Amplified is always searching for the latest technological innovations for our clients and their homes. One of these is Ketra. The Austen-based firm, founded in 2009, delivers high-quality light that is flexible and adjustable, allowing for bespoke settings that gradually shift in color, temperature, and intensity to mimic the sun, making interiors feel seamlessly bathed in natural light. Lutron acquired the company in 2018, combining cutting-edge technology with painterly lighting. Ketra’s infinite High Def Palette of 16.7 million colors includes pastels, saturated hues, and high CRI whites spanning from 1,400K to 10,000K.

When Palm Desert’s historic mid-century Wave House needed restoration, Ketra provided the perfect lighting solutions. Designed by iconic Modernist architect Walter S. White, the residence showcases a futuristic undulating roof. The home suffered water damage and unfortunate past remodels, but Stayner Architects reinstated its 1950’s ambiance. They replicated the quality of light in the space through archival research discovering White’s vision of an internal glow for the house. Ketra technology was vital in matching the color temperature of the tungsten-based incandescent bulbs and the much cooler fluorescents available in 1955.

In addition to Ketra’s aesthetic attributes, because it can mimic sunshine, firelight, and moonbeams, it also has health benefits. Technology that emulates natural light helps regulate our body’s internal clock and circadian rhythm, boosting our immune system and sense of well-being. As we have spent more time indoors, especially during Lockdown, Ketra provides the full range of sunlight—crisp and bright during the day for working and soft and warm at night for relaxing.

Are you looking to improve your life quality or perhaps blur the boundaries between indoors and outdoors, day and night? Amplified Lifestyles has two Ketra experts on staff: Jessie Brady, Lighting Specialist, and Robert Gilligan, Senior Technology Advisor. For more information please contact Robert at robert.gilligan@amplifiedlifestyles.com.

Jessie Brady recently joined Amplified Lifestyles as a Lighting Specialist, but her connections to some of her colleagues go back almost twenty years.  As with all of the company’s team, she is service-driven and creates lighting solutions customized to the homeowner’s needs. Jessie balances knowing the latest residential systems with a nuanced understanding of how lighting paints a room, changing mood and tone. 

AL: What drew you to become a Lighting Specialist?

JB: Being a lighting control specialist appeals to both my mechanical and creative sides. On the one hand, I get the satisfaction of designing and implementing systems that function well on a technical level. On the other hand, I work with clients personally to create a completely custom interface to interact within their homes. It can be a fun puzzle to solve.

AL: How can lighting transform a space and affect mood?

JB: Lighting is quite bossy; it can calm or energize you. It can hide flaws or train your eye on a focal point. It can draw you in and invite you to stay or set the tempo to your next destination.

AL: What might lighting and home automation look like in 10 years?

JB: I believe lighting and personal wellness will be even more integrated and automated. We’ll have the ability to adjust the environment in even more detail and anticipate the user’s desired experience automatically with more accuracy.

AL: What’s your favorite aspect about being a part of the Amplified Lifestyles team?

JB: The people. I’ve had the honor of working with some of my colleagues for almost two decades in different capacities and still enjoy how excited they get about the technology we get to work with; their expertise and enthusiasm remind me why I love what I do.

AL: Who is your ideal client?

JB: Someone who is genuinely excited about the technology and participates in the design process with decisive feedback for me to implement a system that exceeds their expectations.

AL: Favorite app?

JB: I have so many! Obviously, Lutron. Also, Spotify and Stitcher for music and podcasts, Headspace for some reflection, AllTrails so I don’t get lost in the woods, and Overdrive/Hoopla for all my books and graphic novels.

AL: The most adventurous thing you’ve done in your life?

JB: It’s a tie between riding on the back of a stranger’s motorcycle through the Central Highlands of Vietnam for a few days or scuba diving with sharks. Maybe not smart, but definitely an adventure.

AL: Dream country to work in? Or a dream project to take on?

JB: One of my many job perks is that I get to travel and experience places and spaces that I probably wouldn’t have thought to seek out or have access to; I will always jump at the chance to work on a tropical island or remote ski chalet. If I get to dream, I’d like to see what lighting control in an underwater residence could be. 

AL: How do you define beauty?

JB: I think beauty is the ability of a person, place, or thing to convey emotion without yelling it.

AL: How do you maintain a work/life balance?

