Why our customers are looking beyond tiered seating in dark rooms. 

After over 25 years in the industry, the modern home cinema as we once knew it is evolving. While dedicated movie rooms with blackout curtains and tiered seating definitely still have their place, more homeowners are asking us for more flexible, multi-purpose spaces. 

These hybrid home theaters combine traditional audiovisual setups with other experiences like golf simulators, sports bars, pool tables, etc. Plus, the whole room is integrated with smart lighting, shading, and climate control.

Here’s why we think homeowners in Southlake, TX, are changing their approach to home theaters, and why it pays off to start planning early.

SEE ALSO: Should I Install a Home Theater? Why Now’s The Time

One Room with Many Possibilities

One night, you’re watching a film in immersive darkness. But the next evening, you use the screen and surround sound to play a college football game while your friends gather around the bar and snack table. 

Big Names Like Amazon & Google Don’t Equate the Best Experience 

When it comes to home technology, there’s often a tempting urge to cut costs by installing a product yourself. After all, if you can buy motorized shades on Amazon for a fraction of the price of a Lutron shading system, why wouldn’t you?

But here’s the truth: not all motorized shades are created equal. And if you’re looking for shades that are silent, reliable, responsive, and integrated seamlessly into your lifestyle, the DIY route simply can’t deliver the same experience. 

Let’s break down why high-end, professionally installed motorized shades, like those from Lutron, are the superior choice for any smart home, especially here in the Southlake, TX, area where ComwareAV proudly serves.

Premium LED lighting delivers performance, longevity, and control that basic bulbs can't touch. 

Most homeowners grab standard LED bulbs off the shelf and call it a day. They've moved past incandescent technology, so the job is done, right?

But basic LEDs barely scratch the surface of what modern lighting can do for your home. For Southlake homeowners who want more than "good enough," high-end LED lighting systems go far beyond flipping a switch.

Walk into a home with premium LED lighting, and you'll notice the difference immediately. We install Ketra lighting because we consider it the most advanced smart lighting available today. With sophisticated color-tunable technology and remote control, Ketra LEDs respond to your daily routine and showcase your home's best features. 

Out of all the smart home solutions we install, lighting is frequently the number one technology our clients love. Here’s why. 

By Your Local Audio Video Installer in Westlake, TX

When homeowners think about upgrading their space with whole-home audio, a custom theater, or outdoor entertainment, it’s easy to get caught up in sleek touchscreens, immersive speakers, and stunning 4K displays. But behind all that impressive tech lies something much less glamorous and absolutely essential: cable management.

As a trusted audio video installer in Westlake, TX, we’ve seen firsthand how messy wiring can sabotage even the most expensive AV systems. Whether it’s your theater room or outdoor speakers, poor cable organization doesn’t just look bad. It creates long-term issues that can affect performance, safety, and your ability to upgrade down the line.

Learn What Sets High-End Speakers Apart 

If you’ve ever listened to a favorite song and thought, “I wish this could sound like the band’s playing live in my living room,” you’re not asking too much. You’re just asking for high-end audio. 

For homeowners near Westlake, TX, who value quality (whether in architecture, design, or technology) it only makes sense to expect the same from your audio setup.

But what exactly separates high-end audio from the average speaker setup you’ll find online or in big-box stores? Let’s break it down.

Make Rooms Feel Bigger, Cozier, & Classier with the Right Lighting Design Techniques 

Ever walked into a home, store, or restaurant and felt instantly relaxed—or energized—without knowing why? Chances are, lighting played a big role. 

Lighting does more than help us see; lighting actually influences how big (or small) a space feels, how we perceive textures like wood or stone, and even how we feel in the moment.

Let’s explore how the right lighting design can shape your Southlake home’s atmosphere—and how to use it to your advantage.

Learn How Smart Shading & Lighting Can Protect Your Highland Park Home 

Security cameras and alarms are crucial for catching criminal activity and obtaining necessary evidence. But by the time your system catches an incident, it’s already happening. So, how can you prevent a burglar from even attempting to enter your home? 

We call this ‘preventative security,’ and there are steps you can take to remove a target from your house. It’s common sense that bright lighting can make your home less appealing to thieves and trespassers. And that’s a great solution—when you’re home. But what about when you’re away ? Are you really going to leave the lights on all day? Won’t that look suspicious, too? 

