched; create a very blended effect that we aim for while incorporating gadgets into homes. The grouping of objects makes sure that the gadget does not stand out as start amidst the homely settling. Pair up your stereo speakers with a vase on either side, decorated with flowers and you won’t even notice the speakers there anymore!
Organize without compromising functionality.
Even though clearing up clutter may be the prime concern for many home owners, but they have to keep in mind in maximizing the functionality of the gadgets while doing this. We all know that routers and smart home hubs need to be located at a central position of the home to ensure optimal performance. So when hiding these, make sure you do not stow them away in a closet as it will cut down the signals or minimize the range of the gadget. Routers are best functional when places at high locations so you can work with that while trying to stow away your router from plain view.
Cable management is the key.
Most appliances and devices come with long and tangly cords. Even your smart phone that is thinner than paper comes with a bulky charger and a long wire that you can strangle a person with. Hiding cords is a heck of a job and doing this can clean up your space really well.
Find a way to do that. Reel them up and tie them. Reduce the cord clutter and half the unsightly messes in your living space will disappear. You can use hair ties or plastic ties to organize these cords so they are kept away from sight.
Choose a colour that helps blend the tech.
While purchasing your smart home technology, make sure that you choose from a colour palette that compliments the living area in which you will place that gadget. A yellow and white room with bright pink LED Television frame would look absolutely ridiculous won’t it?. We tend not to realize but just like any other item, gadgets are to be selected with the colour scheme in mind.
For instance, if you have a brightly coloured home with light colours, a clunky, black speaker won’t match. Similarly, if you have a darker-toned home, a bright white coloured security camera will be extremely obvious- to the point of awkwardly sticking out.
With the advent of smart homes, many options are now being brought into the market. Smart cameras, television frames, thermostats and child locks; all come in multiple designs and finishes so you can select the one that blends best with your home.
Opt for a frame television instead of regular frames.
A frame television is a modern day photo frame that changes its images like a slideshow. The border looks like a picture frame and images of your choice are seen flashing across it. With times as busy as today, it is hard to meet your loves ones that often, having a slideshow of their pictures can make you feel closer to them. It can also double up as a television.
Samsung has come up with such a frame television that has a voice-activated personal assistant that is built in, and can be used to control other smart home devices just by saying the instructions. It also holds an HDR technology, which improves the picture quality of content.
Lights that change colour.
The colours that we are surrounded by play a huge rule in our moods. Colours affect us at a sub-conscious level to elevate of depress our moods. You can opt for lights that are smart; not only their dimness can be adjusted but also their hues. Lights are thrown on the wall by the sides of the television, creating an ambiance that can change the mood of the room in a matter of a few clicks.
The application by Philips – the ‘Hue Sync’ can sync to your favourite colour or you can set it to, mimick the colours that are on the TV screen. It is seen that Philips is also manufacturing the best colour-changing light bulbs and its The Hue Signe is a making floor and table lamps that change colours.
Keep it multi functional.
Keep another thing in mind while making your home smart. You do not need a separate gadget for each task. Usually, a tech piece is invented for a main purpose along with several side purposes- bring them to use. Invest into items that have more than one role in your smart home so that you can spare some space and cash. Multi tasking with one gadget not only reduces clutter but also allows for minimizing the mental strain that follows the use of multiple devices.
Lets say for example, the Notti by Witti Design – is a smart light designed to deliver important notifications by lighting up in different colours when you get a call, or receive a text message or get a social media alert. Those are its main jobs but its side job is that it can also be used as a morning alarm along with being used as an LED light that comes with several colour options that can change the hue and mood of any room. Kitchen gadgets and appliances can also be used in a multifunctional way that is useful yet maintains the minimalism of the kitchen.
As technology advances at the pace of light, our lives will be keep getting more dependent on it. Soon, we’ll need to make weighted and thoughtful decisions when it comes to incorporating technology into our living spaces. What we set today as traditions of our smart homes will last for our generations to come. Just make sure you keep technology in its proper place, too much can be overwhelming and too little can leave you feeling at disconnected from the rest of the world.
