Designing your first Home Assistant dashboard layout

Designing a Home Assistant dashboard can feel fiddly at first. I built my first one to control lights, heating and a few sensors. I used YAML so the layout matched how I live, not how a card builder thought I should live. This guide shows the exact steps I took, with concrete examples, YAML snippets and sharing tips for GitHub or Reddit.

Getting Started with Your Home Assistant Dashboard

Understanding the Basics of Home Assistant

Home Assistant organises devices as entities. Each entity has an entity_id and a state. A dashboard, often called a Lovelace dashboard, is a collection of cards that present entities and controls. You can edit dashboards via the UI or with YAML. I prefer YAML for repeatability and version control. You will still use the UI for quick tweaks.

Setting Up the Environment for Your Dashboard

1. Back up your current Home Assistant configuration. Copy the config directory or create a snapshot.
2. Create a new Lovelace dashboard in the UI: Settings → Dashboards → Add Dashboard. Give it a clear name.
3. Open the dashboard, click the three dots, choose Raw configuration editor. This gives a single place to paste YAML if you prefer raw editing.
4. If you plan to keep YAML in files, place them in config/ui-lovelace.yaml or point your installation at a custom location. Keep a versioned copy in a Git repo.

What I keep close to hand:

• entity ids list from Developer Tools → States.
• a simple folder in my Git repo called ha-dashboard with screenshots and the YAML file.
• a test device to confirm controls actually operate.

Key Components of a Home Assistant Dashboard

• Entities: lights, sensors, switches, climate. Each appears as entity_id: light.kitchen.
• Cards: entity, glance, button, thermostat, picture-elements, markdown.
• Views: top-level tabs in the dashboard. Each view has a path, title and cards.
• Themes: optional CSS-like tweaks for colours. Keep them small and targeted.

Example of a minimal view in YAML:
yaml
title: My Home
views:

• title: Ground floor
  path: ground
  cards:
  • type: entities
    title: Essentials
    entities:
    • light.kitchen
    • switch.hallway
    • sensor.temperature_living

Save, then reload the dashboard. If a card throws an error, the raw editor flags the issue. Tweak the YAML until the editor accepts it.

Customizing Your Dashboard Layout

Choosing the Right Layout for Your Needs

Start with purpose. I split mine by function: Essentials, Rooms, and Scenes. Each view contains 6–10 cards. Try to keep a view readable on a phone and a tablet. Use a grid-style card or stacked cards to group related controls.

Practical choices I made:

• Use a glance card for quick status: temperature, front door, boiler.
• Use a picture-elements card for a floor plan, with taps mapped to lights.
• Use a thermostat card for the main heating zone.

Aim for predictable placement. Put frequently used controls on the first view.

Using YAML Configuration for Personalisation

YAML gives the cleanest, repeatable layout. Below is a compact example that combines an entities card and a button card for a scene:

yaml
title: Home Assistant Dashboard
views:

• title: Living
  path: living
  cards:
  • type: entities
    title: Sensors
    entities:
    • entity: sensor.living_temp
      name: Living temp
    • sensor.living_humidity
  • type: button
    name: Movie mode
    tapaction:
    action: callservice
    service: scene.turnon
    servicedata:
    entityid: scene.moviemode

How I edit YAML day-to-day:

1. Modify YAML in a local editor with linting for proper indentation.
2. Commit the change in Git with a clear message.
3. Paste into the Raw configuration editor and save, or push to the device and reload with Configuration → Server Controls → Reload Lovelace (if supported).
4. Test the control: trigger the button or check the sensor values.

Verification tip: after editing, click an action on the dashboard and confirm the entity state changes in Developer Tools → States. For scenes, check the scene entity in the states list and confirm the expected entities switch state.

Integrating Automation Scenes and Controls

Scenes and automations are the backbone of interaction. Use scene entities in buttons and use input_booleans for temporary toggles.

Example of exposing a scene and an automation trigger:
yaml

• type: entities
  title: Scenes and Automations
  entities:
  • scene.movie_mode
  • automation.night_lights

If you want a single-tap control that runs multiple actions, create a script. Then reference that script in a button card. Scripts are easier to version than complex automation triggers.

Sharing Your Dashboard with the Community

I published my YAML to GitHub and posted a screenshot and the link on Reddit. Make a small README that covers:

• Where to place the YAML file in a standard Home Assistant config.
• Required integrations and entity ids to change.
• A quick install example using raw editor copy/paste.

For social posts, use bullet points:

• Screenshot of the dashboard.
• Link to the GitHub repo.
• List of top 5 integrations used.
• Short note on what the dashboard controls.
• Ask for layout tips or card suggestions.

If you share on Reddit, include a comment in the repo that outlines any manual entity id mapping. That reduces copy-paste errors for others.

Seeking Feedback and Iterating on Your Design

Collect precise feedback. Ask for suggestions on a specific part of the UI, not general praise. I asked for comments on my picture-elements layout and got a useful reply about hitbox sizes.

Iterate like this:

1. Deploy a small change, such as swapping a glance card for a custom button card.
2. Run the change for a few days.
3. Measure utility by checking how often the entity state changes after use, or simply note if the control is used regularly.
4. Keep changes small and reversible.

Concrete adjustments that often help:

• Increase icon size on frequently tapped buttons.
• Group motion sensors on one view to speed diagnosis.
• Add a dedicated view for automation scenes so the first view stays uncluttered.

Final takeaways: start simple, pick two or three views, use YAML for repeatable layout, store the YAML in Git and test each change by checking entity states. A tidy dashboard gives fast control and fewer accidental taps.