Our new house is a blank slate, but we'll be adding and testing new smart home tech in here every week. Here's what we're starting with.
For the past two years, the CNET Appliances team has been testing and reviewing smart home gadgets at our Louisville, Kentucky office and in our own homes. That's about to change, with the launch of the CNET Smart Home: a 5,800 square foot house on an acre lot where we can test products in a realistic and controlled environment. Click through to take a tour of the new place!
From the front, the CNET Smart Home looks like any other house on the street. It's a two-story home with a roomy yard and an attached garage.
There's plenty of space in that two-car garage -- moving forward, we'll be testing out connected car tech and smart garage door systems here.
The back yard comes complete with a swimming pool, a sizable garden and plenty of shade.
Does it make sense to swap that grill out with a connected model? That's the sort of thing we're looking forward to testing out.
Here's the main entry and living room, just inside the front door.
Soon, we'll begin the process of filling this place with furniture, appliances, and, of course, smart home tech.
Here's the dining room -- that overhead lamp is just begging for some smart bulbs, don't you think?
Towards the back of the house, you have this little nook just off of the kitchen, with access to the back yard and a doorway that leads down to the basement.
And here's the kitchen -- lots and lots of space for connected cooking gear in here, and plenty of overhead lighting, too.
The kitchen connects to this family room with a gas fireplace front and center.
This double door leads out to the back.
There's a laundry room downstairs, as well. Are smart washers and dryers worth the splurge? We'll find out.
Here's the landing area at the top of the stairs, with doors that lead into a kids' bedroom, a game room, a master bedroom, and a bathroom.
Here's the master bedroom, complete with vaulted ceiling. No bed yet, though.
There's another private bathroom connected to the master bedroom.
As bathrooms go, it's definitely on the classy side -- we're curious to test out smart bathroom tech like Wi-Fi-enabled scales, interactive mirrors, and automated lighting.
Down in the basement, you'll find plenty of storage space and a couple of extra rooms. We've got plans to build a smart home dream theater down here -- stay tuned for more details on that project.
There's also a bar area -- believe it or not, we've already tested a couple of smart booze gadgets for making homebrew and cocktails.
Here's the view from the basement bar. It's a cozy spot for entertaining guests.
The property is a bit hilly, so there's another door down here in the basement leading out to the side of the house.