Get in the Christmas spirit by setting a welcoming scene in your smart home

This is the season when we tend to spend much more time indoors with our families – we like to gather with friends, watching festive films and chatting and laughing together on the sofa, perhaps with a little warm mulled wine and some tasty treats.

At this time of year, when the sun sets so early, it’s all the more important to brighten up our homes and maybe even add a few extra cosy touches to lift our spirits. Smart homes offer all kinds of possibilities when it comes to lighting, so let’s take a closer look at some of them!

Set a smart scene to switch on the lights

After working all day, the last thing you want is to come home to gloomy darkness. Why not give yourself a warm festive welcome instead by installing an opening detector on your front door that activates a smart scene as soon as you open it? This will make sure selected lights come on automatically – maybe some cheerful and colourful fairy lights connected to a smart plug. You can also set it to draw the curtains in your living room, turn on any lamps in your windows and get your Sonos speaker to start playing a few yuletide tunes at a comfortable volume.

You can even get your smart scene to turn on your heating, or programme it to make sure it gets up to just the right temperature by the time you walk in the door. It’s the little things like this that make your home a bit more inviting after a long day at work – and most of these things are possible with a smart home and a TaHoma smart switch from Somfy.

Conjure up a cosy Christmas mood with your voice

We all know that smart homes offer lots of great features, and one of these is the option to control your smart home system using a voice assistant. Set up smart scenes for different situations, such as when you’re chilling out on the sofa with your family and want to get your festive film night underway, or entertain yourselves with party games – just ask Google, Alexa or Siri to switch on the right scene!

And that’s not all – voice assistants can help you out in other ways too, like by answering your questions, telling you the time or the weather forecast or playing your favourite music.

Just remember to blow out any candles you’ve lit before going to bed or when you leave home in the morning!