Gadgets are not a focal point in Circa founder Matt Galligan's home — but that doesn't make his space any less connected. From Philips Hue programmable colored lights to a network of Sonos speakers for indoor and outdoor surround sound, Matt's San Francisco apartment is what most of us dream of how we'll live in the future.

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In fact, his space is in part inspired by a trip to Disney World's Future World many years ago when home automation was already being imagined.

While Matt's Philips Hue app controls his colored lights, he can set regular lights with SmartThings to turn on, say, after sunset or when he expects to be home in the evening. The Sansaire, funded on Kickstarter last September, is a more accessible take on the sous vide method, which rose to prominence in the 1970s as a better way to prepare foie gras.

Mashable got a tour of Matt's home to see how he's applying connected living to his personal space and how gadgets change the way he cooks and entertains.

Q&A With Matt Galligan, CEO/Founder Circa

Image: Gustavo Fernandez, Mashable

How did Circa start?

Circa started in late 2011, after meeting up with my friend Ben Huh and talking through some problems that we perceived in news — both how news was being done and how we were consuming it. We realized two big things: News wasn't being built for mobile, where we have dramatically different usage and time, and news always seemed to have amnesia, never able to know what we've already read and showing only what's new to us. We wanted to build the news products that would fit our lifestyles and hopefully many, many others'.

Image: Gustavo Fernandez, Mashable

What neighborhood are you in, and what appealed to you about your space?

I live in a neighborhood called SOMA, short for "South of Market" — home to Twitter, Airbnb, Pinterest, and my company, Circa. When I moved to San Francisco a little over three years ago I was looking for a place with a big open layout, kind of a warehouse feel. It felt like a bit of luck, but the place that I ended up in was the first I checked out, immediately seeming like the right fit. Plus it's right next door to an amazing coffee shop called Sightglass, and my favorite bar in the city, City Beer Store.

Image: Gustavo Fernandez, Mashable

What's the first product you show off to guests when they come over?

More than anything, I wanted the connected products that I have to fade into the background so that it doesn't feel overbearingly "gadgety." My Sonos system is easily my favorite connected gadget — music just permeates my place at all hours. Being a musician myself, I can hardly go an hour without listening to something. The lighting system I've set up consists of some of Philips Hue lights with SmartThings powering a few others. While guests may notice the light colors and music, the devices themselves aren't seen.

Image: Gustavo Fernandez, Mashable

How do you discover new products?

Uncrate is a blog I religiously visit. They're always extremely on top of the best new gadgets, products and random other things. Beyond that, I'm always trying to see what my friends are enjoying. Because the home is inherently a very personal space, I consider any products that people rave about in the home to be something I need to check out.

Image: Gustavo Fernandez, Mashable

Walk us through a typical day.

I'm an early bird — usually up with the sunrise around 6 a.m. While I'll check my phone for anything that's an emergency, I do my best to leave it on the charger and go about my morning without digging in yet. My favorite morning ritual has got to be making coffee — I just love the process and obviously the end result. Before I head to work I try to just go lo-fi for a bit and either read a book or a graphic novel — the latter of which is great because it's possible to finish the whole thing in a few days of short reading stints.

Image: Gustavo Fernandez, Mashable

Image: Gustavo Fernandez, Mashable

Next is getting to work — Circa's office is only four blocks from my place, so it's a quick walk. My evenings usually consist of getting together with friends, cooking some dinner, and just winding down with some TV or time spent on my patio. One thing that's been a great addition to my cooking routine is this thing called Sansaire, which is this cool gadget that cooks food to perfection by using a water bath. I'm able to drop in some vacuum sealed meat in the morning that's been frozen, and come home to a perfectly cooked medium-rare steak at the end of the day. I love cooking and this has been such a game-changer gadget for someone like me who's busy but still wants to eat well.

Image: Gustavo Fernandez, Mashable

How do you describe your personal style, when it comes to your home.

Growing up, I always had a big influence in my life when it came to interior design: my mother. As a side job, she would hang wallpaper and do general interior design for folks. From as early as I can remember I was fascinated by what goes into making a home personal and attractive. I'd describe my personal home style as MoMA mashed up with Mad Men. Tasteful, classic, sometimes with a contemporary twist. Most importantly though, I like to host friends. Growing up with a giant extended family in Central Illinois, we were always either hosting or going to another relative's place to share a meal and spend time. Even though I'm half a country away from my family now, I wanted to have a space that would allow me to carry on similar traditions with my friends.

Image: Gustavo Fernandez, Mashable

Image: Gustavo Fernandez, Mashable

Do you see your home getting more connected? What's next for you?

No doubt. When I was a kid, my family traveled from Illinois where I grew up, to Florida and went to Disney World. They had this place there called "Innoventions" where they had this exhibit called the "House of the Future" which blew my mind. Devices that could talk to each other, home automation, music everywhere, incredible lighting and all. Mind you, this was nearly 15 years ago. So since I was small, I always dreamed of having a place like that. Next up will be some more automation using SmartThings to power the remainder of my lights that aren't connected. I'd love to get some sort of smart lock, but unfortunately my door isn't compatible.

Image: Gustavo Fernandez, Mashable

Image: Gustavo Fernandez, Mashable

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