Finally, Smart Home Tech You Don’t Have to Hide – Marble, Metal, and High-End Finishes Are Redefining the Modern Home
Speakers crafted out of marble and smart light finishes to suit every interior are some of the many design-led innovations unveiled at ISE Barcelona this week
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Walking the halls of ISE Barcelona this year, one thing has become clear: Smart home technology and beautiful interior design are converging. Designed to be part of the aesthetic, and no longer standing out as 'tech', these smart home devices are becoming woven into the aesthetic homes we create.
For decades, smart home setups have largely belonged to gadget enthusiasts – with wires, wall panels, plastic remotes, and bulky speakers that looked distinctly separate from carefully curated spaces.
But at ISE 2026, one of the world's largest smart home exhibitions, brands are signalling a major shift. Today’s most ambitious tech companies are designing products for homeowners, interior designers, and architects – not just tech lovers. And they're not just becoming more beautiful, they're improving our lives more than ever.
Smart Home Progress and Interior Design Aesthetics Are Overlapping
At the forefront of this shift is Belgian design-led brand Basalte (swipe through the above photos to see their design-led tech for yourself). I spoke with marketing director Tom Samyn, who told me that the industry has spent too long focusing on specifications rather than experience.
'It’s elevating their interior design with beautiful elements that matter, stand out, and add value to their home. That’s the mix of design and technology,' he explained.
Basalte works closely with interior designers from the earliest stages, shaping systems around lives by asking how families use music, lighting, and shared spaces. ‘Integrated tech should not look like technology,’ Tom adds. ‘We don’t want people to feel like they’re interacting with tech – it needs to be intuitive.’
You can see this philosophy in the brand's beautifully designed speakers, with over 90 fabrics and colors to choose from, using materials from high-end brands such as Gabriel.
Light switches with premium finishes, from brass to matte metal, have multiple functions and can be activated by a gentle palm touch. 'If we want pieces to stand out, we have high-end finishes, but if we want it to blend, it can fade away,' Tom told me.
Modular door phones can blend into your existing frame, and you can add an intercom, security, or more to the base module to suit your needs. The intercom works like iPhone's FaceTime, adding more functionality than we see in even the best video doorbells.
As colleague Simon Van Assche put it, ‘It’s more of a lifestyle experience than a tech experience.’
Hebe Hatton, Head of Interiors at Homes & Gardens, adds, 'As a lover of interior design, and someone who hides her kettle in a cabinet and hates that the TV is a must-have in my living room, I am so glad to see that tech trends are now more frequently being led by interior trends.
'Audio tech seems to be leading the way in this. A speaker is something that by its very nature, you need to have on show, so the aesthetics are just as important as the sound quality.
'When I look to add tech to my home, how it will seamlessly, quietly join the room is top of the list. I don't want to see materials that stand out as very 'techy', I want them to mirror the fabrics and finishes going on elsewhere in the room.'
Integrated Systems Are Evolving
A selection of different finishes for Lutron's integrated, wireless smart lighting systems.
A similar design-first mindset is driving change at Lutron, where smart lighting, shading, and automation are being treated as architectural elements rather than tech-y add-ons.
‘Historically, smart homes and high architecture were designed separately,’ explained product manager Devon Kolumber, adding, ‘from both ends there are conflicts of interest.'
'But when you have an integrator bringing smart home, but also the lighting, and the shades, and all those architectural aspects, we know it’ll work from the start. It’s all in the same ecosystem,' he continued.
Lutron’s move towards wireless smart home systems reflects this. Fewer control panels, less wiring, and reduced material costs make homes cheaper, while being easier to design and live in.
And integration aside, these were some of the most advanced lights I saw at ISE. Using a new Ketra light source, I saw firsthand how they recover the richness and character of natural light. According to the demonstration, it’s the first light source that’s true to light from the Sun, moon, and stars.
‘If customers have to think about the technology, it’s not seamless. It should be mindless,' he said.
This echoes what Tom from Balaste made clear, 'Integrated tech should not look like technology. People are afraid of tech because they probably had a bad experience, or someone over-engineered a product and it took up too much mental space in their home.'
Luxury, Cost, and the Future of Interior-Focused Tech
Architettura Sonora craft lights and speakers out of unique marble blocks.
Material quality is also becoming more considered in the tech space. Italian brand Architettura Sonora treats speakers as sculptural objects, carving marble and stone into bespoke, unique audio pieces.
Research and development engineer Mattia Aspetattii says, ‘We combine visual design with acoustic performance. Many, many speakers are made in poor materials, but with ours, you have a unique product that remains beautiful as time passes.’
But for now, much of this design-led technology remains in the luxury bracket. Platforms like Crestron – which are so advanced that they include vanishing TV screens built into mirrors – dominate superyachts, penthouses, and commercial buildings, while Architettura Sonora primarily serves hotels and rooftop bars.
Even the more residential-focused brands, Basalte and Lutron, sit at the premium end of the market, requiring professional installation and costly materials that are out of reach for most homeowners.
But this is how every major home technology shift begins. Early systems are complex, bespoke, and expensive. Over time, they become simpler, more normalized, and more affordable.
What ISE 2026 makes clear is that the future of smart homes is not about more screens, more buttons, or more apps. Every designer I spoke with at the event emphasized that it's trending towards releasing fewer products made with better materials and systems that support daily life in more intuitive ways.
And, as a result, technology is becoming more beautiful and functional than ever.
Next, learn how AI can adapt to your behavior at home and delve into the debate on whether built-in and cut-to-size tech will be a sound investment in your home, or whether the experts think it will date quickly.
