Landing a new job is exciting, but moving your whole family to a new city? That’s a challenge. For Otto Wright, an aviation industry general manager, the move to Napa, California, came with an extra hurdle: finding a home in the middle of winter. The family eventually discovered a diamond in the rough - a property that had lingered on the market and was overdue for a refresh.
While the Wrights were no strangers to renovation projects, this home had a new item on the wish list: a smart ecosystem to help manage their new home.
Home Automation Inspired by Smart High-End Living
While the Wrights had some smart home devices in their previous home, their understanding of the convenience and luxury a fully-integrated smart home provides to normal houses gelled after seeing a friend's smart home in action. They enjoyed the automated lighting and integrated climate controls their friends used to keep their energy usage low. They fell in love with the integrated whole-house sound system. What they didn’t like was the learning curve for the system - nothing was intuitive. Their friends also couldn’t easily add new devices as their smart home experience evolved.
When imagining their own system, the Wrights faced real-world limitations. They didn't have the budget to rewire the entire house, nor did they want a technician camping out in their living room for weeks to configure the system. Aesthetically, they also did not want more "things" cluttering up their countertops, night stands, and side tables. What they did want was a cohesive system that could work with their existing smart devices and household wiring plus be easy for their guests to use.
That’s when they found Brilliant.
Using Smart Home Systems to Solve an Awkward Home Layout
With an ideal location in the Northern California wine country, it quickly became clear that weekend visitors were going to be the standard. But the house was anything but standard. It was a confusing web of mysterious light switches, pocket doors that impede the ideal placement for light switches, and long, dark hallways making it hard for guests to comfortably navigate during their stay. On top of that, the reversed floorplan home is carved into a hillside, the front door and guest spaces downstairs meant lots of running up and down the stairs.
Brilliant’s flexibility and whole-home automation was the answer. Their installer got to work designing a system that focused on security, lighting, climate, and music.
A Convenient, Guest-Ready Floor Plan
Instead of stair-climbing to answer the front door, their installer set up their Ring Video Doorbell and a smart lock to integrate with Brilliant so everyone in the household can let in guests. They also added a Brilliant control in the game room at the back of the lower level to use the built-in intercom to communicate throughout the home to announce when the wine and cheese are ready. Adding smart dimmer switches throughout the lower level eliminated guests needing to search for light switches in dark rooms. Instead, the Brilliant Smart Home System automates lights on and off with scenes and motion-sensing. The guest bath lighting and fan come on automatically, and the long hallway lights come on as their guests enter either end. The Brilliant panel in the game room provides additional controls for Sonos and climate dedicated to the lower level allowing guests to effortlessly make their space comfortable during their stay.
Since Otto’s mother is a regular visitor, comfortable surroundings were a priority. “My mother is 87 years old and we want it easy for her to control her surroundings in our home”, says Otto, “We set some simple widgets on the guest room display so she can turn on and off key lighting and set the temperature to her liking.”
For her stay, the smart home system isn't just a bunch of geeky devices; it's as essential as a grab bar in the shower.
Modernizing the Original 1970’s Lighting Control
The upstairs living area was a time capsule from 1971, complete with pocket doors designed to let a large family create quiet spaces. While the Wrights loved the character, the layout made light switches hard to reach.
For example, the double pocket doors that separate the combined kitchen and dining room from the living room meant that light switches were in awkward locations. The Wright’s installer improved the lighting control by affixing a Brilliant Plug-In panel to the wall over the pocket door with Command Strip tape - protecting the pocket door surface from damage and adding an ideal location for lighting control in the upper living area.
By adding a liberal amount of smart plugs, the living room lights automatically adjust at dusk, creating a cozy atmosphere for the Wrights to relax in after another long day at work.
The Heart of the Home
The kitchen is where the Wrights spend most of their time, and their Brilliant panel is always in use.
“We spend more time in the kitchen than any other room, and knew that Brilliant would make it easy for everyone to choose music to play via our Sonos system,” Otto shares. “We get pretty silly when the music gets going.” Dance-offs are a regular occurrence in the Wright home.
And starting cleanup is just a voice command away- “Hey Alexa, suck it up”- sends the robot vacuum to work before the next wave of guests arrives.
Expanded Security Control Adds Peace of Mind
Security was a top priority, so the master bedroom got its own smart control. From the comfort of their room, the Wrights can check the Ring doorbell, lock the front door, and arm the security system using Alexa voice control.
Energy Conservation the Smart Way
With energy costs continuing to rise, another big win has been energy conservation. When the Wrights' college-aged sons visit, lights tend to stay on long after they've left the room. Thanks to motion sensors, the lights in their bedrooms now turn off automatically when the boys head back to campus. And when the whole family heads out, a single tap on the Brilliant panel shuts down the entire house.
A Smarter Home for Everyday Living
For the Wrights, an integrated smart home is no longer a futuristic dream - it’s their daily reality. “We’re just a normal family and originally thought a smart home experience required a zillion apps to control, or was something way beyond our price range. Brilliant features far exceed what we even thought we needed.”
Now that they have seen what Brilliant can do, they are thinking of more ways to leverage smart home technology. Next up? Something to help them enjoy backyard BBQ entertaining even more.