The Better Homes & Gardens Innovation Home

February 19, 2016
Home innovation should solve real-life problems and make life better, focusing on the people, not simply the systems, inside. To demonstrate, we decided to build, furnish, and tech out our ideal house: the BHG Innovation Home. Check out these useful and accessible products and ideas.
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At Your Fingertips

Automated products for the home are becoming more common at the places you already shop. Home centers, appliance stores, and electronics stores carry all kinds of smart gizmos at all prices. The best part is you’ve got control literally in the palm of your hand. Whether you’re using a remote or an app on your smartphone, you can instantly communicate with your door locks, window coverings, thermostat, lightbulbs, and more. 

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Top 5 Design Features in the Innovation Home

There's a lot to love about the BHG Innovation Home, but we have a few favorite design features. See which ones we think are the best, and then decide on your own favorite features!

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Fresh Traditional

Classic elements get a fresh take -- from a bold blue front door and black mullioned windows to a porch with modern lines. Fiber cement siding and architectural trim from James Hardie stand up to extreme cold and heat. The siding’s smooth factory finish has a modern feel and is a clean backdrop for standing-seam metal roof accents from McElroy Metal. 

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Inside Our Innovation Home

There's so much to see inside the Innovation Home! Take a virtual tour through the home and get a preview of all this place has to offer.

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Good for Gathering

The great-room is arranged for catching up with friends and for family movie night. The Heat & Glo gas fireplace is operated by remote control and has instant ignition to cut down on gas usage. The web-connected TV from LG uses OLED (organic light-emitting diode) technology and features a curved screen designed to provide the best possible picture.

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On Display

Wall-to-wall floating walnut shelves on both sides of the fireplace offer the same usefulness as traditional built-ins but have a higher style score. French doors lead to the master suite.

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Kitchen Mix

The kitchen features custom cabinets from Plain & Fancy, including a raised walnut buffet built on to the end of the blue island and a freestanding dish hutch. Every bit of energy savings and convenience counts: The LG refrigerator reduces air loss with a special, see-through compartment; no more holding the door open. And cabinets are outfitted with LED strips that turn on when doors or drawers are opened.

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Backsplash Style

Glossy tiles -- basic subway tile in a herringbone pattern -- cover the entire wall behind the vent hood for a high-impact, low-maintenance backsplash. Drawers below the cooktop simplify food prep by putting pots and pans within easy reach.

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7 Ideas to Steal from Our Innovation Home

Loving that herringbone backsplash or the color scheme incorporated throughout the house? Take ideas from our Innovation Home and use them at your house!

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Hands-Free Convenience

Here’s a kitchen faucet you don’t have to touch with messy hands. Simply wave your hand under its arc to turn it on and off. 

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Bonus Space

An extension of the kitchen's style and function, the butler's pantry stores spare dinnerware and serves up beverages during parties.

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Convenient Dining

The dining room stays casual with furniture from Crate and Barrel: a round, modern table and chairs made from easy-care synthetic rattan. Lights and window shades can be programmed so that it looks like you’re home or could come home anytime.

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Indoor-Outdoor Connection

They look like French doors when closed, but these Pella doors leading to the screen porch are actually space-saving sliders with automated shades between the glass panes. Sensors on windows and doors let you know (via your phone and a lighted panel) if they’re open or even unlocked.

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Outside Interests

Wraparound steps provide a railing-free connection between the deck and the backyard. The PVC decking from Azek Building Products is especially resistant to stain, scratches, and extreme weather conditions.

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Comfy Bedroom

In the master bedroom, a Sleep Number mattress uses sensors and an app to analyze how you sleep. A room-darkening roller shade from Pella disappears behind a valance when it gets the order from a phone or a remote control. 

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Tech that Thinks For You

Relax and let your home do the thinking for you! More restful sleep, a better shower experience, and the perfect temperature settings are just a few of the things you can achieve without even thinking.

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The Top 5 Questions You Should Ask a Home Tech Expert

Get the answers to these pressing questions! If you don't think you're technologically savvy or if you're wondering how much all of this will cost, then tune in to learn more.

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Wall with Impact

A bumped-out wall in the master bedroom unites the TV, fireplace, and a walnut mantel in a low-profile, modern arrangement.

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Bathed in Light

In the master bath, the vanity “floats” within a surround of Cambria easy-care quartz-surfacing, and the medicine cabinet has a TV built into its mirrored doors. A touch screen near the tub lets you play music, sending sound waves through the bath water for a relaxing soak.

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Customized Shower

No on-off lever in this shower! A touch screen operates the showerheads, side sprays, and overhead sprays. This digital system from Kohler lets you controls water temperature and spray sequence with a programmed "playlist." You choose: energizing, relaxing, or your own mix.

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Loaded with Function

These appliances create a high-efficiency laundry room: A washer reduces wash time, and a heat pump dryer reuses the air it heats. 

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Office Arrangements

This home office stands out with creative furniture—like a desk that’s really a dining table and a guest chair in a zingy color. Two bookcases placed end to end provide storage and counter space.

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More than a Hallway

Give a hallway the same design attention as a room. Here, the top of the stairs includes a console table (with drawers for batteries, lightbulbs, and flashlights) and barn doors that dress up the guest room doorway.

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Open to Ideas

Clopay composite garage doors look like wood but won’t rot or warp. Their charcoal color was inspired by asphalt shingles with a wood-shake look from GAF.

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16 Cool Things from the Innovation House

See what all technology can do for safety, ease, and comfort within the home! You'll want to try these ideas and gadgets out in your own home, too.

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3 Things to Make Your House Innovative

Can't decide where to start? Here are three things you can do to take your home to a whole new innovation level!

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Partners and Sources

Get the Full Resource Guide

To create the BHG Innovation Home, we teamed with architect/builder Lakeside Development Co., interior decorator Lauren Liess & Co., kitchen and bath designer Janice Pattee Design, landscape designer Elements Design Studio, and these product manfacturers:

 Presenting partners

Azek Building Products

Clopay

James Hardie

Pella

Sleep Number

 

Contributors

Cambria

Crate and Barrel

GAF

Heat & Glo

Kohler

LG

McElroy Metal

Plain & Fancy

 

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