JB: I‘ll let you know when I figure it out! Our industry is exciting but tends to expect you to be available and responsive at all times. The pandemic has made it a bit more challenging, but I try to carve out a little time each day to put the phone down and connect with others over food/drink and going outside.

Not only did interior designer Arthur Elrod define Palm Springs Modernism, but he was also fascinated by new technology. In 1952 he moved to San Francisco for a two-year stint at the high-end furniture store W & J Sloane. Elrod designed an innovative exhibit to celebrate General Electric’s Diamond Jubilee of Light, transforming the San Francisco Museum of Art galleries into a penthouse apartment and terrace. For a contemporary look, Elrod selected furnishing from the British architect and designer T. H. Robsjohn-Gibbings. Instead of adding lighting as an afterthought with fixtures, he integrated it into the design. Inspired by the night sky, a downlight color constellation changed hues while concealed dimmer controlled spotlights. 

After the GE exhibit, Elrod continued to create visually and technologically advanced interiors with sophisticated lighting and sound systems. He opened his eponymous firm in 1954 at 28, developing a clientele of Hollywood elite and wealthy individuals in Palm Springs and across the country. The design studio employed monochromatic color schemes to complement their clients’ impressive art collections or utilized saturated color blocking. Lighting elements and stereo speakers hid away within the custom furnishings.   

Elrod and his associate William Raiser tragically died in a Palm Springs car accident when another vehicle struck their Fiat. At 49, he was still in his prime as a designer. Modernism enthusiasts best remember the designer for his residence, the futuristic Elrod House built by Googie architect John Lautner in 1965 and immortalized in the 1971 James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever. The home features a space-age concrete dome above the main living area. Its circular glass design with an outdoor swimming pool and terrace provides San Jacinto Peak and Palm Springs views.

At the time of his death, Elrod planned interiors for the volcanic-shaped hilltop villa that Lautner designed for Bob and Dolores Hope overlooking Palm Springs with views of Coachella Valley. While he did not complete this project, he created mid-century getaways for many notable clients, including Walt Disney, Frank Capra, Claudette Colbert, Laurence Harvey, Jack Benny, Lucille Ball, and Desi Arnaz.

Our 2021 guide to our favorite home technology products

Forbes & Lomax, also known as the ‘invisible lightswitch,’ is the modern answer to the lost elegance of early 1900’s switching. From brass plating that stands on its own to seamless acrylic that extends wallpaper and disappears entirely, F&L is art in a light switch.

Amplified loves this product for the obvious: sheer elegance and leveling up of an area in the home that has long been plastic, overlooked, and uninspiring. Its clear differentiation from all other light switching options is what makes F&L an Amplified team favorite!

Unlike any other television to date, Samsung’s The Frame finally makes the TV a focal point in the room for all the right reasons. As a counterpoint to its predecessors, black, angular, ominous, and a constant eyesore, The Frame is TV when it’s on, and art when it’s off!

Amplified cannot get enough of this incredible technology that finally makes it possible to put a TV in the room without ruining the design aesthetic. It offers the ability to enhance your environment based on anything; your favorite artist, your mood, or something you think will amuse your guests.

The little black dress of the shade world? Poetry in motion? Lutron does it again with the PALLADIOM Shading System, which brilliantly flaunts technology instead of hiding it.  

A circular bracket visually extends the structural tube outward and into the wall. The shade appears to float in midair while being whisper-quiet. Each unibody aluminum bracket is hand-finished and available in various finishes that blend into any architectural style seamlessly. The Amplified team loves these shades for everything from San Francisco penthouses to Belvedere Lagoon getaways.  

The integrated look is not so much your thing when it comes to music and home technology? Not to worry~ Amplified recommends Bowers & Wilkins for the audiophile who wants their speakers’ artistry to stand out just as much as their music.

These speakers “speak” for themselves and could be a focal point of art in any room, a bold statement that stands apart. Is it sculpture or extraterrestrial? There’s nothing quite like a B&W Wedge or Formation Bar, don’t believe us? Just wait until you see the Nautilus!

What can we say? The Wall is on everyone’s dream list at Amplified this year. TV on steroids doesn’t even begin to describe the greatness of this latest Samsung genius.

Art in motion like never before, color that vibrates, blacks that become 3D; we’re pretty sure that if you had The Wall, you’d never leave your home. For these reasons and so much more, we can’t recommend this micro-LED technology enough!