Number five is alive! (Short Circuit, anyone?) I went with that intro because we recently added a helpful robot to our household (you know I’m into gadgets – I think my favorite post ever was this one entitled Super Toilet).
Let me start from the beginning. We’re big proponents of having lights that you can reach from bed. It sounds obvious, but for a while the only light in our first master bedroom was overhead and operated by the switch by the door (which feels miles away when you’re lying in bed half asleep). So until we installed the wall sconces two years into living there, we experienced a battle of wills each night to see who would have to make the trek to flick the switch. Picture both of us trying to fake-sleep to avoid having to be the one to get up.
And when we rearranged our bedroom last September, we nearly ignored our own advice. Since my bedside lamp was sunken back in that nook, it took a good stretch of my long monkey arms to twist the switch each night. People asked if it annoyed me and I honestly replied that it didn’t. What’s wrong with a little pre-bed stretching? It definitely still beats getting out of bed and walking across the room.
But over time… let’s just say that it wore me and my monkey arms down. My best description of the slow I-hate-this evolution would be this. A week or two of doing the pre-bed-arm-stretch = not so bad. A month or two of it = getting old. Three to six months of it = I’m finished with the straining of the arm (said a la Ben Stiller in this “I’m finished with the checking of the bags” clip). There are certainly worse problems in the world to have, but I’m always down for upgrades that make a room more functional – especially after six months of doing the harlem shake the sloppy swish the light limbo before bed.
And since we’re both really happy with the room’s layout except for this small lamp-reaching detail, the solution I had in mind was some sort of remote (which a bunch of you had actually recommended months ago when we shared the new arrangement). Initially I yearned to implement some Jetson-esque system that I could control from my phone (since it’s often the last thing to leave my hands each night). Then I briefly reminisced about The Clapper (which I had growing up, btw). But the things I was finding (like this system from Belkin) started to feel like overkill. Then I stumbled upon this $50 system that was marked down to just $19. Sold.
About a week after I ordered it, my little robot system arrived – and I was all dorked out about getting it hooked up. That’s when I discovered one major flaw in the design. The remote outlet is so big that no matter which outlet you place it in – the top or the bottom – it blocks the other one from being used. Bad robot.
And since the outlet behind my dresser needs to serve more than one electrical device, I was kinda annoyed at first. But it ended up being a blessing in disguise because it forced me to dig an old power strip out of storage so that I could plug the remote into that. Which meant that not only did I now have room for the bulky remote device, but I could plug everything else in at once (we used to rotate things out, so the fan or the baby monitor were only plugged in occasionally). Now that everything has power, this dresser is the quite the hub of activity.
But let’s not forget the best part. My mystical remote that makes light disappear right before our very eyes. Ooh. Ahh. (No strained arm muscles required.)
Of course, reaching for the remote on the dresser every night wouldn’t be much of an improvement. So with a little 3M velcro I stuck it to the side of our bed frame, where it’s 100% hidden from view beneath the bedspread after we make the bed.
I tell ya folks, this is the life.
And in case you’re wondering, I put one of the other remote outlets (since the set came with three total) in Sherry’s lamp so she doesn’t have to lift a finger to turn off her light either. Hers wasn’t as much of a stretch since it’s not set back in a nook, but I’m a gentleman, what can I say? It’s a far cry from the old days of negotiating who would have to get out of bed and hit the wall switch. Now I’m all “Oh, you must be tired honey. Let me get that light for you. You just rest.” #madhusbandpoints
I’m sure I’m not the only one who has added a simple techno fix that makes life a little easier. Are there any quick and handy updates going on in your house? Do you have The Clapper song in your head now? I do. Clap on. (Clap clap). Clap off. (Clap clap).
Psst- Today my lady wife is over on Style Me Pretty Living, just jabbering about “life behind the blog.”
Megan @ Monroe Makeshift says
I didn’t even know this existed! I can’t tell you how tired I am of reaching over the couch to turn lights on and off. And then there’s three pendants that I have to crawl under or behind furniture to plug in or switch on every time I want them on. Where do you find these fantastic little robots for $19???
