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The 6 secrets to a stylish smart home

Smart home technology is designed to automate tasks, keep watch over your home and add clever short cuts to your daily life.

In the past, new home technology has been clunky, unattractive and often stuck out like a sore thumb when placed in your home. Luckily smart home has come a long way since then and are now usually pretty stylish.

That said, you still need to think about how these devices will keep your home looking like your home – and not the inside of a robot.

Here are our tips on how to make your home smarter, but without clutter and obtrusive devices.

Think about colour

Traditionally, tech comes in black, white or grey. But these shades tend to stand out from the colour schemes that we already have in our homes. What if your sofa is cream, you have mint green walls, and a warm and welcoming red fire place? A glaring white security camera perched above on a shelf will inevitably kill that homely vibe.

Consider the colour patterns that are already in your home and note them down before you venture into the smart home tech market. Thermostats, cameras, smart speakers and locks (to name just a few) have an array of beautiful colour finishes these days. So, now you can decide on the one that works for your home and achieve optimum harmony.

Plan where you place them

Since smart tech is prettier than ever, take a moment to think about where you want to put your new piece of kit. Often, they are plug and play devices and you may automatically be tempted to stick them in a corner and close to the nearest plug socket.

Although they need to be in accessible areas, think about where they will look and work the best. Like on a coffee table, side table or mantlepiece for example.

Hide the cables

More smart home tech usually means more cables. There isn’t much that ruins a modern home more than random cables popping out. So, make sure that anything you buy, the cable can be easily hidden.

This also applies to where you put them in your home. Don’t place them on glass tables that you can see through, don’t put them high up where the cables will dangle on the wall, don’t put them in the middle of a side table where the wire has to run along the top.

Most of the time, you don’t need to buy extra gadgets to hide them. It just needs a little creativity. For example, you can hide cables behind a solid side table, behind the sofa or even behind some books. Just take a minute to think about it.

What do you realistically need?

Nobody wants more clutter in their home, but you may need more than one device to fully capture the benefit of what a smart home has to offer. For example, security cameras, motion sensors and smart speakers are even more useful when they are connected around the home.

It might be tempting to put one everywhere so that you get full coverage of your home. But think about the size of your pad and where you will spend most of the time and, therefore, where you will actually use them.

Light it up

We no longer have to place a cloth over a lampshade to make a room feel romantic. But creating ambient lighting is the quickest way to turn your home into a stylish sanctuary.

Since the boom in smart home tech, we now have multiple brands creating high end and affordable lighting options. Use these smart home gadgets to make beautiful hues and relaxing lights that can be controlled. It will help tie the entire home together as one and keep things very stylish.

Look for products that blend in to background

Smart home tech companies have clearly latched onto the idea that no one wants something ugly in their house. New products are hitting the market all the time that promise to blend into the background when not in use.

Keep an eye out for technology that hides itself and your house will look and feel like a premium modern home.