Nearly every room of the house glows with a different color thanks to a state-of-the-art lighting system designed by Vibes. The team also installed indoor and outdoor speakers.
Writer: Lauren Day
Photographer: Chris Boeke
Picture this: A living room bathed in the glow of a Hawaiian sunset. A kitchen island shimmering under pendants lit Tiffany Blue. A home’s exterior decked out in red and green for the holidays or shining bright in team colors on game day.
That’s the daily (and nightly) reality for Kris McVicker, who can transform her new West Des Moines home with the push of a button. Thanks to a smart lighting system created by Vibes, a local lighting and audio-visual design company, McVicker can set any mood, from crisp brightness for a productive morning, cozy light for a quiet evening or dramatic bursts of color for a celebration.
McVicker comes from a family of creative designers and builders and is the owner of Marc Kris Modern Homes (so named to honor her late brother, Marc). When she designed her own home, in 2023, she knew she wanted white walls and a modern minimal look that felt like a mini-resort.
“Actually, she didn’t like the idea of colored lighting initially,” Vibes founder Joe Nichols said. “We were discussing her art collection, and that’s when the Ketra system became relevant. When we showed her the impact it has on the art, she was sold.”
“It was the best decision,” McVicker said. “It’s the future of design.”
In addition to choosing dramatic lighting fixtures, McVicker asked Nichols to design a full lighting experience. She initially imagined adjusting the brightness and warmth to suit different times of day, but Nichols showed her how Lutron’s Ketra system, paired with voice-activated Josh AI technology, could do much more. With thoughtfully placed fixtures and intuitive controls, McVicker can virtually paint each room — or the entire house — in any hue.
She “can ask Josh to change colors, create lighting scenes to set the mood and also control the blinds and audio system,” Nichols said. “Josh AI is remarkably smart.”
It’s so smart, in fact, that it can help her “visit” her favorite vacation spot in Oahu without even stepping out her front door. Even “without any programming or any scenes like that in the system, we’re able to ask Josh to make the entire house look like a Hawaiian sunset,” Nichols said. The AI technology dials every light in the house just so — pink, purple or gold — to replicate the tropical sky. It can even cue Hawaiian music to enhance the overall feel.
The effect is striking. In a home filled with carefully chosen materials and sleek furnishings, the lighting can be a showstopper. It’s an element of surprise, allowing the house to shift from everyday calm to party-ready spectacle.
That innovative design recently caught national attention. At a trade show this fall in Denver, the home won a Lutron Design Excellence Award for the best overall project from a new Lutron dealer. For Nichols, the recognition highlights not just the Vibes team’s technical achievement but their artistry.
For McVicker, it means her house feels like a home — bright, joyful and full of life.
“You can feel the frequencies of the colors. It just sets the mood, and it’s so unique,” she said. “It offers some light in the world when we really need it.”
With a simple voice command or the touch a button, the home owner can adjust the lighting to set a mood, from cool blue to neutral. Above the fireplace, the light plays off matte porcelain panels from Spain, offset by dark Spessart oak.
With Lutron’s Ketra lighting system, the colorful options are limitless, including red, white and Tiffany Blue. The trio of glass lanterns came from Projects Contemporary Furniture in the East Village.
The home’s main bathroom features splashes of color below the sinks, bright lights around the mirrors and an elegant firefly fixture from Projects Contemporary Furniture.
Contributing writer Lauren Day is a designer and stylist and owns Lauren Day Interiors.