That’s why we recommend integrating motorized shades and smart lighting with your security system. With these intelligently controlled features in your Highland Park, TX, home, you’ll enjoy all-in-one control and more peace of mind. Here’s how it works.

Get Inspired & Excited for Your New Outdoor Lighting System 

Southlake, TX, is known for its abundance of beautiful homes, from Timarron to the Carillon area and beyond. And Comware AV has helped illuminate many of these homes with our professional landscape lighting services. 

When we start a landscape lighting project, we meet with the homeowner to discuss their goals and desires. We then draft a design that we review with the homeowner before ordering any hardware. Once the design is approved, we proceed with the installation, often integrating landscape lights into our smart home systems. 

If you’re curious about outdoor lighting for your own home, but aren’t sure what you want, explore our past projects below. Get inspired and imagine the possibilities for your house! 

And It’s Not Just You—Movie Theater Etiquette Is Getting Worse

If you’ve been dreaming of your own private theater, you don’t have to justify it to yourself any longer. 

Now that 4K-quality video is more readily available and commercial movie theaters are seemingly in decline, home cinemas are a no-brainer for modern film lovers. Here’s why now is a uniquely perfect time to install your home theater system in Westlake, TX.

Learn how to tailor every area of your home for the best entertainment!

No two rooms in your home serve the same purpose, so why should your audio-video setup be one-size-fits-all? From the kitchen to the patio, every space has its own function, mood, and design, and your technology should reflect that.

A well-designed whole-home audio-video system allows you to enjoy personalized entertainment in every space, whether you're doing chores, hosting a party, or relaxing before bed. It’s not just about syncing sound or video across your home; it’s about creating experiences that flow with your lifestyle.

Let’s dive into our blog to learn how you can tailor your entertainment experience in every area of your Southlake, TX, home. 

The Key to Safe, Beautiful Landscape Lighting Systems 

Whether you’re looking to spruce up your Southlake, TX, home or build a new property, landscape lighting is a sure way to enhance your house’s beauty and safety. After dark, your architecture and greenery will be accentuated in all the right places. And with more light, you’ll spend more time outdoors on summer evenings. 

If you’ve started researching landscape lighting, you may have come across the recommendation to install low-voltage lighting rather than typical line-voltage lighting. What does this mean? We’ll explain the difference and why it matters. 

A Guide to Color Temperatures in LED Lighting 

Whether you’re setting the mood for a backyard gathering or providing safe navigation along pathways, one factor is crucial to achieving your desired effect: LED color temperature. 

But what exactly is color temperature, and how do you know which one is right for your outdoor lighting in Southlake, TX? Let’s break it down.

A Look Through Our Past Motorized Shading Installations 

As a home technology company based in Southlake, TX, we’ve installed countless motorized shading systems. Our customers love motorized shades for so many reasons, including: 

• Time-saving convenience  
• Preventing furnishings from UV fading
• Keeping rooms cool and saving energy 
• Instant privacy and sunlight 
• Beautiful designs
• And even use them as an alarm clock! 

Motorized shades from luxury brands like Lutron are available in endless styles, fabrics, and materials. Whether your home is ultra-modern or more classical, we can source and install window treatments that suit your style. 

Take a look through our past shading installations—you may see something perfect for your home upgrade. 

Lighting That Enhances and Never Distracts

Great lighting should feel natural—like it belongs in your space, not like it’s competing for attention. While traditional fixtures like pendants and chandeliers have their place, invisible lighting techniques offer a modern, sophisticated way to illuminate your home without distraction. 

By integrating lighting directly into architectural details, cabinetry, and even furniture, you can highlight key design elements and create a warm, inviting ambiance—all without visible bulbs or fixtures. 

Below, we explore how hidden lighting design can transform your Westlake, TX, home in a way that’s both practical and visually stunning.

Home Theater Design for the Open Floorplan 

For years, the conventional wisdom was that a dedicated home theater required an enclosed space to control sound and light. This setup remains ideal, but new advancements in audio-visual technology are making it easier than ever to achieve a theater-quality experience in different settings. 

