Today’s smart home technology solutions offer a far more intuitive experience than simply setting your thermostat or locking your windows. Systems have become much smarter, faster and easier to use. And they can truly enhance the security, function and aesthetic of your home.
We asked our RNDD Members to weigh in on what they think are the best – and most innovative – home technology trends out there.
Protect Your Home with a Smarter Security System
With all the new technologies available, you can now monitor your home’s environment thanks to companies like Barrett’s Technology Solutions. Water and humidity sensors can tell you about a leak long before it becomes an expensive problem. Temperature sensors can go beyond your smart thermostat, informing you of an issue with your wine room or a potential problem in your kitchen. Intelligent carbon monoxide sensors can notify you of a potentially deadly situation before it becomes a danger.
What about those window, door, and motion sensors? Use them with smart cameras that can trigger recording on motion, and you can know precisely what is happening. If you’ve ever been anxious by a door alarm that went off in the middle of the night only to discover that the wind moved the door just enough to trigger it, with a smart camera, you could know that your house was safe – or if swift action is needed.
Smart locks can provide a slew of benefits. It’s like access control for your home. If you need to let someone in temporarily, you can give someone a temporary code or access via a smartphone app. Want to lock your doors automatically at night? Just add smart locking to a bedtime routine that locks all equipped doors and sets the alarm on your command or on a schedule. Add smart capability to your garage doors too. You can program your garage door to close automatically after a time period with no motion, check to see if it’s open anytime through your smartphone, and open and close it remotely for a package delivery. For peace of mind with your family, smart locks can also tell you if your kids got home from school when you’re not there by identifying who unlocked the door.
If you are looking to incorporate smart home security features like these, contact Barrett’s Technology Solutions: Technology, Entertainment, Audio, and Automation Experts in the Chicago area.
Enjoy Your Home with an Enhanced Outdoor Entertaining Space
With a year of pandemic under our belt and many, many hours spent at home with family, everyone is looking to expand their usable square footage and at-home entertainment options. And as warmer weather approaches and the possibility of a more “normal” summer gets closer, people are looking to their outdoor spaces as a safe place to gather with friends and family. Adding speakers and televisions is a great way to enhance the function of your outdoor environments. By adding some new audio/video elements the back patio can be a welcoming place to watch a movie with the family, have all the kids’ friends over for a BBQ where they control the music, host a lively cocktail party with a few friends, or watch the game with the guys and a few cigars.
New equipment from top quality manufacturers have made this all possible while still maintaining a sophisticated aesthetic. No longer are outdoor speakers limited to soffit mounted boxes or obvious “rock” speakers. Modern outdoor audio packages hide easily in the landscape and can provide high quality, high-performance sound. Outdoor TVs used to be regular displays mounted in huge, clunky, weather-tight enclosures. Now they are weather-proof displays that look identical to any TV you could buy off the shelf. These TVs are equipped with special filters that allow you and your guests to watch the game or catch up on your Netflix binge no matter the outdoor lighting conditions.
Jason Lehnhardt Consulting provides technology design and consulting services to the luxury residential, hospitality and light commercial markets. Jason has 20 years of experience designing sophisticated automation and entertainment systems and works tirelessly to represent his clients’ interests as an independent and trusted advisor. For more information visit www.jasonlehnhardtconsulting.com
Beautify Your Home with a Digital Art Platform
An innovative Technology trend for 2021 is a digital art platform called apollo. Apollo Digital Art encompasses a native app, an art collection, an e-commerce platform, and a community of like-minded collectors. This unique ecosystem allows for seamless discovery and acquisition of artwork from creators around the world.
By making fine art accessible to anyone, Apollo opens the market to new audience and creates opportunities to connect artists with a new generation of customers. Apollo disrupts the way we see and buy art. To find out more on how to get Apollo in your home contact Centaur Interiors.
