How I wasted $52,000 in my Dream Smart Home

This is $52 ,000 of truly terrible decisions.Two years ago we built our dream smart home but what we didn't realize at the time is we were making some of the greatest mistakes of our lives.So, here's where we went wrong, but then also how we eventually turned this into a home that's optimized beyond our wildest dreams.Starting with the living room.When we first moved in, I spent an entire week trying to find the perfect wireless chargers, specifically designed to look like Pokeballs.These were so rare, I ended up paying $150 to import them from Japan.

So, imagine my pain when I realized No one wants to use wireless chargers.Every time someone came over and we're playing a game over there.Oh, for goodness sake.And their battery was running out.They didn't want to banish their phone to the other side of the room just to charge it.Leading us to what we've realized is the better solution.

Power banks.Two of these new anchor bricks covers the power needs of every single person on this floor.They charge phones, they charge laptops, they've got this magnetic base to pop them back onto when you're done, so even your parents know how to use them.And then we just keep these tiny USB -C cables plugged into them at all times because they're practically invisible from the front.And then, for when you can't even be bothered to grab one, we found that these Belkin wall chargers are an insanely useful product to have strategically dotted around the house.67 watts of power, enough for most laptops, USB -C with the cable built in, and the cable itself is retractable, so no cable mess either.

But the kitchen mistakes cost us quite a lot more.The first big change was the drinks area.When we moved in, we had this idea that we were going to host parties every other week.We had Ciroc bottles and a ninja slushie maker to turn those into something even more fun.But the reality is, we only really drink tea and coffee.So the slushie's gone.

But in its place, we have figured out how to truly master the warm beverage.So for coffee, my learning was, surprisingly, don't go for a machine from Miele.I got their highest qualitymodel from a recommendation, but I hated it.It was so loud, it took so long to do anything, and most of all, the user interface was awful.abysmally basic for a 2026 product.

Half the time you couldn't tell what drink you were asking it to make because it just shows such limited information.And it's only when we got fed up and changed it out for a De 'Longhi machine that it properly clicked just how many generations behind Miele is in some ways.This thing was the same price, just miles more intuitive to operate, especially if it's a guest using it.And then if you make tea in a pot like I do, the Loka, will fix your problems.It's this incredibly simple but cool piece of engineering, where as your tea boils, instead of the foam bubbling over the edge, this makes it fall back on itself.So you can leave it fairly unattended on high heat and not flood your kitchen with chai.

And then for any type of powder drink, this is the magic whisk.It means any kind of hot chocolate or matcha, you just throw the milk in, throw the powder in, and this will get it to the perfect 80 degrees C and really frothy.It's actually all froth.So nice.And then the way we formatted this all is the appliances for coffee, teas and powders are on that section.Then above that is all the regular actual coffees, teas and powders themselves.

And then if you want anything extra, this drawer opens up and that's coffees, teas and powders.This cabinet is just pure joy to me.Now, there's a bunch of things in this kitchen that I do think we nailed first time, like the toaster.Of course, it's the one and only.

Like seriously, look at this slice of bread.

Oh yeah, you've still got it.And the Beast Blender is something we got later on, but it's been instantly amazing.It's just seriously fast.like and then when you're done you have this instantly ready -to -go smoothie bottle type thing and there's no drippage anywhere Then in here, the Ninja Creamy ice cream machine has earned its place for eternity.This machine was responsible for about 50 % of my weight loss transformation.And then every single simple human product we got too.

The kitchen roll holder that's also secretly a spray bottle with surface cleaner inside.The touchless soap dispensers, one for dish soap, one for hand wash, and the bin too.All of this stuff, in the entire two years, haven't given us a single problem.I like this stuff enough that I've actually bought a bunch of it as gifts for friends.Because nothing says I care about you more than a trash can.But not everything was perfect on first try.

like the plants.We originally bought these very nice, hard -to -kill indoor plants, realised that we're not particularly green -thumbed when they still died, but then found a brand called Easyplant, who've basically made this self -watering pot, which means that instead of needing to water the soil, like, once a week, you actually instead just take that off and water the reservoir roughly once a month, and this makes sure that the plant has what it needs when it needs it.So pretty much every plant in this house is now an Easyplant.We've added an air purifier, just because cooking can kick off a bunch of things that you don't necessarily want to be marinating in all day.We've got some acoustic panels.They just help to take some of that empty room echo out.

