Window Sills

A few weeks ago, I was chatting to a friend who’s starting a self build project. The conversation naturally came round to smart homes. I asked if he was planning on making his new home “smart”. He wasn’t sure if this was something he’d want to invest in. I asked why not, and he told me he had got a quote for the window sills he wanted. It it was a few thousand pounds more than he’d hoped.

Window sills.

I didn’t challenge him on it at the time, as he was obviously having a battle of head and heart over these which were purely form over function. But this got me thinking – how often do we interact with our window sills? How often do we “use” them? I’d imagine, you don’t even look a them very often.

Now, don’t get me wrong here – I’m not one to put function over form either. In fact, good aesthetic design is as much a part of a smart home as technical design is. It’s just, if that budget was put towards smart home features, the interior and exterior of your home could look so much better and could change it’s entire mood at the tap of a button.

For example…

Look at this room:

Looks like a great room for cooking in and grabbing a snack. It’s bright and airy, great for cleaning. It even has some coloured lighting – perfect for a party.

Now, look at this room:

Looks like a great room for sitting down for a family meal, doesn’t it? Or, maybe entertaining some dinner guests.

But look at both of them again. They’re the same physical room, yet have been transformed. Not transformed by decoration, but transformed by the single tap of a button. The shades close, the lights dim and the colours change. Suddenly what was once a practical space, is now a cosy space.

Don’t Assume

A smart home is not about having gadgets all around the house. It’s not about cramming in as many electronic devices as possible.

Smart homes done right, make living spaces multi functional and adaptable to your mood. They transform spaces at the tap of a button or flick of  a switch. We interact with many items in our homes hundreds, if not thousands, of times a day. Opening and closing doors and windows, turning on and off appliances, turning on and off lights, setting alarms, adjusting heating, watching TV shows, listening to music… Why not make these things work in harmony?

Don’t assume that you can’t afford a smart home because you’d rather your home looked pretty. Instead, work with a home technology professional to make your home outstanding.