YoungHouseLove says
Amazon of all places! There’s a link in the post if you’d like!
xo
s
Tami says
Love the “finished with the checking of the bags”!! One of the best movie scenes ever!!! LOL
Amanda says
This cracked me up! My fiance and I do the light switch negotiating every single night. Our solution was to put a lamp on his side of the bed, so now we have to turn the lamp on, then turn the fan light off across the room and once he gets into bed he turns the lamp off. It doesn’t sound like an improvement, but it is when you’re half asleep! I’ll have to look into getting this magical remote!
Kelly says
This post was really funny. Thanks for the giggles! :)
Kamantha says
We had the same problem so we got the GE Light Control Table Top Dimmer from Target. It can dim the lights or just turn them on or off. We mounted it right on the side of the dresser.
Amy @ drivethirtythree says
I know have “Who’s Johnny” stuck in my head.
thank you :)
alexis says
i recently bought this exact system after reading about it on lifehacker and use it to reset my router when it gets overwhelmed. so, not having to get off the couch and reach behind a cabinet to unplug and re-plug a router = *nerdjoy*!
Ginny @ Goofy Monkeys says
I haven’t tried the remote control ones, but for years I used dimmer/wired-remotes for my bedside light. I had the same issue – light to far to reach from the cozy comforts of the bed. Ikea had these dimmer/remote combo items where I could plug the lamp in and have the wire for the remote stretched over to the bed. Not super attractive, but it solved the problem.
I no longer have an issue, though because I got a Kindle Paperwhite and I can read in the dark now :)
Laura (Blogging Over Thyme) says
Awesome! I was wondering what the other buttons were for, haha. Glad Sherry gets a little luxury too! :)
Noelle says
I have one of those in our living room. There is no power outlet with a switch in our living room, just one eyeball light in front of the tv. I got so tired of climbing on the couch to turn the tall standing lamp on and off (especially in the dark). My husband bought it because he thought it was cool and it most definitely is. Our 5 year old has been able to turn that light on and off since he was 3. Ours has one little keyfab like a car remote and we have it hanging in the kitchen.
Mary says
That last pic of John pushing the button made me snort.
YoungHouseLove says
He’s the man.
xo
s
Kyra says
We are in the process of installing a remote feature to a set of pendant lamps that we are installing over our nightstands to free up some much needed real estate on the nightstands. Did I mention the pendants were free (from someone who never installed them and was just GIVING THEM AWAY!)? The remotes were a tad bit pricey, and the cost of materials for the hubs to install pendants in the bedroom were a factor, but overall it’s a great solution to the small-nightstand, don’t-want-to-get-out-of-bed-to-turn-off-the-lights problem.
Pamela says
Make the bed? Are you showing your house to prospective buyers?
YoungHouseLove says
Hahaha!
xo
s
Stephanie says
Nice little update! I thought you moved the furniture around longer ago than six months though, seems like it’s been that way for awhile. No wonder you were sick of it!
Kristy says
We’ve had this handy dandy outlet thingy for almost 2 years now, but I always store it with our Christmas stuff. Beats hurdling the Tree + presents + kids turning on and off the Christmas tree! Let’s just say “Momma doesn’t bend like that N-E-More!” Oh and my youngest thought I was super mom, he was amazed the first few times I turned it on or off. He thought I had mad skills, until he figured out the remote… :) I will definitely be digging this handy dandy thingy out of the Christmas box now. Who would’ve thought you could use it around the whole house?? {smacking head} Thanks so much for posting!
Christina @ Homemade Ocean says
I LOOOOVED MY CLAPPER!
Allison says
Awwwww, the first bit about having to get up to turn out the lights reminds me of Jerry and Holly arguing over turning out their bedroom light in PS I Love You!! <3 Love it!
YoungHouseLove says
Hahah!
xo
s
Gilit says
Haha we totally do the who-can-fake-sleeping-more-deeply thing! I mean I’m really sleeping when that happens. Every time.
Congrats on your robot…er…”system”
Heather says
Light remotes are the best! We use one for the lamps on either side of our TV so we don’t have to turn on/off two different lamps.
Kay says
Not to sound like a total weirdo but that last picture is very Clara-like! :) You can definitely see the resemblance!
heather says
The switch mounted on the bed is killing me with laughter. I love it but it feels like one of those switches for the adjustable beds = picture me picturing John at 80 when he’s only 30. I love it.