But that's also nothing compared to what we've done to some rooms.We originally had some dotty looking LED strips under our island.Those have now been axed in favour of the Philips Hue OmniGlow, which are pretty perfectly diffused.You know, the most noticeable upgrade for me day to day is the organization inside of each drawer.Actually, I want to have a serious talk about organizers.There was a point in my life when I thought the idea of something like this was completely pointless.

How on earth is buying this whole new thingthat actually eats further into your draw space going to help you stay tidy?I was wrong.Draw dividers like this.Draw organizers like this.Draw trays like this.

This stuff is absolutely essential if you want your rooms to stay clean because they allow you to create just the right amount of space for each type of product within your drawers so that anytime you use something from them, you've created a situation where the easiest thing to do is to just put it right back when you're done.I swear, when you move into a new place, It's like this black hole opens up where your tape, your scissors, your Blu -Tack, it all just disappears into.You'll keep buying them, you'll keep losing them, unless you have good systems.I literally bought a magnetic pair of scissors for this exact reason.There's only one place that you can put this thing back.Plus, with the right organizers, you'll also always know when you're low on things, so you can get the top -ups ready.

And even though, yes, organizers can take up space, use them well, and they'll actually free you space by just helping you use what you have better.Like a month ago, we realized we were running out room for shoes.But of course, then we found shoe organizers that let you stack each shoe on top of its other half.

Now we could host a millipede if we wanted to.

But now we've had my proper dad chat about drawers, it's time to swallow my pride and talk about our worst fails.Like how we originally spent $4 ,000 buying an indoor fireplace for our garden.and it's not entirely our fault.There are many companies who will try to sell you bioethanol fireplaces like this for the outdoors.They'll try and convince you that they're just like a normal fireplace but with less harmful emissions and less plumbing required, which are both technically true.It just means that you're effectively dropping 4k on a tub, which, as promised, was almost no hassle to first set up.

Instead, it was a massive hassle every time we wanted to use it.You'd have to manually pour in the bioethanol, it was such a pain to light, and most importantly,the resulting flame.I mean, it was basically just a big candle.cavemen would be ashamed.Point being, if you're gonna get a fire pit outdoors, don't go for a bioethanol one.

Get a gas fireplace, like the loom pit that we swapped it out for.It now takes about 30 seconds to get a fire going.That fire is like four times the size.And then the reason that we went for this one specifically is the extra tricks.It's got an LED strip hidden underneath, a speaker system inside, and even two unexpectedly clutch wireless chargers.My friends actually use these ones.

But even the $4 ,000 fire pit blunder is small fry compared to the office.Our original vision was this Japanese zen garden themed room incorporating as many earthy elements as possible like moss, wood, and even this giant water feature in the corner.But we've ended up changing literally 50 % of this room.Partly just because we found ways to make it even better, partly because We just screwed up.I mean, our entire attitude at the start of this was we're only going to build our dream house once.So for each thing we're going to get, let's just get the best version of that thing.

And while that mindset did pay off for many things in this house, it was not the best approach for the whiteboard.In the pursuit of whiteboard maxing, we ended up with this Samsung Flip Pro.And after a few months came to the humbling realization that There's nothing we needed from it that a normal whiteboard didn't offer.And then because of all the tech, the thing's just so heavy and unmaneuverable that we didn't end up using it at all.This incredible piece of hardware, though, we use all the time.There's a whole bunch of small refinements here, like the Delta Hub Carpio has ended up feeling like the final missing ingredient for the perfect mouse setup.

