Light up your Home: The Decorative Side of Lighting

It’s one thing to have all the newest technologies installed into your home, and have the smartest home on the block. But, the eye wants something too. Decorative lighting helps a lot. It can add so much character to your rooms if done right. 

Panels, bowls and strips

There are currently a bunch of smart home manufacturers focusing on smart decorative lighting. Most notably Philips Hue, who craft beautiful wireless lightning systems that range from control and comfort to experience enhancing lighting systems. They make everything from white bulbs to portable colour-changing lights, like the Hue Go.

You might have also seen the triangular-shaped futuristic Nanoleaf Auroa panels. A brand new lighting experience altogether, with modular panels that let you create intuitive lighting scenes with millions of colours. LIFX, another smart home manufacturer, is also making moves on this side of the spectrum with their newest Tile and Beam products.

Then there is INNR, who, with their product range, offer a cheaper alternative to the broad range of Philips Hue products. Recently, the INNR Flex, a coloured LED strip, made it’s way onto the market. A well-made strip that you can incorporate into any wireless lighting system.

Different lights, different uses 

These three products are entirely different from one another. The Nanoleaf Panels might be perfect for your gaming room, while the Hue Go might be the perfect fit for "painting" your walls with coloured or white light, whereas the INNR LED strips add subtle hints of lighting to practically anything. So let’s explore some of the use cases possible with each product.

Entertainment and Gaming Rooms

Nanoleaf likes to place their products in the gaming room. They look and feel exactly like intended: very cool. They offer the full package: millions of colours, smart scheduling and even a rhythm module. An add-on for your Nanoleaf Panels that upgrade them into a real-time music visualizer. It makes it possible to see sound by letting the colours and panels react to the beat of the drum. The best thing: it’s done automatically, so you don’t have to adjust a thing! We’ve had a few of these panels mounted to a wall in the office for some time now, and can’t get enough of them.

If music isn’t your cup of tea, they offer a lot more in terms of entertainment. The panels can change colour depending on what’s on your television or computer display, creating an immersive gaming or movie watching experience. In any case, if smart home entertainment is a recurring chapter in your approach to make your home smarter, these panels are your bread and butter.

They do seem a bit flashy, even though they can be toned down a lot to create a much more cosy ambiance. These futuristic devices might not be for everyone, but they’re a great centrepiece to any smart home.

Cosy vibes

Are you more of the cosy type? Consider a Philips Hue Go. It’s guaranteed to be the most versatile light in your home. Plug it into a power outlet and use it to "paint" your walls with your favourite colour. Unplug it and bring it anywhere as the portable centrepiece for your activities. From cosy barbecues, to game night with the family. Philips Hue recently released an integration with which you can sync your smart lights to your music and movies. Bring a gaming experience to the next level, or create an immersive music experience. Granted, it’s a lot more toned down than what Nanoleaf has to offer on this front, but it’s a cool feature nonetheless.

The Hue Go is more of a family friendly kind of light. Paired with Homey it’ll help you get out of bed the way you like it, by increasing your bedroom light gradually mimicking the effect of sunrise. Or in the evening, a relaxing warm white light helps your family unwind and prepare for a good night’s sleep. Create Homey Flows to automatically set the mood for any time of day, the lamp takes care of the rest.

The best part is that you can carry your Hue Go anywhere you’d like. The battery lasts 3 hours and is a powerful addition to any mood you’re in.

LED Lights everywhere

LED strips are basically flexible low voltage self-adhesive strips with lots of LED-lights on it. Power is provided through a plug-in type power supply. The light comes from RGB LEDs, which means they can give any colour of light, including shades of white. INNR has a combination of RGB LEDs and white LEDs for more powerful and more natural white lights.

INNR Flex is a lightning strip that uses Zigbee to create the perfect light for you at any moment. They’re immensely flexible. The strips can be shaped into any form you like using adhesive tape to attach it to any solid surface. If needed, the 4 meter variant can be cut up in 2 pieces to fit your needs.

Add them to your furniture, under kitchen cabinets ore highlight your interior design features with the smooth light that comes from these LED strips. They can be directly controlled through Homey, so no bridge needed. Upgrade your entertainment system with a subtle line of LED lights, or use them as subtle nightlights accents in your hallway. As with all smart lighting, the same Homey Flow possibilities apply: smart scheduling, turning them on or off, dimming them. It’s like an ordinary smart lamp, but so much more versatile. And, at a reasonable €69,95, they make the ultimate smart home decoration gift. Perfect for any dad out there with Homey!

This Father’s Day we’ve got your back! We’re giving a €10 discount on INNR Flex LED strips to get every father out there up to speed with decorative lighting. Time to make your homes not only highly functional, but also beautifully lit. Use the code FLEX10 valid in the Talks with Homey Store, for one week only (expires the 17th of June).