I hear you on the switch thing though. When we wired up the master bedroom we wired it so the switch turns on the lamps next to our beds and then we can just switchen them off when we’re done. No overhead light to compete with (at least on that circut, there will be one).
Belinda says
I totally thought this post was going to be a baby announcement. Welcome to the family remote light robot!
Joy says
We first found out about these remotes when we went looking for a timer for Christmas lights. They are pretty cool. Not as cool as your demonstration though. That was fun!!
Stacey @ Likes to Smile says
Wow. I think this one post just improved my quality of life. Going to order one now. Thank you!
keisha says
That’s awesome. Yay for velcro too to keep the remote close at hand. (And yay for a sloppy swish reference… made me do an in-my-brain LOL). :-)
Theresa says
It really is the little things. I’ve had a bedside light to read by for over, uh, well, let’s say a while. Always within a sleepy reach.
schmei says
I’m in the “was this a pregnancy announcement?” camp… but also, remote controls for the win.
Ashley@AttemptsAtDomestication says
This is awesome! The worst thing ever is having to get out of bed to turn off the light!
I love John’s recreation too!
Melanee says
We have moved several times. Each time, we install motion lights usually in the laundry room and closets. This makes us seem lazy, but man is it functional.
Julia says
Yup. we have motion lights in our walk-in closet, laundry room, and in the little mini-room in our master bathroom that just houses “the throne” – seriously love them.
Rachael says
This is the most awesome invention ever!!! P.S. I’m laughing that you mentioned the Harlem Shake because I just heard about it last week for the first time. I felt a little behind the times. Maybe the Petersik family can post their own version on Youtube, Burger included. ;)
Jenw says
They still make the clapper and we totally have one in our bedroom for just this reason. And our lamps aren’t even in nooks! But when you’re all cuddled down in bed rolling over to turn out the light just isn’t on the cards. :)
Lisa says
I don’t normally comment, but this had me chuckling.
#madfunnyson
Ashley says
All I have to say is AAHHHH Short Circuit movies are the best! I watched them all the time as a kid…
Nooo disassemble!!!!
My husband has never seen the Short Circuit films, and that is really a travesty. Thanks for reminding me to make him watch them… :)
Monica says
How did I not know these existed?? Currently, the baby’s room must be picked up before bed so that I can walk across the room, in the dark, and flip the nightlight on without tripping on something. And let’s not even discuss how many nightlights I bought for the rest of the apartment…
Amazon here I come!
lizaanne says
Our home is a typical Midwestern 1950s bungalow, with the upstairs being one long single room with the slanted ceilings. It’s a loooooong way from one end of the room to the other when we need to adjust the settings on the window fan in the middle of the night – so I was THRILLED when I found one of those skinny window units with two fans in it, and a bunch of useful settings (including a thermostat!!) at Costco — AND IT HAS A REMOTE!!!
Now we no longer have to have the nightly debate over who will turn the fan up or down, blowing in or out, off or on. I just reach for my remote in my middle of the night stupor and click away. Ahhhhh – techno bliss.
:-)
Peggy McKee says
I’m confused. You plugged the power strip into the wall outlet, the robot into the power strip and the lamp into the robot. You also plugged the charger, etc. into the power strip directly.
Are you saying that all items on the power strip are turned on/off by the robot–not just the lamp? Or did I misunderstand what is plugged into what?
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, everything on the power cord goes off, but there are two outlets in the wall (it’s a standard double outlet) so the fan can go into that and that won’t turn off at night.
xo
s
jessica says
But don’t you want your phone to charge overnight and your baby monitor on at night?
YoungHouseLove says
Sorry, I’m not being very clear. We don’t use the baby monitor unless family is staying with us (we can hear clara down the hall and she wakes us up, so we just turn it on if someone’s staying with us so we can respond at the first coo. That’s why it makes sense for the fan to be plugged into the wall and the rest into the power strip unless someone’s staying over (and in that rare event we might plug the monitor into the wall and the fan into the switch- we also have outlets on my side that we could put the monitor into, we just have been lazy since it’s not needed yet. As for phones charging overnight, we read in bed with the lights on for about an hour, so our phones charge and then we unplug them from the charger and don’t mind if it’s off (we hear it’s hard on the battery for phones to charge all night long anyway).
xo
s
Jessica says
OOOH! Good to know about the phones! I didn’t know that! I am definitely looking into that remote thing! Thanks for sharing!