It lifts and cups your wrist to eliminate a strain that I didn't even realize was there until I started using it.I've upgraded the keyboard to the fairly new 2026 Mode Sonic.This is a very extreme purchase but the benefit comes because they can customise the look, the sound and the feel of the keyboard to exactly what you have in your mind.Plus if we ever have a break -in then this can be my weapon.We changed our under -desk elliptical to one from Decathlon, which to my surprise has ended up more affordable, smoother, and with higher resistance than any other high -end one I've tried.And then here, I'm currently in the process of testing what's either going to end up as one giant gimmick or literally the god of all office chairs, because this thing is motorized.

So you grab this remote and you press to control exactly where you want the lumbar support to be.This has seat heating, seat ventilation, which is unbelievably clutch on a day like today where somehow the UK has hit 38 degrees Celsius.

And then even three different levels of massage.

Oh yeah, and a footrest.But as comfortable as this is, wow it is really really comfortable, I'm still slightly TBC on whether I want to have yet another gadget that I need to charge.But there are three overarching permanent changes to this room.Like for example, there's no water feature anymore.

It's not worth it.

For starters, we spent $15 ,000 getting the thing fully fitted.It needed a lot more parts than we originally expected, like a generator that, once set up, needed to run once per day for three hours.And it sounded like this.Then we were told that we needed to maintain the water with three different treatment plans.So one set of things that you have to do once a week, one set of things that you have to do once a month,and then a whole different set of things that you have to do once every three months.

Fail to do any of that, even a few times, which of course we did, the water goes moldy.It started to smell so bad that ultimately we decided the best course of action was to fork out another $1 ,000 to get the thing taken out and use the space for a fourth desk, which is such a generational L that it has kept me up at least a few nights.and not just because of the generator.The second major change is that every single desk has been upgraded to the Secretlab Magnus Pro, our sponsor, but not because they're our sponsor.These are still height adjustable like our previous ones, but the magic is an integrated power supply inside of this leg.This means that with just one cable into the very bottom here, which you can barely see, it gives you power to not just your desk, but every single thing on your desk.

on your desk.There isn't a desk that does this better.It essentially gives you mains power, but up here.So all your messy desktop cables, instead of trailing off the end of the desk, can instead just fall down into this tray, stay plugged in and become like 97 % invisible, even as you're moving the desk up and down.And the other thing is, It's just insanely clean.Both literally, I mean the thing's like one giant wipeable coaster, but also aesthetically.

Because it's magnetic too, you can manage the 3 % of remaining cables by just snapping these organizers down on top of them.But sadly, the cost of all four of those, plus the entire water feature fiasco, is still less than the cost of our third modification.

This.

We realized after a few months using the original office that it just wasn't quiet enough.We have concrete floors all over the house, which are really bad for echo.And then these are really thin walls, which doesn't really work with the fact that there's a kitchen on the other side, and potentially in a few months, a crying baby too.So we started to play around with acoustic paneling.We tested some of the more plug and play options like this.These things, they don't cut enough noise out.

Plus they stick out a lot visually.So eventually we decided that the only way we were going to get the result was to fully commit.We got a company called Resonix to measure out and fit two layers of absorption across every spare wall here.It's gone to the point now where even if there's tons of action and background noise happening in the kitchen, as you can hear because we're shooting this clip on the phone, then all you need to do is to take like, I want to say 12 steps into the office over here.And as soon as you've done that and shut the door behind you, It is literally like stepping into a library.

Ow.So quiet.

And I think the panels actually look incredible too.If anything, they're adding to the earthy elements vibe.And we did pretty much the same thing to our entryway.This room was atrocious to film in before.It was just so echoey.Plus also, any conversation you'd have down here, you'd hear at the top of the house.

And so this acoustic treatment has been an extremely expensive, but at the very least, conclusive way to fix that.The gym has been mostly perfect.Zero regrets splurging on the Technogym machines.They do just feel like a cut above any other gym I've gone to since making our own.But it was this boxing wall thing that we had originally.It was one of those classic products that look great on TikTok that, let's be honest, you're just not going to use as part of any realistic workout.

