Want to freshen up your space, and use some technology in order to get it feeling a little bit more modern? Perhaps you’ve already got some equipment set up around the home, but are wondering if there might be any way to connect things together, or take it to the next level? Whatever the case may be, take a look at this quick guide, showcasing 5 different ways that you might be able to modernise your home using technology in 2021 (and beyond!).
1. Connecting the home
It might seem obvious, but a great place to start when thinking of ways to optimise the tech in your home is by looking at what you have, and how you might be able to connect up the different devices together in a hive mind. This concept is known as the ‘internet of things’, and allows users to get their homes running efficiently, like a well-oiled machine.
If you haven’t already, have a look at a ‘smart assistant product’, such as those within Google or Amazon’s smart speaker ranges, in order to get a ‘brain’ that will allow you to link up more devices. Before you know it, you’ll be controlling multiple different aspects of your home completely through your voice. Even if you don’t have one of these devices, you can easily set alarms, reminders, get recipes and more with an affordable smart speaker, so it’s a great place to start.
Did you know? An evolution of the ‘internet of things’ idea, the concept of a smart building is something that is constantly being worked on throughout major cities around the globe. This automated building concept will allow for blocks of apartments and office buildings to be controlled remotely, and communicate with each other in order to send messages about hazards, weather changes and more.
2. Lighting up the place
To start with, smart lighting is a tech upgrade to the home that has become extremely popular over the past couple of years, with products such as the Phillips Hue line showing consumers that smart lighting is as easy as, well, screwing in a lightbulb. Not only can some of these smart lighting products be set to turn on and off automatically, simulating natural light, but they can even in some instances change into a range of different colours, which is perfect if you want to change the feel of a room but are working with a reduced amount of space (perhaps in an apartment).
Also, again if you have a smart speaker device or hub, you can even connect many smart lighting systems, allowing you to voice control the lighting, or switch the mood up in an instant when entertaining guests. With starter kits not breaking the bank, this is a great place to start if wanting to make your home feel a little more futuristic.
3. Controlling your heating
Much like lighting, smart heating is an easily upgradable aspect of the home that has taken off massively in recent years. More than just a smart meter installation, smart meter products such as the Hive line, for example, allow users to again control their heating via voice control if connected up to a smart assistant system or even remotely control the home’s heating through an app. The energy-saving potential in the long term with automated heating here is great, too, which is worth noting if you’re wanting to make movements towards being more eco-friendly in the years to come.
Next level in apartments – As property developers continue to incrementally improve and update apartment buildings in major cities around the globe, technological features and furnishings will become an expected norm interweaved into the design of a space, rather than something that’s added in after the fact. If you look at some of the apartments offered by RWinvest, for example, their modern city-center apartments feature all of the technology-driven solutions that young professionals and urbanites look for in their homes.
4. Creating the ultimate home streaming setup
Sick of having an abundance of wires and boxes underneath your television set, and want to cut the cord fully? If you have a good enough internet connection at home, you can easily go cloud-based with the amount of incredible streaming services out there at the moment. Not only are the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime offered 4K streaming in 2021 on certain films and shows, but apps in-built in most smart TVs mean that you can access pretty much everything that you’d want to directly through your home entertainment system.
Again looking at how you can connect your different pieces of technology together in the home, some televisions have Amazon Echo functionality built-in, meaning you can ask your smart assistant to play certain channels, movies, or TV shows without even the press of a button!
One extremely cool way to integrate your smart lighting with your television setup is in the Phillips Hue HDMI Sync Box. While expensive, this device will allow you to sync up your lighting to the colors and action on-screen in a movie or video game, creating an immersive experience that can rival even the best cinemas out there.
5. Cutting back on the unnecessary
To finish, looking at some different interior design trends, minimalism is something that might bring a new, fresh look to your home, and melds perfectly if trying to go for something efficient and technology-driven. If you feel like your home is a little clustered and overbearing, why not revamp by clearing space and aiming for a minimalist feel? If you’re often working on side projects at home (or have been working remotely in general), studies have shown that a clear working environment can aid with concentration.
Tip – Got some appliances that you think might be a bit outdated and in need of replacement? Before you get too hasty and start throwing things away, there are ways to integrate the existing kit you have with new, ‘smart’ functionality. Adapters and passthrough plugs, for instance, can add the potential for timing and voice control on even the simplest of lamps, clocks, or speakers.