Top 5 reasons I want to win the HGTV Smart Home

Like most of us, I like my house. I just like it.

It’s a good enough place that gives me a comfy spot to sleep at night, a kitchen with pots and pans to cook up some grub, Netflix hooked into my television to let me binge watch Fixer Upper. Everyone fits in alright and there’s space to fit most of my accumulated junk. It’s safe, it’s dry and it’s home.

However, it’s not is my dream home, not by a long shot.

When I imagine my dream home, I fantasize about smart appliances that turn off with the click of my smartphone so I don’t freak out when I pull out of the driveway and embedded technology that ensures that my water usage doesn’t break the bank. I imagine an open floor plan, home gym and a guest bedroom that even my mother couldn’t find fault with.

A dream home come to life

Enter the 2016 HGTV Smart Home. It’s as if designer Tiffany Brooks and folks at Homes by Dickerson literally reached into my brain and pulled out my most treasured ideas about what a home should be like, then took them to the next level.

Here are the top 5 reasons that I want to win the HGTV Smart Home.

It’s in Raleigh, the best city ever!

Can we just be real for a second – Raleigh is a fantastic place to be. There’s amazing restaurants, breweries and cool events to go to just about every weekend. You’ll find incredible universities nearby, museums to stimulate your mind and music to rock your soul. We’re home to professional hockey and ballet, in addition to breathtaking places to get outside and enjoy nature.

At once bustling and also full of quiet spots, who would want to live anywhere else? That’s not even to mention the amazingly warm and friendly nature of the natives.

Raleigh is the perfect place to put the HGTV Smart House as well, as it fits in nicely with the technological nature of the Research Triangle Park.

It’s light

Sunlight is revitalizing and energizing. It makes us feel as though we’re out in nature and connected with something larger than ourselves. When you’re inside a typical home, the sun is blocked out by the roof and all of those pesky walls.

Not so in the 2016 HGTV Smart Home. With sun tunnels and skylights, the space feels so much bigger, so much lighter and so much more airy than other homes. All over the house rooms are equipped with Natural-light Velux brand skylights and sun tunnels that are equipped with internal shades that are remotely controlled. Their

It comes with bling

You get more than just the house when you win the HGTV Smart Home – you get some other perks as well. Perks isn’t quite the word for them – a much more appropriate word would be bling. The home itself is worth $1 million to $1.05 million on the real estate market. That’s correct – more than one million dollars just for the house itself. But the house isn’t all you get, because HGTV makes this into a whole prize package.

Oh, and of course if I have a house like this, I can’t roll in my current ho-hum four wheeled transport. I’ll need something with a bit more pizazz, something like a 2016 Mercedes GLC. It just so happens that there’ll be one parked in the driveway.

With the additional 100,000, I’ll be able to afford some snazzy new clothes to match the rugs and fill the fridge with some takeout so that I can lean back and enjoy my new digs.

It’s beautiful

This home is absolutely beautiful. It’s like something out of a magazine, which of course because it is actually something out of a magazine.

Attention to detail is the name of the game in this home. There is literally no space that’s not been thoroughly finished and furnished. From the gender neutral nursery to the basement entertainment room, even areas that normally go a bit neglected in the home like the closets and laundry room have been finished out with love and thoughtfulness.

The indoor spaces are lush and homey all at once. With a beautifully appointed kitchen that features a gorgeous white and blue patterned backsplash to a serene master suite that has both a terrace itself and also a terrace off of the master bath. Three outdoor seating areas on the huge covered porch are the pinnacle of Southern living, complete with an outdoor dining room that overlooks the wooded lot. I might not even need the house – I could just live out here.

It’s smarter than I am

I’d like to think of myself as a pretty sharp cookie, but the HGTV Smart Home has got more than a few IQ points on me.

There’s the smart garage door opener that you can check from anywhere – I’m always paranoid about leaving the garage open! Then there are the Parrot plant sensors that can tell me if my plants are getting enough water and sunlight.

The real brains are in the kitchen and the bathroom. With the iGrill2 and Bluetooth iDevices kitchen thermometer, temperatures can be controlled through an app from anywhere. No more worrying about if I left the stove on! And for a touch of ridiculous luxury in the already marvelous bathroom you’ll find a Mirror TV that features an embedded LED screen when on but looks like just a regular mirror when turned off.

These are really just the tip of the iceberg. You could get lost in the tech in this house, which can be found everywhere from the nursery to the thermostat and even outside by the pool.

I know that I’m ready to enter to win, and who knows maybe my number will just get drawn this time. Imagine that – I could live right inside my dream! If and when I do win the 2016 HGTV Smart Home, I want you to know that you’re all invited over for dinner.