2 Weeks Smart Home Transformation
Inside a Tembusu Grand Smart Home Project
One month to renovate. About two weeks for us to transform it into a smart home.
That was the timeline we were working with for this Tembusu Grand project.
The homeowner already had renovation works moving quickly, which meant our smart home planning could not happen in isolation. Lighting, switches, wiring, device placement, renovation sequencing and automation all had to come together within a fairly tight window.
And as with most renovation projects, the original plan did not stay the original plan for very long.
Some lighting requirements changed. Device quantities changed. The renovation schedule evolved. New constraints appeared on-site.
Here is how we worked through it.
01 — It Started With a Floor Plan
Every smart home project has to start somewhere.
For some homeowners, that means an empty floor plan.
For others, their interior designer has already worked out the lighting, switches and furniture placement.
In this case, the first step was understanding the floor plan and using it to map out how the home could be made smarter.
We looked at each area individually and started planning around questions such as:
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What should happen when the homeowner comes home?
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Which lights should be controlled together?
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Where would smart switches make the biggest difference?
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Which areas might benefit from sensors or automations?
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Which controls should remain simple and manual?
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How should different spaces behave at different times of the day?
From there, we prepared an initial proposal covering the products, controls and smart home possibilities we felt suited the space.
But that proposal was never meant to be the final answer.
A smart home should not begin with asking:
“How many smart devices can we fit inside?”
It should begin with:
“What would actually make living here better?”
Floor Plan → Initial Smart Plan → Refined Proposal
From Proposal to Real-Life Experience
Once the initial planning was done, we invited the homeowner to our flagship experience centre.
Seeing a proposal on paper is one thing. Actually trying the switches, lighting, controls and different smart home experiences makes the decisions much easier.
It also leads to one very common realisation:
The first proposal may contain more than you actually need.
That is completely normal.
During the consultation, we went through the plan again together, understood her daily habits more clearly, and separated the features that would genuinely improve her routine from the ones that were simply nice to have.
Items were adjusted. Some were removed. Others became more important once she experienced them physically. The goal was not to preserve the original quotation.
The goal was to arrive at the right combination of functionality, experience and budget for the homeowner.
A smarter home does not always mean more smart devices.
Sometimes, good smart home planning is knowing what to leave out.
02 — Then We Took the Plan On-Site
A floor plan tells us what should happen.
The actual renovation site tells us what can happen.
That is why we intentionally arranged the site visit around the electrical wiring phase.
This is one of the most useful periods for smart home coordination because the electrician, interior designer and smart home team can still respond to changes before the electrical work progresses too far.
During the visit, we reviewed the actual wiring and installation conditions against our original plan.
Some of the key areas included:
Neutral Wiring
Many smart switches and controls require the correct electrical provision behind them.
Checking the wiring early gave us a clearer picture of which smart controls could be implemented as planned and where changes might be needed.
Two-Way Switching
Traditional two-way switching arrangements can affect how smart switches or interconnected controls are planned.
Rather than simply replacing switches one-for-one, we had to understand how the homeowner wanted each area to behave and decide the most practical control approach.
Power Points and Actual Site Conditions
A drawing may suggest one thing. The constructed home may reveal something else.
Power points, furniture positions, ceiling conditions and wiring routes can all influence the final setup.
Lighting and Switch Placement
This was also an opportunity to confirm whether the proposed lighting and controls still made sense now that the physical space was easier to understand.
One Home, Different Needs
This project also reinforced something we regularly see in smart home planning:
Not every area of the home needs the same solution.
Different spaces were planned around different functions.
The living room needed flexible lighting and convenient scene control.
The bedroom needed more independent behaviour.
Transition areas needed to support movement through the home.
Other areas benefited from straightforward controls rather than unnecessary automation.
Where appropriate, this also meant working across different smart home products and brands rather than forcing every requirement into one ecosystem purely for the sake of uniformity.
The goal was not: One brand everywhere.
The goal was: One home that works together.
Layered lighting + scene control
Practical lighting + movement-based use
Independent lighting + bedtime routines
Centralised controls + automation
03 — And Of Course… Plans Changed
Renovation plans change.
Smart home plans have to change with them.
As the home started taking shape, the homeowner became concerned that some areas might not feel bright enough.
That meant revisiting the lighting plan rather than blindly following the original quotation.
