We asked an interior designer for the best smart home devices they recommend to clients

People are increasingly turning to smart home devices to make everyday life smoother. From asking your speaker to play your favourite playlist to setting your coffee machine to make your morning cup as you’re waking up, there are countless ways they can assist us.

But interiors lovers might be dubious about the aesthetic appeal of some of these devices, not wanting tech to become the focal point of their carefully-considered space. That’s why we’ve turned to interior Deirdre O’Connell of Dtale Design to find out what she recommends to clients when it comes to smart home devices. 

And to make sure your smart home tech functions flawlessly, without long lag times or glitchy connections, Virgin Media broadband is an easy choice. Offering ultrafast broadband with 99.9 per cent network reliability, it can effortlessly run all your devices. 

Plus, they make it easy to create a smart home with Smart Home Packs, bundles of products with everything you want for entertainment, home automation, or both.  

So, what are the devices Deirdre recommends to clients? 

Smart speaker

“Probably the first smart home devices that come to my mind are the Google Nest Hub and Amazon’s Alexa,” Deirdre says. “These offer a compact way of managing a multitude of home appliances, from one interactive device.”

She likes their sleek designs, as well as the fact that they can help to streamline your home. 

“Given the small size of the gadget, the amount of functionality is impressive, removing the need for a range of other devices, media, appliances and general ‘stuff’, while you can discreetly tuck them away. 

“For music lovers, the devices offer access to music app libraries, overcoming the need for boxes of CDs. For budding chefs, it can mean the end of mountains of recipe books as everything is available via the console. It also negates written shopping lists on the front of the fridge door, while one on your nightstand eradicates the need for an alarm clock, radio and a music device.”

Smart Bulbs

Another smart home device that Deirdre is a big fan of is smart light bulbs. “Lighting is a powerful tool in creating ambience in a room,” she says.

“Thankfully, smart bulbs have all but eradicated bad lighting. Brightness, light temperature, and colour are now controllable at the touch of a button. Smart bulbs can be easily turned on and off, dimmed or adjusted from a cool to warm light, or to achieve that lovely ‘soft white’ lighting favoured by many interior designers.”

She also points out that they make your space more flexible.

“Within a specific room, they allow for strong task light in a table lamp for a work station during the day, while in the evening softening this same table lamp for a calmer hue to relax and unwind.

“The bulbs can also be programmed to offer daylight settings in the morning, which helps with waking up, and low level evening light for downtime and relaxation. Walking into your room and finding it at exactly the right lighting to suit you, these are the things that make life feel smooth and serene.”

Smart Plugs

Similarly, Deirdre also often recommends smart plugs to her clients, which can be used to turn any device on and off remotely, including lamps for homes where smart light bulbs aren’t suitable. 

“Smart plugs are terrific for controlling a number of different lights in the one room. One touch, and all lights are on, or off, as you like,” Deidre explains. “This is helpful in a renovation project when you’re working with old socket locations, or you don’t have the advantage of 5amp plugs. They give you the flexibility to relocate lights and appliances.”

They can also help streamline tech clutter, she says. “Smart plugs are also superb in hiding or disguising cables; the bugbear of many an interior design scheme, not to mention helping with safety issues of tripping over a cable. These small but mighty devices have great energy efficiency, allowing you to control appliances and devices from outside the home.”

Chromecast

This little streaming device is popular in terms of its entertainment benefits, but Deirdre says it’s also a smart choice design-wise. “There are many great interior design advantages to this discrete little toggle,” she explains. “It eradicates the need for many unsightly cables.”

“Designing a TV room can also be challenging given the size of the big black box on one wall. However, this eliminates the need for additional media boxes, making a seamless design possible around the TV.”

The device also allows you to blend your TV in with your chosen decor. “You can use your television as a work of art,” Deirdre says. “Search for a background or wallpaper image on Youtube to play as a background on the TV for when you’re hosting guests. This background can easily change depending on your mood or the season.”

To find out more about Virgin Media broadband, visit virginmedia.ie.