I see your point about the motion sensors, and your setup sounds pretty thoughtfully done. Still, I wonder if motion sensors might be a bit much for a living room specifically. I tried them briefly in mine, but even with careful placement, they felt intrusive after a while—especially during movie nights or quiet evenings. Having to adjust sensitivity or timeouts repeatedly became a bit tedious for me.
"setting a longer timeout helps avoid that awkward 'wave your arms to turn the lights back on' dance."
Haha, totally relatable—I did that dance more times than I'd like to admit. Eventually, I swapped the motion sensors out for smart switches with voice commands instead, and honestly, that felt like a smoother solution for our family. No waving required, and it still feels plenty automated without being overly sensitive to every movement. Might just depend on personal preference and lifestyle though...
Interesting take on the voice commands—I gave smart bulbs a shot in my living room, mainly because I liked the idea of adjusting color temperature depending on mood or activity. It was pretty neat at first, but honestly, after a few weeks I realized I rarely bothered changing the settings. Ended up leaving it mostly on one neutral shade anyway. Maybe I'm just lazy? Haha... but yeah, sometimes simpler really is better.
Interesting perspective, but have you tried setting up automated schedules instead of manually adjusting them each time? I found that manually changing colors or brightness got old pretty fast too, but once I set up routines—like warmer tones in the evening or brighter, cooler lights for mornings—it became genuinely useful. Maybe it's less about laziness and more about finding a setup that fits naturally into your daily habits... Did you experiment with automations at all?
- Totally agree with automations being a game changer—especially if you're particular about lighting moods.
- I've set up similar routines for clients, and honestly, most people underestimate how much lighting affects their daily comfort.
- One client initially resisted automations, thinking it'd be complicated or unnecessary, but after a week of scheduled warm evening lights, they couldn't imagine going back to manual adjustments.
- That said, automations aren't always perfect right out of the box... sometimes it takes a bit of tweaking to match your lifestyle exactly.
- If you haven't yet, give yourself permission to experiment and adjust as you go. It doesn't have to be perfect immediately—just comfortable and intuitive enough that you stop noticing it altogether.
"automations aren't always perfect right out of the box... sometimes it takes a bit of tweaking"
Yeah, learned this the hard way myself. First night with smart bulbs, I set up a "movie mode" that dimmed everything way too dark—ended up tripping over the coffee table trying to grab popcorn. Took a couple days of messing around before I found settings that actually matched my routine comfortably. Totally worth it though; now I barely even think about lighting anymore.
