Summer hosting is about more than great food and good drinks. Technology also plays a role. High-tech home upgrades and smart home interior design choices improve your guests’ enjoyment and leave them impressed with your hosting prowess.
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Currently, over 63.4 million U.S. homes utilize smart devices. That’s over half of all households. Guests appreciate smart devices backed up by a reliable internet provider, and are even beginning to expect such comforts.
What is Smart Home Interior Design?
Smart home design blends technology, AI, and smart devices to create enhanced living spaces. High-tech home upgrades enhance your home’s functionality without compromising aesthetic appeal, enabling you to customize lighting, music, temperature settings, and more.
Here are a few smart home design tips to help you wow your next summer guests:
Tip 1: Upgrade to High Speed, Reliable Internet
If you’re serious about smart home interior design, start with your internet service. High-speed internet is the backbone of any smart house. Every smart device in your home requires a portion of your available bandwidth, and homes with slow connections can see their internet speed slow to a crawl as multiple devices compete for their share of your bandwidth.
A smart home requires a reliable high-speed internet plan of 100 Mbps for seamless performance. Guests can enjoy seamless 4K video streaming, quickly upload pictures to the cloud, and work remotely if necessary.
Tip 2: Optimize Wi-Fi Signal for Outdoor Gatherings
A strong, consistent wireless network allows guests to enjoy your smart home indoors and out. Strong Wi-Fi allows you to control music and lighting during backyard parties and patio dinners.
To improve your Wi-Fi signal, take the following steps:
- Place your router in a central, elevated area of the home, away from any metal objects and electronics that can interfere with the signal.
- Weak signals can cause dead zones inside and outside the home. Installing a mesh networking system eliminates dead zones by retransmitting the router signal. For outdoor spaces, consider installing a weather-resistant access point.
Source: Brightspeed.com
Tip 3: Use Smart Lighting to Set the Mood
High-tech home upgrades can be as easy as changing a light bulb. Smart lighting pairs with your home network, allowing you to adjust brightness, color temperature, and hue from your phone app. Smart lights include voice-activated bulbs, lights with motion detectors, and outdoor string lights.
Smart lights are programmable, allowing you to create pre-programmed scenes for outdoor dining or evening drinks. You can automate lights to increase brightness for a gentle wake-up routine, or to turn on slowly as the sun sets. By offering just the right lighting for guest activities, you create unique and memorable experiences.
Tip 4: Impress with a Smart Speaker or Outdoor Sound System
Like lighting, music helps set the scene for your guests. Smart speakers allow you to create dinner playlists and provide background ambiance. Voice-activated speakers allow you to control smart lights and other devices, or contact guests from anywhere in the home.
For an immersive experience, consider grouping multiple outdoor speakers around your patio or deck for 360-degree sound. If you prefer a simpler setup that you can move around, choose a portable Bluetooth speaker.
Tip 5: Install a Smart Thermostat or Fan System
Smart thermostats and HVAC systems help you keep your guests’ environment at comfortable temperatures. You can set smart thermostats to adjust the temperature at specific times, such as when you come home from work, or have the device automatically adjust temperature settings based on real-time weather data. Voice-activated fans enable guests to create the airflow that makes them most comfortable, a feature especially valued in guest bedrooms.
Smart heating and cooling systems improve your life even more than your guests. Not only can you customize your home temperature, you can save money while doing it. Smart thermostats save you up to 8% on your annual heating and cooling bills.
Source: Shutterstock AI
High-Tech Home Upgrades Equal Happy Summer Guests
Any of these smart home interior design tips make your home more enjoyable for your summer guests. A fully functioning smart home is a joy to visit. Remember, you don’t have to make all these changes at once. Start with something small, like smart lighting or speaker systems, and slowly add new features until your home becomes a favored summer oasis. Just remember, once your guests experience the joys of your high-tech home upgrades, they may not want to leave!
