Why Use a Control4 Certified Showroom?

Published 28 August 2019 · Last reviewed 11 July 2026 · By SMC Custom Installs

A Control4 Certified Showroom is a dedicated demonstration space run by an independent dealer that has met Control4’s standards for home automation design and installation. Using one means you can try lighting scenes, multi-room audio, home cinema and security control hands-on before you commit, and you get your system designed and installed by professionals whose work Control4 has vetted. SMC Custom Installs runs a Control4 Certified Showroom in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, and has been installing smart home systems since 2006.

This article was first published in 2022 and reviewed in July 2026. The advice holds: the single best thing you can do before buying a smart home system is to use one in person.

What is a Control4 Certified Showroom?

Smart home automation makes daily life more convenient: one interface controls your lighting, entertainment, heating, blinds and security, and well-chosen automation adds genuine value to a property. But as with any significant investment, you want to know the system has been designed around your specific needs and installed by knowledgeable, fully trained professionals.

That is the problem Control4 Certified Showrooms exist to solve. They are dedicated spaces set up so you can see first-hand how smart home technology works in practice, with working demonstrations rather than brochure photographs. You can get hands-on with the actual keypads, remotes and touch panels you’re considering for your own home.

A showroom visit is particularly useful if you like the idea of smart products but worry they might be too technical or complicated for the rest of the household. Control4 systems are designed to be straightforward to live with, and ten minutes using one is far more reassuring than any amount of reading about it.

Why certification matters

Certification is not something a dealer can simply buy. Control4 limits Certified Showroom status to a select group of independent dealers worldwide, and each has had to prove its expertise in home automation design and installation against a set of published standards. Certified dealers have demonstrated they can deliver a home automation experience that actually works for customers, not just a box of hardware.

In practice that means the advice you get in a certified showroom comes from trained smart home professionals who design and install these systems every week, and who will still be there to support the system after handover.

What you can experience in the showroom

At a Control4 Certified Showroom you can immerse yourself in the systems as you would use them at home, rather than judging them from a spec sheet. Typical demonstrations include:

• Smart lighting: scene-based control that changes the character of a room at the press of a single keypad button. Our showroom also demonstrates Lutron lighting and motorised blinds working alongside Control4.
• Multi-room audio and video: the same music following you from room to room, or different sources playing in different zones, all from one interface.
• Home cinema: a working demonstration cinema where you can judge picture, sound and lighting scenes for yourself. See our home cinema solutions for what’s possible.
• Smart security: cameras, intercoms and alarm integration presented on the same interface as everything else.

The cinema demonstration is usually the one that settles the decision. Seeing a properly calibrated picture with mood lighting and hearing a full surround system in a treated room tells you more in five minutes than weeks of online research.

Visit our Shrewsbury showroom

We’ve been bringing homes to life with smart home systems since 2006, for clients across Shrewsbury, Shropshire and the surrounding counties. Our experienced staff can demonstrate the products you’re considering, answer your questions and explain how the different systems work together in one home.

Alongside our Control4 Certified Showroom status, we are an Arcam Centre of Cinematic Excellence, a Monitor Audio Platinum dealer and an authorised Lutron dealer, and our showroom includes a demonstration cinema and working Lutron lighting and blind control. Contact us to book a visit. Deciding which smart home products will genuinely benefit your family is much easier once you’ve used them.