So we replaced it with its Bigger brother.This is the Bout Smart Punching Bag.And after learning the hard way from that smart whiteboard, we made sure that before any kind of tech, this was just a great punching bag.Thankfully, it has the tech too.

That was weak.

It has all sorts of tech.Like it can track your punch speed and your punch power.It can show you how much you've damaged different parts of the bag, like a boss in a video game.There's even these entire workout routines where this dude shows you what to do,and the closer you get to him the higher you're gonna score.Now if you haven't already realized at this point I'm a total freak when it comes to optimisation.

I will literally spend entire weekends looking at tiny little pain points and then figuring out how to iron them out.Like, for example, we realise that when guests come over, while they can get fine control over things like the AC, blinds and lights using these Control 4 tablets that we have in the hallways, the ideal is to give them that full control from within the rooms.And that while you can buy Control 4 home remotes specifically for this, they'd actually end up more expensive than just using some of the iPhones that we already have.had around.So because we're in the Japan room, it's a nice pink iPhone.And on it, you can see we've gone to the extent of actually writing out instructions for the three different apps they should be using to set exactly where they want the blinds to be or the temperature of the room.

And this is also a full working remote for the Samsung Frame TV on the wall.So far, our guests love it.Nothing was a mistake in the cinema room though.We are literally in here every evening.The second and third screens that drop down from the ceiling for gaming felt like they might be a gimmick, but I'm happy to say they are not.The only thing we've really had to improve is the food cabinet, because it turns out when you're winding down after a long day, it's pretty easy to eat a bag of whatever you've kept right next to you.

or five.So the snacks and the drinks have gotten quite a lot healthier over time.But also we realised, since this has become our default place for relaxation, that it's the perfect place to have access to some wellness gear.Like we've absolutely fallen in love with these TheraFace masks.They make your skin clearer using red and blue light.These scalp massagers from Breo give you tingles all across your body in like the best way possible.

And then I've also found it really useful to keep a HyperVault massage gun in this section becauseturns out when I play football I keep injuring myself because I'm too good just to be clear.And then when we're done rehabilitating everything just goes back into its charging place or base.Love systems.But the single greatest L of our entire house project has to be Studio B. Like the sofas.I spent $22 ,000 buying what I thought was the perfect furniture for this room.

It was angular and futuristic and even had LEDs baked inside.So I had this idea that we could theme even the color of our sofas to the video we were filming.Turns out they were the worst things we could have gotten.That furniture was designed for the outdoors, so it was about as comfy as a plank.The LEDs were so dim compared to the room that you couldn't see them.And then because the things were powered, we had like eight extra cables trailing all over the place, so we couldn't move anything around, which is kind of like the whiteboard all over again.

We realized that the entire point of this room is that everything is movable.That's the only way we can actually make different types of sets for different kinds of videos, which is why now we've gotten everything we can mounted onto wheels.Yeah.even this giant TV.I originally surrounded the room with these seven foot mirrors because I thought high gloss would make the studio look more futuristic and it did, it's just we didn't factor in that it would make it almost impossible then to film any kind of shot without getting someone's reflection in them.So now we've gone and frosted everything over.

And then also, we had blinds like this across this entire window area to stop the light coming in.That was actually a poor solution too, because every time the blinds were down, which they'd have to be for filming, you couldn't actually get in or out of the building without pulling them all the way back up again.So, I'm pretty chuffed with my idea to sub those all out for giant acoustic panels that just stick onto the windows themselves.They do the same thing as blinds, but they block even more light, even more outside light.and then because they're completely stuck on, when the door opens, they get out your way, so you can leave.As you can see, going straight from getting our first home to trying to make every single buying decision in a matter of weeks, we made a lot of mistakes.

And if you're gonna take anything from them, I would say, one, take as much time as you can when you're making the big purchases.Two, don't confuse the best version of something with the right version.And then three, Get lots of draw organizers.You can't have too many of them.Buy more draws if you have to.