I spent a day in LG's Smart Cottage — is this the future of smart homes?

I may be a Homes Editor, but my home is far from smart. Stuck in the middle of a residential block in London, I'm constrained by outdated building materials, inefficient doors and windows, and the curse of a popcorn ceiling.

My sincere thanks to the former owner of my apartment for making that executive decision; your glossy, textured ceiling is the last thing I see before I go to sleep every night.

But recently, I was whisked away to South Korea by LG, and given the opportunity to see how smart homes really can be. LG's Smart Cottage is compact, streamlined, and... well, smart, from head to toe.

The Smart Cottage conjured up a vision of living off the grid, surrounded by the luxuries of LG's ThinQ-enabled appliances. They practically had to drag me out of the tiny house and back to Incheon airport.

Fully connected

I saw LG's Mono+, a single-story smart home measuring 10 meters wide, 3.3 meters deep and 4 meters tall. Its total size is 26.6 meters squared, and it makes the most of every inch.

LG already uses its Smart Cottage modular housing in its retreat in Gangwon Province, where employees can attend workshops and training events surrounded by LG appliances.

The cottage uses IoT devices, including smart locks, smart lights, CCTV, and motorized blinds to manage the home both remotely and on-site using the ThinQ app.

All the luxury

My parents own an RV, and while it's ideal for going remote for a week at a time, it's not built for home comforts.

While the Smart Cottage isn't portable, it's ideal for setting down in a beauty spot and either renting out as a holiday space, or using as your own smart home haven.

The ThinQ app can also be used to control several LG appliances, including LG's WashTower Compact (which stacks a washer and dryer in one efficient machine) and the brand's ThinQ InstaView refrigerator.

The refrigerator allows you to knock on the door to see what's inside, and you can even change the color of the lights to match the mood of your music or decor.

We love an induction cooktop at Tom's Guide, so I was happy to see one in pride of place along the Smart Cottage's kitchen counters.

As someone who truly believes the kitchen is the heart of any home, I was impressed that the cooking space felt both space-efficient and generous without intruding too much on the living space in the cottage.

In the corner, there's a luxurious LG StandbyME television and a couch that comes with convertible cushions to also be used as a bed. And there's also a conveniently-placed air purifier next to the bed to keep your space free of the VOCs created in close proximity to the kitchen.

And while there wasn't much in the way of smart tech inside the bathroom, I did note that it was significantly nicer and larger than the one in my own apartment in London. Seriously, when can I move in?

While LG is working on plans to bring the Smart Cottage to the US and European markets (I'll be refreshing the page awaiting more information), it's currently being sold as a B2B offering in South Korea.

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