Ideas for house for single 40 year old

Ive some generalised questions about smart features and what sorts of things devices like google home or alexa can do.

If I had a big tv with a soundbar, could i use voice commands to play a music video or movie through it, and raise or lower the volume?

Could i turn on and off the lights, or change the brightness or colours, or switch off big lights leaving mood lighting on, with voice commands?

What if Im in the bedroom and want to play music in the bedroom, how does the alexa/google home device hear me- do you have multiple devices? Can it play music to a device in a different room?

Can i use motion sensors for the lights in conjunction with other settings? For example i might want the living room dark whilst sitting watching tv but if i stand up i want the lights up a bit?

What if i want the lights on full blast, for example if im doing something like working on the bike that needs full brightness?

If i had an outside security camera can i bring up its feed on the tv? Using voice commands?

Ive never used this stuff and dont know how smart they really are. Smart is no good if it takes 2 minutes to get the lights up full for example by needing to log in to an app on my phone.
 
The answer to all of your questions is yes. I do pretty much everything that you are asking about, routinely.
Everything that you want to do is reasonably easy with Hue / Alexa / Google Home / Harmony / Sonos / Smartplugs / CCTV of your choice.
,Alexa - Movie Time’ in my cinema room, turns on the TV, AV Amp, BlueRay Player, Sets the bias lighting to blue and slow dims the ceiling lighting from 100% to 0% over a minute so that I can put a Blu Ray in and sit down. Once I have sat down ‘Alexa - Play Blu Ray’ and the movie comes on. ‘Alexa Cinema Volume xx’ sets the volume level. ‘Alexa -CCTV’ changes the input on my TV to CCTV so I can check my cameras, which is useful when the doorbell rings as my cinema room is on the second floor.
 
3 bedroom detached,

I just turned the smaller bedroom into the games room, with a massive 900mm oak breakfast bar about 3m long :)

Rest of the house is minimalist, not for everyone but I hate having large amount of knick knacks hanging around, looks soulless to a point but i spend more time in the spare room :)
 
SimonR said:
The answer to all of your questions is yes. I do pretty much everything that you are asking about, routinely.
Everything that you want to do is reasonably easy with Hue / Alexa / Google Home / Harmony / Sonos / Smartplugs / CCTV of your choice.
,Alexa - Movie Time’ in my cinema room, turns on the TV, AV Amp, BlueRay Player, Sets the bias lighting to blue and slow dims the ceiling lighting from 100% to 0% over a minute so that I can put a Blu Ray in and sit down. Once I have sat down ‘Alexa - Play Blu Ray’ and the movie comes on. ‘Alexa Cinema Volume xx’ sets the volume level. ‘Alexa -CCTV’ changes the input on my TV to CCTV so I can check my cameras, which is useful when the doorbell rings as my cinema room is on the second floor.
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To get that functionality do you have to spend a lot more on the tech though? For example, Sonos is expensive - what if i had a budget (£100) soundbar or a budget big tv (£500) and stream movies from my NAS? Does it all work then?

Do you have more than one Alexa so it can hear you upstairs?
 
Yes I have 3 Echo dots, one on each floor. Yes technology costs, but I built mine up over time. I use HEOS rather than Sonos, as I have a couple of Denon AV Amps and a Heos Cinema and I wanted to integrate it all.
My Cinema room TV is controlled by my Harmony Hub which runs through Alexa so I can use either the remote or Alexa. The Harmony hub will Control most devices.
My Hik CCTV is viewed on a little android box, on Hdmi 3.
Honestly I would just buy a key piece of hardware, like a decent TV then add stuff but by bit. I honestly think with the budget that you mention, you maybe hard pressed to get that ultra cool man cave look, all at once,unless you are happy to buy some second hand gear that is a year or two old, but was high end when new. E.g. you can get a 2 year old 55” KS7000 for £500 which is still a brilliant TV with PQ as good as many current models.
 
Yeah it would be gradual, but I think i at least need an initial outline vision of the finished article or ill end up with a hodgepodge of stuff that doesnt integrate.

Im doing a lot of reading on smart tech but there is so much of it by different manufacturers its hard to know what is available and what is the core stuff needed.
 
danlightbulb said:
Hi all.

Nearly 40, divorced, and about to be able to get on the property ladder again.

Im just wondering what sort of thing to go for though.

I could just go for a 'nice' traditional house. Or I could try and get something which can be more of a bachelor pad / man cave with the hope of having some parties etc and making the 2nd half of my life more fun.

Problem is I:
a) feel a bit silly and immature for thinking this way at nearly 40.

b) dont really know what a bachelor pad would look like if i was to try and build/buy one.

c) worried I could go to all this trouble and find I struggle to get people over to enjoy it with me.

My initial thoughts are id need a house with at least two living rooms, so that one can be a man cave / cinema / tech room and one can be more traditional. I would have liked a proper basement but houses with these are very rare where I live.