Additional lighting was considered.
The magnetic track lighting length had to be adjusted.
Device quantities changed accordingly.
And yes, unfortunately, additional lights have not yet figured out how to pay for themselves.
The important part was not that the first plan changed. The important part was when we caught the changes.
Because we were coordinating during renovation, there was still enough runway to:
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revise the requirements,
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confirm the new quantities,
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replace or prepare the necessary products,
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repack the goods,
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coordinate with the renovation schedule, and
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continue installation without derailing the entire project.
There was also a change involving the ceiling works.
The initial renovation plan did not include the same false-ceiling arrangement that eventually materialised.
That affected how the lighting installation could proceed and gave us another window to adjust the products and installation sequence before the next stage of work.
This is why we view smart home installation as part of the renovation process rather than a separate activity that happens at the very end.
Renovation affects the smart home plan.
The smart home plan affects the renovation.
The two have to communicate.
04 — Installation ≠ A Smart Home
Eventually, the hardware was installed.
The lights were there. The switches were there. The devices were powered.
From the outside, the home already looked complete. But that was only half of the job.
A collection of smart devices does not automatically become a good smart home.
The real difference comes from how those devices are:
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grouped,
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paired,
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controlled,
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triggered, and
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automated around the homeowner's lifestyle.
So we went back to what we had learned during the consultation.
How does she arrive home?
What happens when she leaves?
How does she move through the home at night?
What does she normally do before heading into the bedroom?
When should automation help?
And when should it stay out of the way?
Some of the Automations We Planned
🏠 Coming Home
When arriving home, the living room lighting can respond automatically rather than leaving the homeowner to walk into a dark space and manually switch everything on.
Trigger: Arrival / entry condition
Outcome: Relevant living room lights come on
👋 Leaving Home
Instead of walking around checking every room before leaving, an away scene can shut down the relevant lights and controls together.
Trigger: Leaving / away scene
Outcome: Selected lighting switches off
🌙 Illuminating the Path to the Kitchen
Sometimes you only need enough light to move around safely.
You do not necessarily want the entire living room blazing at full brightness in the middle of the night.
A dedicated night movement scene can illuminate the necessary route without disturbing the rest of the home.
Trigger: Movement / selected night condition
Outcome: Only the required path is illuminated
🛏 Entering the Bedroom
Once the homeowner transitions from the common area into the bedroom, the home can help close down the spaces that are no longer being used.
Trigger: Bedroom transition
Outcome: Relevant living room lighting switches off
The important part is that these scenes were not created simply because the devices were capable of doing them.
They were based on the homeowner's actual routines.
And they remain adjustable.
If her habits change, the automations can change with them.
That flexibility is one of the biggest advantages of designing the automation logic properly from the beginning.
Good automation is not about removing every switch.
It is about removing repetitive decisions.
05 — From Normal Home to Smart Home
After roughly two weeks of planning, coordination, revisions, installation and setup, the transformation came together.
But the biggest takeaway from this Tembusu Grand project was not simply how quickly it was completed.
It was how many important decisions happened between the first quotation and the final home.
The floor plan gave us a starting point.
The showroom consultation helped refine what the homeowner actually wanted.
The site visit revealed real electrical and renovation constraints.
The lighting plan evolved.
The products and quantities changed.
The renovation schedule shifted.
And finally, the installed devices were turned into scenes and automations that reflected how the homeowner actually lives.
That is the difference between filling a home with connected products and planning a smart home as part of the renovation itself.
Planning Your Own Smart Home?
You do not need to know exactly what products you want before speaking to us.
In fact, many homeowners do not.
Whether you already have a completed electrical plan from your interior designer or you are still staring at an empty floor plan, we can help you work through the possibilities, limitations and priorities before deciding what actually makes sense for your home.
Bring your floor plan.
Tell us how you live.
We will work from there.
Explore Your Smart Home Options
Plan My Smart Home
Get recommendations based on your floor plan, renovation and lifestyle.
Visit Our Experience Centres
Experience smart lighting, switches, automations and connected living solutions before deciding.
Explore More Smart Home Projects
See how other Singapore homes were planned, installed and automated.
Project Credits
Interior Design: Elvin, E Modern Pte Ltd
Smart Home Setup: Smart Living Gallery
Project: Tembusu Grand, Singapore