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The holiday season has finally arrived! Everyone’s ready to come to your Highland, Park IL home to celebrate, so what are you doing to prepare? Start off with some late spring cleaning and much-needed decorations. Then why not add some music to set the right ambiance? Through your whole house audio system, it's easy to get the party going with the right music selection. Keep reading to see how your home audio can get you through the holiday season.

SEE MORE: 5 Great Speaker Options for Your Whole House Audio

Get the Holiday Spirit Going

From a tap on your dedicated touchpad or smartphone, you can get your favorite Christmas carols playing throughout your home in a matter of seconds. Your whole house audio system gives you centralized control of all your favorite music. What does this mean when it comes to getting the ultimate holiday playlist going?

For one, it’s easy to choose from different audio sources. Start off with some of your favorite Christmas albums playing on the turntable then switch over to your “White Christmas” Pandora station. Once you know the music you want to play, it’s time to choose where you want it to go. You can have it play in just your dedicated game room or throughout your home.

Home theater design is all about creating the perfect environment for the images and sounds from your favorite movies to flourish. Every little corner of the room is taken into account to make sure your speakers, screens, and projector are given the necessary space to shine. When we're brought in on retrofit jobs to fix old DIY home theaters, we often come upon the same design mistakes that can result in blurred images, muffled sound and an uncomfortable viewing experience. Below we go over some of these common challenges and how we can help you overcome them.

SEE MORE: 4 Steps to Designing the Ultimate Home Theater System

1. Uncomfortable Seating Arrangements

As you begin work on your home theater system, you need to figure out how you want to use it. Will it be primarily used by the family? Then a communal couch where everyone can huddle together under a blanket may be the best option. If you’re going to use it with friends, it may be more comfortable if everyone has their own leather recliner. If you don’t consider this from the start, you may end up with an awkward arrangement that ruins the viewing experience.

2. Fitting All the Necessary Speakers

Making the winter bearable in Lake Forest, IL is all about being well prepared. Everyone knows to don a few more layers of clothes when they leave the house and makes sure their cars have the necessary snow tires. Now you can also use your home automation system to prepare your household for any weather. Through intuitive control of your technology, it’s easier to keep your family safe, comfortable and entertained this winter. A smart home helps you get through the dipping temperatures and darkening days with the following features:

SEE MORE: Host the Perfect Holiday Party With Smart Control

Stay Safe with Smart Lighting Solutions

Now that the days are getting darker, it's important to make sure your home is well-lit at all times. Schedule your lights to turn on as soon as the sun sets and turn off once the sun rises. You can also have lights linked to photo sensors to make sure landscape lighting is on as needed during inclement weather; photo sensors ensure artificial lights only go down when there's sufficient natural light available.

Snow, sleet, and ice can cause even the most experienced of Chicagoland residents to have nasty falls. Diminish the risks by having pathway lights on all the main walkways. Install motion sensors at the start of walkways so they light up as you walk past, making it easier for you to see if there are any wet patches up ahead.

You can experience further integration, control, and customization with the latest Control4 O.S. 2.9 software. Whether you want to personalize your user interface, add your preferred smart devices or literally tell your system what to do, it’s all possible with the home automation company’s latest upgrade. As your local Control4 dealers in Barrington, IL, we’d like to show you some of the coolest features revealed earlier this year at CEDIA 2016.

SEE MORE: Product Spotlight: A Look at Control4’s EA Series

Integration with Alexa Voice Control

Since it hit the mainstream market with a pair of Super Bowl commercials earlier this year, Amazon’s Alexa has become one of the most popular systems in the smart home market. Through voice commands, you can turn devices on and off or ask questions just like you would Siri on your iPhone. Now you can use those same voice commands in your home automation system.

Clients can access individual devices that are compatible with Amazon. Tell the lights to dim down or the thermostat to lower a few degrees. The coolest thing about the latest integration, though, is the ability to activate your Control4 smart scenes to manage multiple components at once. Say “Party On” and the lights change color and your pre-planned playlist begins playing.

As technology continues to evolve from the radio to today’s streaming devices, one thing has remained constant: no form of entertainment is more beneficial to your family than music. A combined study done by Sonos and Apple earlier this year found that families that listen to music are happier and spend more time together. Maybe that's why whole house audio solutions are some of the most popular in the smart technology market, even above security and custom theaters. Which is why it’s so important you have a system in place in your Winnetka, IL home that offers high-quality audio and convenient control.  

SEE MORE: 5 Great Speaker Options for Your Whole House Audio

Easy Control of Entertainment

The digital music era has made it easier than ever to find the music you want within a matter of seconds. Through media libraries or streaming services, you can have thousands of songs at your disposal on your desktop, laptop or tablet. Where many families are still falling behind is getting that music to play in high quality throughout their homes. Without an easy way to send those songs to their speakers, they’re stuck playing music on their mobile devices.

