Digital Home Accessories That Actually Look Cool

Digital Home Accessories That Actually Look Cool

Alexa, tell my coffee machine to make me some coffee. Alexa, please turn on my bluetooth speaker in the bathroom. Alexa, please cook me dinner… and make it good this time.

How great would it be if Alexa could actually cook you dinner? In theory that is possible because there are WiFi enabled microwaves that you can start with your Alexa or cell phone, so if you left a microwave dinner in there, already prepped, Alexa could cook it for you.

With the advent of home assistant systems like Alexa and the many competitors, we are finding ourselves filling our homes with various sleek looking modern appliances that all connect to your home assistant and keep your life running. But the question is, at what cost?

Now I know this is exactly how blog posts about AI taking over the world usually begin, but that’s not what we are here to discuss. I am here to pitch you a couple of ideas on how you can balance out all of your sleek and modern new appliances with some home technology that has more of a natural and rustic touch.

You don’t have to just accept that all new home technology is made of metal, chrome, and black or white plastic… there are plenty of options to choose from that are much more interesting and can add just the right subtle touch of character that your home deserves.

Bluetooth Speakers – Unfortunately the actual Alexas and other home assistants don’t come in very natural designs, they are usually white, grey, or black… however bluetooth speakers totally do. Next time you are on Amazon looking for a bluetooth speaker, stray a bit from the beaten path of crazy lights and high audio output, you don’t need it to blast the music, you have a sound bar for that. Amazon offers a variety of really cool looking vintage speakers, some of which are even encased in a delightful wooden body. You can even find bluetooth capable record players that not only look vintage and amazing BUT ALSO PLAY REAL RECORDS. You could probably even hook it up to Alexa with bluetooth and ask her to play you a record… now that’s a confusing idea.

Charging Cables – You may not have considered this, but if you think about it for a second, you probably have tons of white or black cables just hanging around all of the outlets all over your house. Most of the time these cables are not very pleasant to look at, and just look like exposed wiring if anything. I’m sure you know they sell those in many colors, but did you know that they sell them in a leather casing (check out Buko)? That’s right! You can find charging cables both for Apple and micro-USB that are cased in leather or nice fabric that looks much more pleasant than the ugly white or black rubber.

Wireless Chargers – Maybe you’ve moved on from cables, you are a modern person with modern devices that can charge wirelessly… great! But now you have a bunch of white or black plastic circles sitting all around your nightstand and desk looking ugly and breaking up your nice natural wooden vibe. If you jump out to this company’s website you will find an assortment of amazing wireless chargers cased in real wood with an accent of beautiful colored resin.

This is not nearly exhaustive list of tech that comes in gorgeous natural accents, but hopefully it is just enough to spark your imagination and send you on a path of more creative and selective decision making when it comes to your home technology.

Alexa, find me a vintage bluetooth speaker!