Architectural Electronics, dba SimpleHome, a pioneer in smart home technology, proudly marks its 50th anniversary, celebrating five decades of innovation, reliability, and a commitment to the luxury design community.

Founded in 1973, SimpleHome quickly became a leader in the luxury home electronics industry, providing high-quality alarm systems at a time when most were unreliable. By the mid-1980s, the company had transformed alongside technological advancements, providing every type of home electronics to the luxury residential market and specialty tech to restaurants and corporate boardrooms.

At SimpleHome, the ethos is clear – to create living spaces that are functional, aesthetic, and simple. From basic WiFi speakers, thermostats, and cams to the sophisticated technologies of Circadian lighting, Lutron motorized shades, and air and water monitoring systems, SimpleHome is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for its customers.

"We've spent 50 years understanding what people need and how to make it hassle-free. Our focus has always been on reliability and ease of use," says Brad Smith, Chief Performance Officer and Principal. "At SimpleHome, we are truly committed to keeping it simple and reliable while still providing the fun and luxury you expect in a quality home.”

Key highlights of SimpleHome's 50-year journey include:

The holidays will arrive in no time at all, and we’ll be entertaining family and friends. Is your home ready? We love the festive spirit of the season here at AVD, and recommend two ways to prepare your home and welcome guests: set the mood with music and lighting.

The Sounds of Music

Music is a must for any kind of entertaining, and especially so at the holidays. With multiple streaming music services and many state-of-the-art products available, any and all musical tastes are easily shared with family and friends. There are so many services and platforms on which to curate playlists or simply listen to your holiday favorites. We like TuneIn for local radio broadcast stations via the Internet. We also like the iHeart Radio app. Perennial favorite Pandora was one of the early streaming music providers, which uses a complex algorithm to mix your favorite songs- essentially being your personal DJ. We enjoy Slacker Radio for a similar experience – all free but you can upgrade to more robust paid versions. Of course we’re fans of subscription-based Spotify and Tidal that give users access to millions of songs on-demand via their digital services, along with curated playlists.

What we like about Tidal is the option of a high-resolution audio subscription that works well with our compatible high definition audio products. These will bring you Destiny’s Child singing “Apple Pie A La Mode,” Gene Autry singing “Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” the Trans-Siberian Orchestra playing “Christmas Eve/Sarajevo,” or Adam Sandler’s “The Hanukkah Song” in a clarity not experienced previously. Most any song can be added to your streaming playlist, all you need to use is your imagination.

We know these services and platforms can be confusing, which is why our expert design team can guide you through the myriad of choices. We will make recommendations based on your objectives and balanced against your budget. All platforms and services work with many products, but we have our favorites, and give priority to best-in-class products that offer ease-of-use and excellent performance. And, like high definition video products (think 4K televisions), music technology keeps pushing the envelope for the best sound possible.

Back in 1977 when Debby Boone sang “You Light Up My Life” few realized that automated lighting would revolutionize the home technology industry. The benefits of automated lighting include convenience, security and aesthetics that enhance the way we live in our homes today. And don’t forget the bonus of energy savings!

The Convenience of Automated Lighting

Press a button and house lights dim or set a welcome home scene where the lights come on as you open the door. Today’s lights offer control from anywhere, and the ability to program them to turn on or off at specific times, depending on the time of day, time of year or occupancy. You can program fixtures in one room or the entire house with platforms from Lutron or Vantage. AVD works with both companies to complement your decor and lifestyle. Control your lighting at home with an app on your smart phone or tablet, or from a keypad on the wall.

We know that lighting has a profound impact on the feel of a space and our overall health and well-being. The right illumination can be custom tailored to your needs – lighting for tasks, relaxation or to spotlight artwork and collections. Owners of multiple residences love the convenience of lighting control systems.

With modern lighting innovations it can be challenging to know how to get what you want. The Audio Video Design team members are experts in lighting design. For homeowners, we can collaborate with your architect, builder and interior designer. For design professionals, we will collaborate with you and your client to ensure you have the products you need to attain the goals of the project.

The bottom line is that today’s automated lighting is easy to use once professionals design and install the system that works best for your home or your client’s home.

Audio Video Design won a 2018 Gold EM NARI CotY Award for Residential Specialty Interior for their Penthouse Perspective project. The Evening of Excellence for the 2018 Contractor of the Year (CotY) Awards was held at the Clarke Showroom in Milford on March 28, 2018.

