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Anton Frolov turned a commissioned illustration of his home into a Home Assistant dashboard, placing device controls and status information over the artwork. His account describes the design and technical setup; it does not establish how widely the approach is being adopted or whether it has changed household usage beyond his own experience.
Anton Frolov has turned a hand-drawn illustration of his house into a Home Assistant dashboard, layering animated device images, controls and status information over the artwork. In his report, Frolov says the custom interface was intended to make smart-home controls more appealing to other members of his household, who had not wanted to use his previous dashboard.
Frolov says he had been automating his home with Home Assistant, an open-source smart-home platform, for about a year. Many routines ran automatically, including switching off air conditioners when the household left and adjusting sprinkler run time according to weather. But some tasks still required a person to use an app. Garden lights were one example: a timer turned them off, and blinking lights warned that the timer was nearly finished so someone could extend it in the app.
He considered a physical switch but said it would not address every use case, including the timer, and some devices were easier to manage through an app. Instead, he commissioned an environment artist to draw the home. For the brief, Frolov supplied an architectural plan, room photographs, visual references, examples of dashboards and technical requirements. He asked for separate day and night versions and device artwork on individual layers, including still images for off states and short animation loops for on states.
In the implementation described in the report, the illustration serves as the background of Home Assistant’s picture-elements card. Image elements show devices, while icons and state labels display controls and readings; conditional elements can appear or disappear according to device state. Frolov says the artwork files needed a shared canvas size and fixed placement so the layers would align. The supplied source excerpt ends while describing how the device images change with state, so it does not provide the complete configuration or the remainder of his technical explanation.
A More Approachable Smart-Home Interface
The project illustrates one way to make an existing smart-home system easier to read: show devices in the rooms where they are located, rather than presenting controls only as a list of names or tiles. That visual layout may help household members recognize lights, climate controls and other equipment without learning the dashboard’s organization first. Frolov says his family had not used his previous interface and that the illustrated version was one the household enjoyed using.
The account is a personal project report, not a controlled test of usability. It does not provide usage figures, feedback from other households or a comparison showing that the new design reliably increases smart-home engagement. Its practical contribution is a documented approach: commission artwork with interactive layers in mind, then use a built-in Home Assistant card to put controls and state information over it.
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From Automation to a House Plan
Frolov’s project grew out of a gap between automation and manual control. He had set up routines to reduce everyday interaction, but garden lights still required app access, and the previous dashboard had not attracted other household users. He also described the sprinkler as a device that can be awkward to operate manually because someone might have to run back inside after starting it.
He first explored floor-plan dashboards, including 3D layouts and a pixel-art style. He says 3D examples he saw often used static models with interactive icons layered on top, while pixel art could require drawing elements or arranging sprites by hand. After finding an environment artist whose work suited the project, he prepared a reference package and a technical brief. He says locating an artist, explaining the requirements and preparing that material accounted for much of the project’s work.
“This is my Home Assistant dashboard, and for the first time, it’s one the whole family actually enjoys using.”
— Anton Frolov, in his report
What the Report Does Not Establish
The supplied report does not state when it was published, identify the illustrator, disclose the project’s cost or give a complete list of supported devices. The excerpt also cuts off before Frolov finishes explaining how animated images are connected to device states, so the full setup cannot be reconstructed from the supplied text alone.
Frolov’s statement that the family enjoys the dashboard is his account of the project’s reception. The material includes no survey, usage data or independent assessment showing how often relatives use it, whether it reduced reliance on apps, or whether the illustrated interface would work as well for other homes. It also does not say whether the artwork or configuration has been published for others to reuse.
The Remaining Setup Details
The source material does not announce a product launch, wider release or planned follow-up. The next practical step for readers interested in the approach is to consult Frolov’s original report for any additional configuration details beyond the supplied excerpt, then decide whether commissioning custom artwork fits their own home and budget. His account points to the main preparation requirements: define the visual states, request properly aligned layers and plan how those assets will map to Home Assistant controls.
Whether Frolov will share a complete dashboard configuration or further results is not stated. For now, the development is a personal example of combining custom illustration with Home Assistant’s picture-elements card, rather than a new feature announced by the platform.
Key Questions
What did Anton Frolov build?
He used a custom illustration of his house as the background for a Home Assistant dashboard, with device images, controls and status information layered over it.
How does the illustrated dashboard work?
Frolov says it uses Home Assistant’s picture-elements card. The artwork is the background, while image, icon, state-label and conditional elements provide device visuals and information. The supplied excerpt does not include the complete configuration.
Why did he commission an illustrator?
Frolov says other members of his household did not want to use his earlier dashboard. He hoped a room-based illustrated interface would make controls such as garden lights easier and more appealing to use.
What artwork files did the project require?
His brief requested day and night versions, separate device layers with off and on states, and artwork exported on a shared canvas so the pieces would line up. He also describes converting animation frames to WebP himself and says he could have requested that format from the artist.
Is there evidence the dashboard works better for other households?
No broader evaluation is included. The report records Frolov’s experience and his account of his family’s response, but provides no comparative usage data or independent testing.
Source: hn
