It was a little over a month ago that I rocked my girlfriend's world The more time we spent at her house, the more I began to notice time-consuming habits that could be eliminated For example, she always had to jump out of bed and manually turn off the lights just as we were relaxing As someone who makes a living testing the best smart plugs and smart home hubs, this was not acceptable

After taking mental notes, I've been gradually upgrading her bedroom with the best smart home devices My goal was simple: streamline her daily routine from the time she wakes up to the time she puts her head on the pillow at night I wanted to make it as quick and easy as possible while keeping the total cost under $100

Her new smart bedroom wakes her up each morning with gradually changing lighting and her favorite Lana Del Rey song But more than that, it warms her bed, turns on the TV, and notifies her if there is smoke Read on to find out how she uses it

I had to start from scratch because this bedroom was dumb on top of everything else The first gadget I bought was an Echo Dot, which was $35 on sale It's one of the best smart speakers out there and the perfect foundation to serve as my daily command center My girlfriend usually used her iPhone for alarms, her laptop for commuting information, and YouTube on her Roku TV for music and nightly green noise By adding this little sphere to her desk, she can now use all of these devices for other things Now she can wake up to a daily briefing, control all her smart home devices, and listen to white noise before bed

As a music geek, she was amazed by the room-filling sound of the high-quality audio connected to her Apple Music account More than that, she now receives vitamin reminders via push notifications on her phone, sets her morning alarm to her favorite music, and automatically receives traffic and weather information Best of all, she can control her new smart devices with just her voice One of those gadgets is her new smart plug

Existing pluggable devices can be made smart by connecting them to the smart plug and then to the wall The device connects to Wi-Fi so you can set schedules and remotely control connected appliances while you're out and about I chose these two Kasa plugs for the string lights above her mirror and the heating pad for her bed Once the lights are plugged into the smart plugs, she can turn them on and off with her voice I also taught her how to automate the process with routines We turn the lights on weeknights between 8:00 and 11:00 pm, depending on when she goes to bed

I like to tease her for still wearing her blankie at 25, but she knows how to make her room cozy One way she does so is by preheating her bed with a heating pad The pad is connected to a smart plug so she can turn it on when she leaves for work or for dinner, even if she is not home You can imagine how revolutionary this is for her, who calls her bed her "resting room" The two smart plugs cost only $15, bringing the total so far to $50 With a little more room in my budget, I bought a few smart bulbs for my main light fixtures

The main light sources in this room are two small bulbs built into the ceiling fan Most light fixtures are compatible with A19 bulbs, but we ran into a niche case where we needed a smaller mouthpiece for the Candelborough connector; we had never heard of the brand Lightinginside, but took the plunge and so far have been I am impressed I used the app to connect to her Wi-Fi network and linked it to my Alexa account Now, from the Alexa app, she can wind down for nighttime, gradually increasing the brightness in the morning to gently wake her up with a natural sunrise effect, and gradually decreasing the brightness in her night routine before bed Additionally, the color can be changed for mood lighting

To automate existing light fixtures, simply replace the bulbs or replace existing wall switches with smart light switches Switches are a great option when there are multiple overhead lights, such as in a kitchen or living room In addition, the switch can automate fan control, and some switches detect movement and automatically turn lights on when you enter a room and off when you leave

Luckily, my girlfriend already had a Roku Smart TV; if you have a Roku TV, you can simply add the Roku skill to your Alexa account and control it with your phone or voice After a long day's work, it's nice to jump into bed and have the TV come on and off by itself while you're relaxing Since her cheap Insignia Roku TV doesn't have a voice controller, this was a godsend for locating specific movies and videos

With just $20 to spare, we upgraded her existing smoke detector to a smart one Now she can know when smoke is detected in her room even when she is away from home If you're not sure about buying a new smoke detector for your current smoke detector, please visit then here are three ways to make your current smoke detector smarter Here is what my girlfriend had to say after installing all these upgrades

"I am very particular about my room because it is a cozy space, but making it "smart" has taken it to an even better level than before I didn't realize how much easier life would be, especially with the smart lights Now I no longer have to worry about whether I left the lights on or get up to turn them off before bed

Furthermore, I have always wanted an Alexa smart speaker that could play music while I was getting ready, and I am happy with the great sound of the Echo Dot Truth be told, I had no idea what a smart plug was Now I feel like I could use at least three more to control my salt lamp, aroma diffuser, desk light, etc I also enjoyed playing around with the app and learning about all the cool different things you can do with Alexa"

Adding a smart home device to her girlfriend's bedroom has saved her valuable time each day She is already planning further automation, including replacing fabric blinds with smart blinds It doesn't take a huge amount of time and effort to get started