The last decade has ushered in a new era of consumer smart home technology products, services and applications that have revolutionised the way we live. Driven by increased connectivity through much larger residential internet speeds and the plug and play interfaces that are increasingly common, it has become possible to kit out every room in the home with smart tech capabilities that attend to our lifestyles in a way that is intuitive and influenced by everyday behaviours and requirements. Importantly, all of the functionality and innovations they deliver can be centrally managed from remote devices to ensure that we stay in control of every element of our homes even when we are not there.
It appears that the next phase of smart home products will build on our collective understanding and adoption to assume even greater functionality for our houses. This guide to smart home ideas for 2026 explores how they can work for different aspects of our lifestyles in the most valuable and efficient ways.
Living Room Lighting
One of the guiding principles of smart home technology has always been to unify the living experience across every space in a house. The majority of the elements this deals with begin in the living rooms and communal spaces that families share.
Smart lighting has advanced to recognise times of day, and external light levels to create the perfect ambient temperatures and moods within a home that correspond to activities taking place with the living rooms. The partnership of Lutron HomeWorks control systems and the Ketra architectural lighting technology is the gold standard combination for smart lighting. This can control windows, blinds and hundreds of lighting points that are automated based on sunlight, living patterns or chosen moods and scenes. All of which are beautifully designed with discreet installations that are equally effective through first-fit for new builds or restorations and renovations. One of the most exciting developments with Ketra is the circadian wellness it promotes to adapt to any seasonal changes in sunlight and nightfall. This can prove to be essential for any home working or increased time spent in the home during the late autumn and winter months.
Help in the Kitchen
Busy lifestyles can often have the biggest impact on how much time and resources are dedicated to food preparation and management for the family. Intelligent appliances that can help have been around for a little while now, but the next generation of products holds some very impressive technology that can take this assistance up to the next level.
The Miele Dialog Oven operates with a precision approach for every meal that would be impossible to replicate with older appliances. Its patented M Chef technology uses an entirely different cooking method that combines radio-frequency and microwave with convection and steam. This means it can monitor how much energy the food absorbs and automatically adjust time and temperature to prevent overcooking.
The FoodView built-in camera also stores a picture of when the food enters the oven, recognises what it is and automatically selects its own cooking program of mode and duration for the desired dish. This can also be augmented by specific recipe information that is sent to the appliance directly from your mobile device.
There are some impressive smart home options for family fridges too. The Samsung Bespoke AI Series 9 Smart Fridge is equipped with a voice activated feature for opening and closing when hands are full. And its AI Vision Inside cameras can recognise food items to track what goes in and out, integrating with any inventory or shopping lists for reordering. Similarly, the LG MoodUP Mutli-Door Fridge Freezer is built with LED door panels that offer over 1800 colour combinations to match the aesthetic and mood of the kitchen space. Its Instaview feature also works in a fascinating and intuitive way. The user knocks on the fridge two times to activate interior lighting and can see directly into the appliance without opening the door at all.
The Future of Bathrooms
Bathrooms have historically been somewhat overlooked in the smart home stakes. Beyond ambient lighting and shower controls there previously did not seem enough scope for innovation and advances in this part of the house. That all looks set to change with some genuinely transformative tech that has recently entered the market to bring spa-like experiences into consumer spaces.
The Kohler Stillness Infinity Bath offers an immersive bathing experience that almost feels like theatre. Water fills from the bottom without visible taps to a set depth that spills over the edges onto a wooden basin below in a style created to follow the tradition of Japanese hinoki soaking baths. A fog is also created over the water’s surface with an added aromatherapy module that infuses the mist with essential oils of one’s choosing. The Kohler Konnect app controls every element from fill level to lighting and scent with the option to save presets and scenes for different cases such as Recovery and Sleep Preparation.
Outside in the Open Air
Connecting the interior of our homes to the outside spaces and gardens has been a crucial part of architecture and design in the modern era. It makes sense that the smart home tech that has been so transformative should now be focused on these areas in a similar manner.
The Gardena Smart Irrigation Control and Sensor Set automates the watering and maintenance of all flower beds and lawns through a soil sensor. It works across any scale to support multiple zones for bespoke attention and can even incorporate weather data to act accordingly. As part of the wider Gardena network it can also integrate with robotic mowers for a full smart garden ecosystem that helps make even the most novice gardening hands into capable green fingers.
This brave new world of smart home technology has the potential to turn every chore and time-consuming role into an automated and seamless task. As it does so, it offers up new opportunities to install professional levels of assistance and experiences for every element of our lifestyle from wellness to watching movies. The age of doing less in our homes could ultimately begin to mean that we start to get a lot more from them.
