Insights & Innovations: The Integrated Home Blog

If you read the news on home security cameras, you’ll see that homeowners across the nation are successfully protecting their families with surveillance systems. Burglars are caught more easily today thanks to individuals’ cameras. As more people in the neighborhood install them, neighbors are helping each other stop crime.  

If you have or are planning on adding home surveillance systems to your property in the Lake Norman, NC area, there are many ways to make the most of your technology. To ensure your security system performs its best, continue reading below.

SEE ALSO: Feel Good About the Safety of Your Property Anywhere, Anytime 

Don’t Hide Your Cameras

Unless you’re trying to sneakily catch someone you suspect is stealing your mail, don’t hide your security cameras. Most burglars are deterred by the presence of cameras and will decide not to rob a home where they’ll be caught. If they can see a camera visibly on your property, they will most likely choose a more accessible house to break into and will leave yours alone.  

Cover More Than the Front Door

It makes sense to guard the front door with surveillance cameras, but you’d be missing a massive blind spot to ignore other areas of your home. Include security cameras on your back doors, ground floor windows, and even the roof. Remember, if trespassers see that there’s only a camera at the front door, they may decide to try another break-in point. With a camera on your driveway or by the fence, they might not even take a step onto your lawn.  

Homeowners renovating or building a new property may describe their ideal living room or den to include surround sound and a large screen. Would they be more suited to a home theater? Or maybe your clients want a home theater, but also like the idea of spending time in the room for socializing. Home theaters and media rooms share similarities, but each room performs best with specific design and technology in mind. If you’re an interior designer or builder, this is an excellent opportunity to provide your clients with creative solutions. 

As you chat with clients about what they would like in their Charlotte, NC home, consider the following questions to help build the best space for them. Whether they’d like a media room installation or a home theater, we share our expertise with both below.

SEE ALSO: Create the Perfect Space for Entertainment in Your Home

Home Theater or Media Room?

Ask your clients: do you plan on entertaining during movies or while listening to music? Will you use your new media system for gaming or soundtracking a party? Is flexibility necessary for your space? If the answer is yes to these questions, a media room may be a better fit for socializing-inclined clients. On the other side of the coin, if your client already has a place for social gatherings and television, they will appreciate a dedicated home theater.

Building a Home Theater

While the screen of a cinema may seem like the most critical factor, it’s important to remember the sound and room components, too. Home theater screens are available in impressively high-definition options now, with home IMAX screens and 4K projectors. If your clients are seeking the best and brightest, let them know that 8K is more widely available now, as well as enhanced 4K format that surpasses earlier editions.

How does your household currently listen to music? Maybe you use an Amazon speaker in the kitchen or connect your media to computer speakers. You may even be an audiophile with a dedicated listening room. But only through whole home audio can you tie music to every part of your day. 

In addition to improving your mood, a whole home audio system will enhance your Charlotte, NC house in more ways than one. Continue reading to see if multi-room audio is right for your family!

SEE ALSO: 3 Ways to Use Your Whole-Home Audio

1. Music in Every Room

Through either wired or wireless solutions, an audio professional can help you build a speaker system that syncs the same music in every room. Be entertained by your favorite playlists while cooking, taking a bath, or reading a book out in the sun. As you walk from room to room, audio will follow you so that you won’t miss a minute of your podcasts or the best part of your favorite song. Your speakers can connect to your TV, too, so you can still hear the movie’s dialogue while you grab another glass of wine.

2. Entertain for Parties

Your house will become the spot for events with high-quality audio pulsing in every room. With a control system like Control4, you can manage every speaker from the same app. Pause the music to call everyone to eat, or adjust the volume to each room in one tap. Perhaps you want to set the outdoor speakers a little louder for dancing but fix the kitchen to a softer level so guests can chat. Party-planning will be easier than ever!

Are you still watching your favorite films or shows on a small screen? While you may think what you have is “good enough,” you could be enjoying the immersive experience of a home theater system.

If you’re curious about adding a private cinema to your home, you may be wondering which screen is the superior option. It can be confusing to decide whether a TV or projector is best, so continue reading to learn which will suit your Lake Norman, NC home theater.

SEE ALSO: 3 Things to Know Before Adding a Home Theater System

Ultra HD TV Screens

With impressive size and clearer-than-ever images, the Sony MASTER Series screens are vast enough to feel like you’re enjoying a night at the movies. The ultra-flat televisions range up to 98” wide diagonally, and OLED technology illuminates each of its eight million pixels individually. Sony technology creates deeper blacks, brighter colors, and better gradient handling, making the manufacturer our choice for home theaters. Grandest of them all, theirZ9G screen is displayed in 8K definition and uses X-tended Dynamic Range to boost brightness in required areas from stored energy. The built-in speakers and subwoofer are a great place to start for home theater audio, too, so you can enjoy sound mixing as filmmakers intended it.  

Projector Screens

You may think the screen is the least important part of a home theater. After all, can’t you project an image onto a wall or sheet? Not exactly. Depending on the amount of light in your home theater room, your projector could benefit from specific screen materials or colors to absorb the most light.

As an interior designer, you’re probably ahead of the curve when it comes to trends in color, fabrics, and furniture arrangements. But what about smart home technology? Many designers avoid dipping their toes into integrated technology because it seems too complicated, unrelated to design, or frankly, not visually appealing. But adding smart systems to your design portfolio will give you a competitive advantage over other designers in your area. Plus, there are stylish new devices built to blend in with each room’s facade (more on that below).

You don’t need to be a technology expert to add home automation to your interior design process. By partnering with a smart home company, you’ll open yourself up to new possibilities that homeowners will love. Keep reading to discover how Charlotte, NC homes will benefit from approaching technology with style.

SEE ALSO: A Day in the Life with Audio and Entertainment in Every Room

Hidden Screens  

Most designers agree that it’s no longer ‘in’ to arrange a living room or media room around a screen. While we’re more connected than ever, there’s been a recent cultural shift in our approach to technology. Many are taking breaks from their screens in the name of wellness. While we still love our HD screens for shows and films, the presence of large displays does not feel like a relaxing escape from our plugged-in world.  

The solution? Hidden technology, with in-ceiling and in-floor TV mounts that raise and lower a high-definition flat screen at one press of a button. Screens can swivel too, so they can emerge and fit into any space without compromising the room design. Seura’s smart mirrors function as sleek mirrors that display smart home information like a futuristic magic mirror. By tapping on the screen or using voice commands, users can explore everything from the weather to music control on the glass. Equally magical are Seura’s mirror TVs. When the show is over, and the screen is turned off, your client’s TVs will turn into a fully functioning mirror!