2026 Home & Decor Awards: Times of India Honors Indian Design

The Times of India has unveiled its Home & Decor Awards 2026, a program the paper describes as celebrating the people and ideas shaping India's spaces. The announcement names no specific categories, judges, dates or venue in the material reviewed for this report.

What Is the Home & Decor Awards 2026 Program?

The Times of India's announcement frames the 2026 edition as a recognition of designers and the ideas behind interior projects across the country, according to the outlet's own headline and framing. Beyond that framing, the published material does not specify how honorees are selected, what regions are eligible, or when a ceremony might take place. Readers looking for a submission process, judging panel names, or a category list will not find those details in the source announcement, and this report does not supply them where the paper has not.

Does the 2026 Awards List Include Smart Home Categories?

Nothing in the Times of India's announcement references connected lighting, home automation platforms, security systems, or any other technology-driven category. The program, as published, reads as a traditional design and decor recognition effort rather than one built around smart or connected residential technology. That gap matters for readers of this site: it means the 2026 awards, at least as announced, sit outside the automation and device-control coverage this desk typically tracks.

What Should Readers Watch For Next?

The Times of India has not yet published a fuller breakdown of categories or finalists tied to the 2026 program, based on the material available. Readers who want to track how this develops, or who follow connected-home news more broadly, have a few concrete things to watch.

• Whether the Times of India releases a category list or shortlist that names any connected-home, automation, or energy-management entries.
• Whether the paper discloses a judging panel or submission window for the 2026 cycle.
• Whether finalist profiles, once published, describe any technology-enabled residences alongside traditional design work.
• Separately, readers tracking device-level smart home news can follow this desk's recent coverage of a Matter protocol update aimed at simplifying device connectivity and guidance on naming smart home devices for readable automation scenes, both unrelated to the Times of India program but relevant to readers following the broader connected-home space this year.

This desk will update if the Times of India publishes additional detail on the 2026 program's categories or timeline.