A two-career couple with a young family benefits from automation to make their home run smoothly. With a control system tying all of the electronics together, the net result is a smart home that needs minimal intervention to operate multiple TVs and distributed music, security, HVAC, lighting and shade control. Audio Video Design provided the latest technology to make living in a luxury building comfortable, safe and fun.

Photography by Greg Premru; Interior Design by Spring Hill Designs; Builder: Sea-Dar Construction (original work done by Woodmeister Master Builders).

Enjoying the last lazy, hazy days of summer? Before you know it, Autumn will be here with football, school and falling leaves. We want you to be ready for what’s ahead with these suggestions for home technology in lighting, window treatments, WiFi and speakers, and finally home networks for computers.

As the weather turns cooler and the days begin to shorten, you can use your automated window treatments to keep the heat in – opposite of summer months when you use shading to keep the heat out and prevent furniture from fading. If you have one of our automated lighting systems with the atomic clock feature, your lights will automatically turn on earlier and adjust when Day Light Saving Time ends on Sunday, November 4th.

Did you know that switching to LED lighting will lower your electric bills? They last much longer and run cooler than other types of bulbs.  LEDs offer great illumination for tasks like cooking and homework. Most programmable lighting platforms have many options for dimming and a variety of colors, too.  So LEDs are cool in more ways than one! Visit the AVD Experience Center and play with our array of lighting solutions.

Turn up the volume: Speakers and WiFi

As your Boston leader in home automation and smart home solutions, AVD is redefining what it means to work smart right here at our Westwood headquarters! In the past year, we’ve taken bold steps to change the way we work. By focusing on better, not bigger, we’ve saved space, reduced waste, empowered our employees to work more efficiently, and enriched our customer experience here in Westwood. Curious how we’ve done it? Read on!

A Digital Leader Ditches Paper

An industry-leading home electronics company going digital? It makes sense to us! Over the past year, AVD has become a paperless workplace. By converting all of our documents and records to digital, we’ve realized twofold benefits. First, we’ve eliminated the need for dozens of file cabinets and bankers’ boxes, reclaiming that square footage for a more valuable purpose. Second, by going digital, we’ve greatly reduced our company’s paper waste. Whenever we’re in a position to help the environment, that’s something everyone here can get behind.

Thinking (and Working) Outside the Box

AVD employees increasingly take advantage of flex work and telecommuting options on the job. In addition to facilitating a healthy work-life balance for our team members, this sort of flexibility in scheduling has allowed us to combine and reduce employee workspaces here at headquarters. Gone are the accounting bunkers and cavernous warehouses of old. Through remote work and Just-in-Time ordering, we’ve reduced our accounting and warehousing footprint by half. So, who’s benefitting from all this streamlining? We’re glad you asked!

Winning Big by Thinking Small.

By going paperless and streamlining our accounting and warehousing operations, AVD is now operating more efficiently than ever. With all the resources and space we’re now saving, we’ve been able to give back. Not only are we producing less waste, which is better for our planet, but we’ve been able to donate 30 filing cabinets to a local police station and contribute office desks and chairs to a customer’s start-up. Perhaps the biggest winner, though, is the AVD customer. Thanks to our reduced footprint, we’ve expanded and enhanced our Westwood Experience Center. Here, customers and those who advise them—architects, designers, and builders—can immerse themselves in the technologies and systems we offer. At the Experience Center, customers can see, hear, and touch our full range of products. Hidden TV’s, automated lighting and shading, incomparable speakers, home theater fixtures, and more: everything is on display. In reducing and reimagining our workspaces, we’ve EXPANDED our customer experience. As far as we’re concerned, there’s NOTHING smarter than that!

The Right Choices Can Make or Break Your Viewing Experience

Seating is a vital element in home theater design. Generally, homeowners spend hours researching the best audio-video solutions and overlook the comfortability of their media room. As a result, audio-video components are not the only factor in creating the ultimate home theater experience.

Like any other room in your home, a home theater only adds value if you want to spend time there. Not only should technology be top-flight, but the room should also be comfortable, suit the way you live, and reflect your style. The proper seating for your home theater will ensure not only that you have the best vantage point for viewing, but it will create a space that you want to unwind in. Below, we offer insight into planning your home theater and how to select the best seating.

Functionality

What Key Functionalities Should My Home Theater Include?