Whole house audio offers a comprehensive solution to this problem. We place all your speakers and source components under the same intuitive user interface. Using the control device of your choice—a touchpad, smartphone or tablet—you can choose the song you want and play it anywhere even if you're not in the same room. You can even select all your home's speakers at once, immediately filling your entire space with music. 

Discover how to fit the best home theater layout for an immersive entertainment experience!

When it comes to home theater design, like in real estate, it’s all about location, location, location. All of your high-end equipment needs the right environment to thrive in your Barrington, IL, home. From the type of flooring to the room dimensions, the space you choose will all affect the quality of the sound and images as well as the kind of equipment you’ll need. Read on to see the media room characteristics that could affect your home theater layout so you can enjoy the best performance.

Do you want to add a touch of luxury to your technology? Switching from remotes to elegant touchpads is the first step, but what if your home automation system went even further? Allow yourself more freedom and efficiency with hands-off control. We can create a custom solution that takes advantage of sensors, scheduled scenes and voice control to make life easier in your Wilmette, Illinois home. Read on to find out how each of these features contributes to your smart home. 

SEE MORE: 7 Ways to Go Green With Smart Home Technology

Sensors

How many times have you found yourself having to walk back to a room after realizing you left the light on? Eliminate the problem entirely by installing occupancy sensors in every room. Lights will turn on when you walk in then turn off after the room has been unoccupied for some time. You can also have certain appliances or electronics automatically turn off in unused rooms. In your outdoor spaces, get better surveillance footage by having lights turn on as soon as unwanted activity is detected. Have walkways light up as you walk past to eliminate tripping hazards.

The other type of sensors you should include in your home automation system are photo sensors. These sensors are placed on windows and react to the amount of natural light available. Help your thermostat cool down by having shades automatically close when hit by direct sunlight. You can also save energy by having artificial lights turn off when natural light is available.

One of the perks of using a Control4 dealer for your smart home needs is that your system can be custom-designed to include what matters most to you. You can choose to include lighting, security, AV, climate control, and more depending on your family’s needs. You can also decide how you want to incorporate that technology into your Lake Forest, IL home. While Control4 offers most of the software and hardware (from speakers to thermostats) needed for your smart home, it also gives you the opportunity to work with the brands you’ve come to love.

SEE MORE: Product Spotlight: A Look at the Control4 EA Series

What Companies Are Compatible With Control4?

Since the company was founded in 2003, Control4 has expanded its list of industry partners every year. They now work with the top brands in the HVAC, audio, video, and security industries to offer smart home solutions that include the best technology in the world. Among the official Control4 partners are Sony, Amazon, Lutron, Apple, McIntosh, and Nest. Anyone that wants to become a certified partner, can inquire on the company’s website.

How Does Control4 Make Partners Compatible?

Every family uses their whole home audio in a different way. Which is why it’s important to offer varied solutions, from the type of speakers that are being used to the preferred control devices. In this blog, we’ll go over some popular speaker options and their best applications. Depending on whether you’re looking to invest in a dedicated listening room or simply play background music when hosting friends, you’re going to have very different needs when it comes to your equipment.

SEE MORE: How to Upgrade your Outdoor Music System

Architectural Speakers

These speakers are very popular in modern luxury homes, as they offer high-fidelity sound without interfering with the interior décor. Architectural speakers are hidden within your wall or ceilings, sitting behind painted grills that camouflage with the rest of your home. These type of speakers offer wide dispersion, so you won’t hear a difference in sound when walking right by them, making them perfect for background audio in your living room or dining room.

Bookshelf/Cabinet Speakers

Your home theater is only going to be as good as the equipment in it. Which is why a big focus of your installation will be on finding the right speakers, screens, and projectors. But a lot more than that goes into crafting a comprehensive home theater design. Check out some features you should consider when upgrading the entertainment in your Winnetka, Illinois home.

SEE MORE 4 Steps to Designing the Ultimate Home Theater

Enhance Your Style With Hidden Technology

When you’re purchasing equipment, focus not just on its performance but also how it will fit into your overall design. Most AV manufacturers offer ‘hidden technology’ options that provide a discreet approach to your home theater. This way you can show off your style without losing any of the quality.

When it comes to your speakers, you can go with KEF in-wall and in-ceiling speakers. Get all the benefits of a Dolby Atmos surround sound setup while keeping your equipment hidden. Your screen is also easy to conceal. If you don't want it to be seen when your theater is not in use, invest in a retractable screen that disappears into the ceiling at the press of a button.