It’s a brave new world of smart devices and Bluetooth enabled appliances, but how do you know if it’s just a gimmick? These tips on utilizing smart lighting in your home will give you a few suggestions on putting these gadgets into good use, and might even inspire you to give your home a smart upgrade

Getting up in the morning can be hard, but it’s easier when mimicking the patterns of a sunrise. Set the lights in your room to slowly brighten with your morning routine so that you’re not fumbling for a switch and facing harsh lighting, especially in winter months when it’s dark in the mornings. A gentler progression will make it easier for you to get up and get your day going.

It can take kids a while to wind down when it’s time to go to bed, but a with a few well-placed smart bulbs, you can create a bedtime routine that helps them know it’s time to settle down, while still being able to set the lights at full brightness when they’re needed during the day. Plus, they’ll provide a gentle nightlight for anyone who’s still not comfortable in the dark.

In your living area, smart light strips under counter overhangs paired with main lighting sources such as lamps or ceiling lights can all be coordinated to set ‘scenes’, no matter what the occasion. Having guests over? Get creative with the full colour spectrum and set the ambience for your guests to have a cool experience. Just watching a movie? You can play around with the light intensity and colour to create a unique night in that suits just you. And when you need to clean, set everything as bright as can be and you’ll never miss another speck of dust.

If you think you’ll be away for a vacation, you can set up your smart lights to keep to a steady routine to help your house keep from being targeted as empty. While you should still get someone you trust to pay it a visit if you’ll be away for a long period of time, being able to control your lights will give you an added layer of security and peace of mind.

Some smart lights can be paired with motion sensors and can be set to turn on when you enter the room. This can cut down on fumbling for a light switch in the dark, and keep the lighting in your home as efficient as possible, if you’re trying to cut down on your power usage.

​Image Credit: Image 1, Image 2, Image 3, Image 4, Image 5

It’s a brave new world of smart devices and Bluetooth enabled appliances, but how do you know if it’s just a gimmick? These tips on utilizing smart lighting in your home will give you a few suggestions on putting these gadgets into good use, and might even inspire you to give your home a smart upgrade

Getting up in the morning can be hard, but it’s easier when mimicking the patterns of a sunrise. Set the lights in your room to slowly brighten with your morning routine so that you’re not fumbling for a switch and facing harsh lighting, especially in winter months when it’s dark in the mornings. A gentler progression will make it easier for you to get up and get your day going.

It can take kids a while to wind down when it’s time to go to bed, but a with a few well-placed smart bulbs, you can create a bedtime routine that helps them know it’s time to settle down, while still being able to set the lights at full brightness when they’re needed during the day. Plus, they’ll provide a gentle nightlight for anyone who’s still not comfortable in the dark.

In your living area, smart light strips under counter overhangs paired with main lighting sources such as lamps or ceiling lights can all be coordinated to set ‘scenes’, no matter what the occasion. Having guests over? Get creative with the full colour spectrum and set the ambience for your guests to have a cool experience. Just watching a movie? You can play around with the light intensity and colour to create a unique night in that suits just you. And when you need to clean, set everything as bright as can be and you’ll never miss another speck of dust.

If you think you’ll be away for a vacation, you can set up your smart lights to keep to a steady routine to help your house keep from being targeted as empty. While you should still get someone you trust to pay it a visit if you’ll be away for a long period of time, being able to control your lights will give you an added layer of security and peace of mind.

Some smart lights can be paired with motion sensors and can be set to turn on when you enter the room. This can cut down on fumbling for a light switch in the dark, and keep the lighting in your home as efficient as possible, if you’re trying to cut down on your power usage.

​Image Credit: Image 1, Image 2, Image 3, Image 4, Image 5

Sometimes, your rooms are missing something vital to pull them together. The floor is too bare or there’s not enough colour, and this is where the perfect area rug comes in. They can add warmth, separate a room, and add a pop of personality – read below to learn how they can work in each room in your home.

Do you have a heavily used hallway between your kitchen and your dining room? Or a corridor linking multiple bedrooms? A rug to cover these hallways will extend the life of your floors and protect them from too much wear and tear over a long period of time.

If you have a finished basement, it’ll likely get colder in the winter months. If you have any tiled or hardwood floors, use area rugs to make it a little more comfortable to walk on when the temperatures dip—plus, your basement will look even more finished, creating the perfect family den, or even a separate living space. If your budget allows, wool rugs will also keep the space even cozier.

