If you are looking at a lighting control system for your home, you likely have heard about the many benefits in energy efficiency, comfort, and the elegance it can bring to your home, inside and outside.

You may wonder if the controls for your lighting system are going to be pedestrian and ordinary. For many years, interior designers painted light switch wall plates or wrapped them in the wallpaper that was used for wall finishes to make them blend in. In some cases, decorative ones in matching metal or wood were used – and still are.

With some of today’s more minimalist modern décor, switches and controls tend to stand out more. The good news is that Lutron, the leader in lighting systems, recognized that form and function are equally important. Let’s take a quick look at some of Lutron’s style-forward choices in wall-mounted keypads.

Deciphering all the acronyms related to video and TV technology can be tough. Every time you figure out what something like 4K, HDR or OLED means, there’s a new one added to the mix. The latest to hit the industry is AV over IP. It means you can distribute audio and video signals through your network.

While it started off in large commercial applications where a lot of signals needed to be sent efficiently, in recent years this technology has expanded to the residential market. As your local home theater installers, we’re here to showcase why you should consider this technology if you plan on enjoying a lot of 4K content in your Minnetonka home.

Do you want a smart technology upgrade that will have an immediate impact on your lifestyle? Then motorized shades are an excellent option for your Lakeville space. Offering convenience, safety, and style, they're one of the most popular solutions among our clients. Despite their clear benefits, it can be difficult for clients to decide which motorized shading system and set up might be the best option.

In this blog, we're going to highlight the Lutron Sivoia QS Wireless shading system. Very few solutions offer the range of shading and control options that you can get from Sivoia. If you want to find out if it's the perfect fit for your unique needs and preferences, keep reading.

If you are planning to build a new home or remodel your existing one, you want to make it yours. Likely you have seen design elements you loved in a friend’s house, builder models or a Parade of Homes, and want to incorporate them. You may have communicated some of these ideas to your architect or interior designer.

One of those important architectural elements is home lighting design.  It can sometimes be subtle; the way a particular piece of artwork perfectly highlighted a wall, or how a built-in bookcase showcased a collection of first edition books and memorabilia.  It can be the way lighting makes the particular color scheme chosen for a room look its absolute best.

Lighting design can transform and personalize your home in Edina.  Read on to see how we can work with your builders and designers to make your spaces shine. 

If you’re an audiophile, you likely already have a home stereo system. It may be part of your home theater setup, or you may have a dedicated two-channel system in a library or bedroom.  As an audiophile, you’re not satisfied that you have the ultimate in audio quality.  You crave that next edge, the type of sound that takes you back to a favorite live concert, or the ability to pick out every instrument in a classical piece.

Bowers and Wilkins (B&W) is one of the finest brands in loudspeakers.  For over 50 years, they have been producing audiophile-quality equipment, starting with the first hand-built units in the back of an electrical shop in West Sussex in England.  The 800 Diamond series is part of their flagship range of speakers that is a true full line, encompassing bookshelf models to towers to subwoofers.

The best part of the 800 series?  They are equally at home in a top-end home theater as in your two-channel home stereo system in Eden Prairie. A great speaker does not have to be designed for music or movie soundtracks.  The ability to faithfully reproduce sound, from the quietest whisper of a voice to the deep thundering bass of a pipe organ, is the hallmark of a great speaker.

Read on to learn more about the B&W 800 series.

Earlier this year we were awarded the 2018 Electronic House Gold Award for Smart Home of the Year for our Modern Craft project. Rave reviews either from clients or industry experts always feel great, but they also give us an opportunity to showcase what makes us unique as home automation installers.

This project is an excellent example of how we take input from our clients and convert it into a custom smart home solution. How can this have an impact in your Woodbury, MN Home? Everything we discuss in this blog doesn't just apply to our award-winning homes: it's the approach we take for every project.

In the past, we’ve written about the many benefits of lighting control systems.  We’ve also written about Lutron, the acknowledged leader in lighting control, and some of its many features.  But Lutron has also done some exciting things to blend lighting with other home automation features. 

In this blog, we’d like to feature a couple of useful integration features that add convenience and a touch of luxury.  We’re big fans of Lutron’s flexibility and control options with lighting.  We’re also fans of Sonos, whose wireless speakers and Connect system brings a simple approach to whole home audio.  And we’re also fans of Amazon’s Alexa, for the power it brings to voice control.

Lutron is a fan of both too, and they have made it easy to control Sonos audio through their simple wireless remotes and keypads, as well as use your voice to control your lights through Alexa.  It can also make your home a little safer by working with Google’s Nest camera.

Read on to read more about some of Lutron’s many integration options. 

The home theater experience is as much about the sound as it is about the picture.  If you’re watching an action flick, you want to almost feel the crash of cars, or want to duck as bullets fly overhead.  Recent movies like “Gravity” feature sound to great effect, like the low bass background rumble from machinery running in the space station.  Older classics like “Saving Private Ryan” display the frightening full fury of war as shells explode and machine guns spray on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day.

Your home theater setup may have a traditional 5.1 surround sound speaker system or a full Dolby Atmos complement with 11 speakers, but one thing is certain: An expertly calibrated system can make even a modest setup sound better than a more expensive one.

How? Read on to learn more about the importance of sound system calibration for your Eden Prairie media room or theater.