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Welcome to our blog, where we explore the latest innovations in home automation, offering insights and inspiration to enhance convenience, security, and comfort in your living space.

How to Choose Speakers for a Home Theater: Freestanding vs. Architectural

Sonus Faber home theater speakers in a Park City, Utah home.

No Need to Choose Between Aesthetics and Sound Quality

Everyone loves great sound for music and movies. Not everyone, however, loves to see what makes the sound. Audiophiles love high-end equipment like McIntosh, Magnepan, and KEF, which are meant to be seen and heard. Others don't want to see any equipment, whether it's speakers for whole home audio or the home theater.

In this month's blog posts, we're going to focus on home theater sound and aesthetics. One of the things you might not know is that you don't have to sacrifice aesthetics for sound quality. If you don't want to see the speakers in your Park City, UT home, the choices for high-end sound are still amazing, but they do require careful planning and installation. On the other hand, if you like the look of speakers, you might be wowed by the beauty of some top brands. Keep reading below to learn more about home theater speaker options that are sure to please no matter which way you go. 

Lighting Design and Automation, Part 3: How to Use Accent Lighting

Modern living room with stone fireplace in a Salt Lake City home with custom lighting design

Accent Lighting Is All about Form and Function

This is the third and last installment of our current blog series on lighting design and automation. Last month, we discussed how lighting designers take a layered approach to illuminating a space. The three lighting layers are ambient, task, and accent lighting. When all three are done correctly, it’s almost magical – lighting can transform any room in your Salt Lake City, UT home from mundane to magnificent. 

In this post, we want to focus on perhaps the lighting that's the most fun – accent lighting. As you can guess, accent lighting is what casts a spotlight (not literally, but sometimes) on something you want to highlight or enhance. What makes today’s accent lighting even more fun is LED technology, which enables unique lighting that fits into more spaces than ever and brings dynamic color control. Ready to see what you can do with accent lighting? Please read on. 

Lighting Design and Automation, Part 2: Let’s Talk Task Lighting

Modern kitchen in a Park City,Utah home with custom LED lighting and automation.

Task Lighting is all about Form and Function

Lighting designers like to talk about layered lighting. What is it? Layered lighting is an approach that adds just the right amount of illumination to a space in your Park City, UT home, both for functional and aesthetic purposes. The three layers of lighting are ambient, task, and accent. 

Last month in this lighting series, we discussed ambient lighting. Ambient is the general lighting for a room, most often done with overhead lights like recessed cans. Task lighting is the light that focuses on an area to get work done, like a lamp on a home office desk or the pendants over the kitchen island. Finally, accent lighting is the light that highlights an object or area, such as shining a spot on artwork or light that highlights an arch. In this blog, stay with us below as we focus on task lights and lighting automation. Look for more on accent lighting in the next blog!

How Lighting Control and the Right Ambient Lighting Elevate Your Home

Modern kitchen in a Park City home with custom lighting and control.

Ambient Lighting is the First Step in Home Illumination

Lighting is essential for function and utility in your home. But badly designed lighting will detract, while well-designed lighting can make even a mundane home dramatic. Your Park City, UT home is anything but ordinary, so imagine what it would look like with a great lighting plan. 

This month, we'll focus our blogs on how you can improve your home with the power of light. From good lighting design to home lighting control, the right light, properly applied and managed, can transform the way you live and enjoy your spaces. In the first of this three-part series, we'll discuss the latest options for ambient lighting, the first leg of the lighting design tripod. Ready to learn more? Please keep reading below!

How to Get Commercial Quality Wi-Fi in Your Home Network Installation

A woman working on a laptop in a home office connected to a wireless network.

Hint: It’s Not about Your Router

This blog is the third installment this month of our three-part series on home networks and connectivity. In the first, we discussed how popular consumer solutions like mesh networks and routers might not be the panacea that the marketing might imply. In the second part, we talked about our approach to connection speed and stability, particularly through the judiciousness of cabling and commercial-level components. 

In this last installment, we'll talk about Wi-Fi performance and how to maximize it in your Park City, UT home. Wi-Fi is the first thing practically anyone notices if it's slow, won't connect, or drops. Unlike some, we look at Wi-Fi as "last mile" connectivity. Not the last mile in terms of the internet connection into your home, but the last resort for connections. As we noted in the second part of this series, if it can be connected by cable, we do it. You'll get more stable connections, better speeds, and decrease the load on the devices that really need Wi-Fi, improving overall network performance. 

So, how do we do Wi-FI for home network installations? Keep reading below!

SEE ALSO: Home Networking Part 2: What Makes a Strong Home Network? 

Separate Components

If you are familiar with audio, you might know that audiophiles who demand high performance prefer separate components versus all-in-one systems. For example, it might be a separate phono amp for a turntable and separate preamp and amplifiers for a two-channel hi-fi setup. Typical home network solutions package everything into the router, including a switch for wired connections, Wi-Fi radios for wireless networking, and router and firewall software. Much like in audio, separating these components into better individual ones can yield higher performance. Also, similar to audio, you tend to find these separates as higher-end, pro-level equipment. 

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