Im reasonable at DIY having installed my own kitchens and bathrooms in the past, so would be able to modernise a house fairly well over a period of time whilst living in it.

Id appreciate any ideas you all have on the subject.

Thanks.
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You want to buy a house so you can have parties in it with random people?

Do you have any friends? Are they the type to want to do this type of thing?

Most people like to go out to a bar than drink at home.

For your budget a man cave is out the question imo. A man cave to me has to have a large sofa or two, a massive projector set up with Dolby atmos set up. A selection of consoles and at least 1 gaming pc. A pool table which can double up as a poker table with a cover.

This requires at minimum a double garage which can be converted IMO.

A pool table requires a lot of space it's not just about the table but all the space around it to play. In a single garage all you could fit is a pool table and that is it.

I reckon you would need double your house budget for a proper man cave then at least £10k to spend on the stuff to go in it.
 
Psycho Sonny said:
Since when is decking low maintenance? Unless it's made of plastic.
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Yeah i want a big as possible garden anyway, i enjoy hard landscaping.

Away from smart tech and back to room layouts if i may.

Many of the perfect living rooms you see on google are ideally shaped for a big tv against the wall, square on sofa, doors in perfect spots, no fireplaces.

A living room in a 3 bed house in the uk is unlikely to be that way. How do you deal with this? If the longest wall has the fireplace in the middle and the door opposite, and a bay window at the one end and another door at the other end, where does your tv go?
 
Psycho Sonny said:
You want to buy a house so you can have parties in it with random people?

Do you have any friends? Are they the type to want to do this type of thing?

Most people like to go out to a bar than drink at home.

For your budget a man cave is out the question imo. A man cave to me has to have a large sofa or two, a massive projector set up with Dolby atmos set up. A selection of consoles and at least 1 gaming pc. A pool table which can double up as a poker table with a cover.

This requires at minimum a double garage which can be converted IMO.

A pool table requires a lot of space it's not just about the table but all the space around it to play. In a single garage all you could fit is a pool table and that is it.

I reckon you would need double your house budget for a proper man cave then at least £10k to spend on the stuff to go in it.
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Yep agree with you. Further up the thread i conceded the best ill probably get is a few friends round for a poker night occasionally. Still, Id like to do the best I can with the budget I have, without it being tacky.
 
danlightbulb said:
Yep agree with you. Further up the thread i conceded the best ill probably get is a few friends round for a poker night occasionally. Still, Id like to do the best I can with the budget I have, without it being tacky.
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You looking for a proper poker table? Or just going to use a dining table and a felt removable top?

I know someone that had one made in America and shipped over the price was insane but it's the best I've ever seen.
 
Psycho Sonny said:
You looking for a proper poker table? Or just going to use a dining table and a felt removable top?

I know someone that had one made in America and shipped over the price was insane but it's the best I've ever seen.
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A folding one that goes on the table Id imagine. Not gonna have room for a permanent one, Id rather a pool table if I had space like that.
 
Psycho Sonny said:
In order to reduce reflection I'd put it in front of the window.

Reflection is what really annoys me on tv's. It's due to light from the front of the tv hitting off it. Otherwise you will need black out blinds and use them all day long.
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Would look terrible having 65" tv blocking the window.

Cant put it on the stairwell wall because then youve got your back to the fireplace.

Would look cramped up in the alcove to the right of the fire and your sofa would be perpendicular to the window as well.

Just cant see how it can be done tastefully.
 
danlightbulb said:
Would look terrible having 65" tv blocking the window.

Cant put it on the stairwell wall because then youve got your back to the fireplace.

Would look cramped up in the alcove to the right of the fire and your sofa would be perpendicular to the window as well.

Just cant see how it can be done tastefully.
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That's why large tv's only look good in large homes.

The rooms are so big that you can have windows on 2 walls yet no reflection on the screen.

The other solution would be in the corner where the window is and angle it away from the window.

Then you can have a corner sofa across from it.
 
chroniclard said:
Brick up the fireplace.
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Its nice to have a fireplace though.

Psycho Sonny said:
That's why large tv's only look good in large homes.

The rooms are so big that you can have windows on 2 walls yet no reflection on the screen.

The other solution would be in the corner where the window is and angle it away from the window.

Then you can have a corner sofa across from it.
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Corner would look naff as well, big tv would have a lot of wasted space behind. Also at the right viewing distance i bet the end of the corner sofa would be smack central to the fireplace lol.

Not gonna be easy this. Im gonna need a fairly big house thats more of a do-er-up-er for my budget.
 
danlightbulb said:
How would you layout a 65" tv system in a living room such as this one:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/s6p/57903627
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Put it on the wall where the flowers are adjacent to the fireplace (wall mount straight on with articulated bracket). Personally I'd see that fireplace replaced with something better looking also.

Have a corner sofa by stairs and additional chairs if need be.

Seems odd there's no void/opening beneath stairs?
 
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