If your only option for a home theater is in an open floorplan space, don’t worry—solutions exist to enhance sound performance, reduce glare, and create an immersive experience without disrupting the rest of your home. 

Here’s what we recommend to our customers in Southlake, TX, and nearby areas. 

Are you among the people that could benefit from smart technology the most?

Smart home control systems have redefined how we experience the comforts of a home. From the effortless adjustment of ambient lighting to the integration of advanced security, these systems are the epitome of sophistication and convenience. More than just technology, smart home control is an art—one that can be tailored to reflect your distinct lifestyle and preferences. 

At ComwareAV, we want to help you craft experiences that cater to you. Let’s delve into how smart home control can elevate the way you live in Southlake, TX.

Why High-End LED Lighting Is Worth It 

LEDs are the new standard in lighting and are already powering most of our lights at home. And while most LED bulbs work like CFL and incandescent bulbs did (but last much longer and save more energy), in recent years, smart LED lights have quickly gained popularity. 

These smart LEDs can be remotely controlled to adjust their color and brightness via an app or even voice command. Off-the-shelf brands like Cree and Philips Hue are popular but can often become more of a hassle than they’re worth. 

The headache comes from relying on an app alone to control your lights. Most DIY smart bulbs require you to connect to Wi-Fi or Bluetooth whenever you want to adjust the settings. If all you want to do is quickly dim the lights, smart bulbs eventually become a pain. 

But there is a pain-free, seamless approach to smart LED lighting: you just need better fixtures and the right control system. Here’s why high-end LED lighting solutions are entirely worth it—and even life-changing—for our clients in Southlake, TX. 

Ensure Expansive Connectivity

Home networks have evolved from supporting a desktop computer, some laptops, and a handful of connected devices to functioning as the backbone for fully integrated luxury homes. Today, these networks ensure reliable and fast connectivity of smart thermostats, media services, wireless security cameras, motorized shades, and more.

If you've yet to upgrade, your devices may not respond like they once did. You may not receive your security notifications promptly, the Zoom video calls freeze, and you come to expect buffering when watching a movie on Netflix. 

As humans, we get used to things until they become the norm. Before you know it, you're used to scrolling through your emails while waiting for a document to download. 

There is a better way. It's called an enterprise-grade home network installation, and it's designed for luxury homes with extensive interconnectivity. Essentially, it's the answer to superior smart home living in Southlake, TX. 

Enhancing Beauty, Functionality, and Experiences

Like many, when you consider motorized shades, your mind may turn to the convenience they offer. No more manually opening every shade upon rising to let the early morning light in or lowering them when sunlight causes a glare on the TV. Now, your smart home does it for you. 

What you may not know, however, is the beauty and elegance they bring to your environment. After all, the term "motorized shades" doesn't particularly conjure up elegant, flowing draperies or the soft, modern look of Roman shades. 

At ComwareAV, we believe smart homes should be more than functional masterpieces. They should also enhance your home's beauty and bring a measure of surprise and delight. Living is about much more than convenience. It's about elevating everyday joy. 

For that reason, we partner with Lutron, the industry leader in motorized window coverings. Here, we'll explore a few of their unique offerings and why more people than ever are embracing smart window treatments for their Highland Park, TX, homes. 

Enjoy Music in Every Room and Outdoor Area

While many of you may not remember, there was a time when a home stereo system consisted of two loudspeakers, a turntable, and audio equipment. When you wanted to listen to your favorite tunes, you settled down into that one room, relaxed, and enjoyed.

For audiophiles, those spaces still exist, although on a much grander scale. Today’s listening rooms possess loudspeakers worthy of the best recording studios, acoustic paneling that enhances every sound, and the latest turntables that envelope you with a wide soundstage and extreme sonic detail. It’s the space you go to lose yourself in the vastness of high-fidelity music. 

But what about the rest of your home? Are family members carrying around Bluetooth speakers or listening to music through earbuds? While today’s technology has made it easy to select a song and play it on any device, in some ways, it’s transformed music from an awe-inspiring listening experience to background noise.

There is a better way. It’s called whole-home audio, and it delivers breathtaking music to every room of your home and outdoor areas. Let’s see how it’s transforming homes in Highland Park, TX.