A rug can have so many functions in your living room, providing a splash of colour, or a neutral base for patterned furniture. Just be sure that your area rug is big enough that all your living room furniture fits on the rug, or the space will look too small. Rug size calculators online can help you select the perfect size and layout for your room.

If you have a wide open living area, an area rug underneath your dining table will help separate out the space from the kitchen. It’ll save your table from looking like it’s floating in an empty room and provide a little more structure to your mealtimes.

A rug placed under a bed can give the illusion of the room being larger, providing you place it correctly. Try to keep the bed in the center of the rug and let the rug act as a picture frame around it. Keep a half-meter between the rug and the wall, and don’t lose the symmetry if your bed is prone to moving– it might make the whole space look unbalanced.

​Image Credits: Image 1, Image 2, Image 3, Image 4, Image 5

While you might be looking for hidden storage options, sometimes it’s the spaces above your nightstands or within your cupboards that are going to waste. Make the most of vertical space to get new storage solutions for your belongings, especially when you’re in a smaller home.

In your bathroom or kitchen, you might have large cupboards under your sinks that get easily cluttered up with cleaning supplies and old shampoo bottles. Pipes make it hard for shelves to be installed, so look for smaller stacking drawers or collapsible shelves to make these spaces a little easier to work with and give you more options for storing away your supplies.

Storing leftovers will be a lot easier with easily stackable Tupperware containers that can fit onto each other to ensure nothing’s precariously balanced in your fridge, and cutting down on spills. They can also be great in your pantry, ensuring any loose spices or seasonings are more efficiently stored, rather than taking up minimal space in bulkier shakers.

If your cabinets are set higher on your walls, you might be losing out on using the space between the bottom of the cabinet and your counter. A shelf organizer will help you get some items like mugs or sugar bowls off your counters, and counter shelves are easy to move around and align depending on your needs.

Whether you have tools or craft supplies, keeping them organized can take more time than your actual hobbies. Enter pegboards, which make it easy to see everything you need at once and make use of wall space to add to storage.

Towel bars in bathrooms are great if you’re by yourself, but by installing hooks in their place, you’ll suddenly have way more options for other occupants, or even other items you might use. Make the most of the vertical space in your bathroom with these hooks that turn the storage for one towel into five, and if you don’t have anything above your toilet, consider a small cabinet which will add easy storage for toilet paper and free up space under your bathroom sink.

Image Credits: Image 1, Image 2, Image 3, Image 4, Image 5​

Maybe a kind relative gave you a gift, maybe you went to a flea market and something caught your eye – however you got your new-to-you piece of antique furniture, you now have to make it work in your home. But if everything in your home is modern, you may be struggling. Here are some tips to bring antique pieces into your home and make sure they blend in or stand out, whichever works best!

Antique furniture is often made of more solid wood compared to lightweight, modern pieces which are meant to be moved between apartments by younger renters. An antique dining or coffee table will create a central statement piece in living and dining rooms. They’ll provide a nice contrast to lighter dining chairs and neutral toned sofas, and they’ll last for years to come – just don’t forget to use coasters!

The easiest ways for an antique piece of furniture to show age are through the tarnished finishes. You could polish them up, but if you have a new dresser or armoire, consider switching out old brass handles for modern steel that will give the piece a modern twist and likely save you some polishing time in the future.

Art tends to move homes the most, so if you have a large piece, pick the largest wall in your home to make a gallery out of it. Let your antique painting or mirror act as the center point and play around with smaller frames around it. You can go as modern as you want to make the piece stand out or opt for something a little more vintage-style to create an old fashioned flow.

Sometimes, heavy wood just doesn’t work in a lighter space, but a well-made piece of furniture is too good to just give away. This is where you might want to look into stripping the piece down and giving it a fresh coat of a lighter paint to integrate it better into a new home. But before you get started, be sure that this is what works for your home— you don’t want to destroy fine-quality craftmanship for nothing.

If you’ve got a new collection on your hands, show it off! Whether it’s vintage trinket boxes or grandma’s old perfume bottles, these could be an interesting conversation starter, so put up a couple of floating shelves for a more modern display choice and get ready to tell everyone the stories behind your new decorations.

Image Credits: Image 1, Image 2, Image 3, Image 4, Image 5​​