Should I commit to a single lighting ecosystem or mix brands and plan zones?

[AbigailHJ]

I'm renovating my home and want to implement smart home lighting throughout, but I'm stuck between choosing a single ecosystem like Philips Hue for reliability or mixing cheaper brands via a central hub, and I'm unsure how to plan the lighting zones for both practical daily use and creating different moods for entertaining. I'm particularly interested in ideas that go beyond just voice control, like automated scenes that change with the time of day or motion sensors for hallways and closets, but I'm worried about overcomplicating the setup. For those who have fully integrated smart lighting, what was your overall strategy for selecting products and planning the installation? How do you balance aesthetics with functionality, and what are some of the most useful automations or scenes you've created that you now couldn't live without?