Rebecca A. says
We have a Belkin power strip that has two outlets that remain on all the time and the rest can be turned off with a switch that can be stuck to the wall. We use it for the TV, PS2, Wii in the media center. It helps by turning off those “vampire” gadgets that still use power even though they are off. We turn it off each night and can easily turn on the next day (usually in the evening) when we want to watch TV. The DVR stays plugged in all the time because I don’t want to miss my Real Housewives.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, smart!
xo
s
Amy B. says
I love the pics of John reaching and then just smiling that he can push the button on the remote. Classic! And I loved the commercials with “The Clapper” but you forgot the best part at the end…clap on…clap off…THE CLAPPER!
Brenda says
I have a switch that I’ve used since college. I think it might actually be intended for Christmas lights (the cord is green), but I just plug one of my floor lamps into it and then that plug goes into my power strip. Instant light action without moving from bed. It was especially handy in college when my bed was lofted up really high and I needed light to be able to safely climb into bed.
Christina says
Totally just bought this! Love these little posts just as much as the big project posts! Thanks!
Julia says
What a simple easy fix!!! I found myself wanting something similar for our outdoor x-mas lights last December. Going outside to plug/unplug the lights was fine the first night, but it got really old after, oh, I don’t know, three days. Definitely will have to invest in something like this for next year.
Oh, and I totally loved the Meet the Parents reference. Best movie ever!!!
Holly says
We’ve got lights (and anything you can plug in for that matter) that we can control from our iphones! You just plug whatever you want to turn on and off into what’s called a z-wave outlet (I think). We’ve also got a vivint security system that we control it through, so that might have something to do with it…but if you ever feel like being Jetson, the z wave outlets are the trick!
Kate Rogge says
i got my husband the Clapper (mostly as a joke) but he, of course, installed it. Now it turns on and off at will throughout the night, but NEVER when we actually clap. #firstworldproblems
Tamrah Ryan says
Ha! This has me thinking about my husband’s “Lamp Commander” that he had set up in his dorm room in college. You had to say “lamp commander” and your command (like “lights on” or “lights dim”) to get your lamp to do what you wanted. He thought he was all cool until his buddies discovered it… Then they started coming by in the midle of the night (after a party or something) and would shout through the door for it to turn on. Needless to say, he started unplugging it before bed. Haha!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha!
xo
s
Stefani says
OMG I was named after that movie (no joke)! Thus the unusual and more phonetic spelling of my name – Johnny 5 calls Stephanie “Stef-ah-nee”.
I have the touch-lamps from Bed Bath. They came in a box of 2 for $20, so we have one for each nightstand. Before that we only had 1 and it was on my side, so it got old very fast, fumbling for the switch whenever he needed light. Lazy-lamps are the best!
Deews says
Love your name! kudos to your cool parents.
Patti says
Great idea! I just clicked on the link and bought one for our bedroom. We have the same problem about who should get out of bed and turn off the light. Problem solved. Thanks!
Gabby says
That last photo of John = Total Clara face. Spitting image. Anyone else see it?
YoungHouseLove says
I see it!
xo
s
Kim S says
My cousins had remotes for their bedroom lights and fans when we were little, and I seriously thought it was the coolest thing EVER. My husband and I were recently at Lowe’s looking at dimmer switches and when I saw the remotes all that childhood amazement (and maybe a little jealousy…haha) came back to me. Oh the things we remember, right?
Now if only they could make a remote to set the house alarm…that’s the one we’re always fake-sleeping to avoid getting up for. Sadly I usually lose because it’s on my side of the room!
Valerie says
I have a serious hatred for most overhead lighting, so we use a remote system for our lamps in our living room. It’s so convenient!
Just an FYI for anyone trying this out, these systems are very popular around Christmas time, but I doubt many people buy them for long-term use, because my hubby and I can always find a set in the deep discount post-Christmas sales.
This year, we found a GE set in which each of the 3 wall units has 2 outlets to use (what! unheard of!), which is insanely handy. So keep your eyes peeled during those sales!
YoungHouseLove says
Great tip!
xo
s
Melissa @ Loving Here says
We have a clapper! And Hubs LOVES it. He even wrote an entire post dedicated to how awesome of a gift it was! :)
http://lovinghere.com/awesome-gift/