Late last year IKEA quietly introduced a range of smart lights to its Australian stores. The Tradfri range of downlights, LED bench lights and globes are some of the cheapest and most versatile smart lights available, but getting started with Ikea lighting — much like assembling its flat pack furniture — can be daunting.

Smart light leader Philips sells a simple starter kit for the Hue, which includes a couple of bulbs and the necessary bridge to connect to your network. IKEA does not. Each item is sold individually, and even after reading the in-store guide a few times I was still confused as to what exactly I needed to buy. And I like to think I’m fairly good with technology.

So to break it down, at a bare minimum you’ll need a $49 Tradfri gateway. This plugs directly into your router and then connects to a remote or dimmer. Then you’ll need a remote ($25) or dimmer ($20).

I find the remote hideous but the dimmer is charmingly minimal; just a tiny little set of white disks that twist together to dim the lights.