cabarita

For this Cabarita couple, a smart home is all about equipment that not only allows enjoyment of audio and visual at the touch of a button, but is also visually unobtrusive in their home. “We requested no clutter or equipment/speakers in order to maximise our floor space and complement the open style of our house,” explains homeowner Terry. “We didn’t want speakers taking up floor space — having no floor-standing or wall-mounted speakers enhances our living space. “We also liked the idea of being able to control systems remotely by remote control, iPhone and iPad via Control4. We envisaged an environment where audio-visual was integrated in the home with minimal impact, yet offered flexibility of media sources.”

The home is occupied by Terry and his wife, but spare rooms are often used by guests. “Our home is great for entertaining and when guests stay they can watch or listen to their choice of different media in individual rooms.” All equipment, apart from the televisions, is out of sight. There is just one centralised communications rack in the storeroom, with no audio-visual equipment (except a turntable) visible in any of the rooms. Televisions are wall mounted in five rooms (two guest bedrooms, office, garage, bar room and main bedroom), with a motorised ceiling-mounted TV lift in the main bedroom which conceals the TV into the ceiling cavity when it isn’t in use. Terry and his wife also required outdoor sound to two areas — the main living room balcony and alfresco bar/barbecue/pool area — and all speakers for these spaces are either flush wall-mounted or in-ceiling. Terry cites the bar, barbecue and pool area as being his favourite space.

A visit to and demonstrations at Life Style Store in North Parramatta provided Terry and his wife with the inspiration they needed to make their smart home dream a reality. “We would definitely recommend Life Style Store,” says Terry. “The job was carried out without any problems. The team was very professional and when an amp stopped working it was replaced without fuss — Life Style Store was able to attend to these issues promptly. “I think that in today’s world there is so much entertainment done around audio-visual that to have this available at home at the touch of a remote control adds to our enjoyment of audio and visual.”