Simplicity KC is a Kansas City metro smart-home and AV integration firm founded in 2008 by Joe Acree, ranked as the number 1 Crestron Platinum Elite Dealer in the Midwest. The firm is headquartered in Stilwell, KS, with a showroom in Overland Park, and serves the Kansas City metro on high-end residential work along with select commercial and hospitality projects. For Kansas City metro homeowners who want a Crestron program built to the same engineering standard as a coastal luxury market, Simplicity KC is the Restrepo Group's local integrator, backed by the Crestron Platinum Elite tier that ranks it first in the region. A founder-led firm with an 18-year track record and Crestron's own published case study on its work is the profile this spotlight covers. (simplicitykc.com) Restrepo Group | Simplicity KC | Kansas City Metro.
Simplicity KC runs home theater, distributed audio, lighting control, motorized shading, networking, and whole-home automation under one roof, the model Joe Acree has run since founding the company in 2008.
Joe Acree and the Path to Simplicity KC
Joe Acree founded Simplicity KC in 2008 after 15 years in telecommunications engineering, building cellular infrastructure and data transmission systems before moving into home technology full time. That background shows in how he frames the work: less about selling gadgets, more about a system that holds up over time. Simplicity KC became a full-time company in 2012 as demand for smart-home work grew, and the firm has operated in the Kansas City metro since.
Acree has a public profile as a thought leader beyond his own client work. He authored a bylined piece for Crestron's own blog, "Technology for Teen Spaces in the Home," published in July 2022, on entertainment, e-learning setups, and wellness-focused lighting and climate automation for teen bedrooms. (Crestron) He was also quoted in a Forbes piece on wellness design for teen mental health, cited via Crestron's own recap of the story.
Acree's design philosophy, in his own words from a 2023 feature on his work: "We sit down and start finding out what would be the most amazing experience for their lifestyle... A lot of people don't really budget for these things before they come in, but you do get what you pay for." (Design KC Magazine)
Crestron Platinum Elite: What That Ranking Means
Crestron Platinum Elite is the top tier of Crestron's dealer ranking pyramid, a status held by only a few dozen dealers nationally. It is not a marketing badge Crestron hands out. It is calculated from annual sales volume, certification depth across a dealer's technicians, and demonstrated engineering competency on delivered projects.
Simplicity KC is ranked number 1 in that tier for the Midwest, a hard credential, not a claim the firm invented for its own website. Crestron itself backed that standing by publishing an official case study on Simplicity's work, titled "Bringing His Own Skills to the Smart Home," profiling the Shapiro Residence project in Kansas City, MO. (Crestron case study) A manufacturer does not build a case study around a dealer's project unless the engineering holds up to scrutiny. Design KC Magazine independently described the firm as "a certified Crestron retailer for many years," corroborating the same standing from outside Crestron's own materials.
The Shapiro Residence: A Design KC Feature
The Shapiro Residence is a named, verified project, confirmed independently by three sources: the Crestron case study, a Design KC Magazine feature titled "Amazing Automation" (Summer 2023, by Lisa Waterman Gray), and Joe Acree's own byline work. The home is a roughly 9,200 to 9,600 square foot contemporary residence in the Kansas City and Overland Park area, built around whole-home Crestron Home OS automation covering lighting, entertainment, climate, and security.
The system includes a home theater with over a 130-inch cinema screen and a multi-speaker surround setup (sources give slightly different specs on speaker count and screen size, likely the same project revisited over time). Outdoor living carries Crestron DM NAX 8-zone amplified landscape audio around a quarter-mile walking path and pool, automated fire bowls, and an outdoor kitchen with retractable screens and 360-degree sound. The home also has a wine room with individual display lighting and a car-collection display room with radiant floor heating, reflecting the homeowner's involvement in auto racing. Josh.ai voice control layers onto the Crestron system for hands-free control of doors, fireplaces, and patio screens. (Crestron case study, Design KC Magazine)
In the Crestron case study, Acree describes the client relationship directly: "Crestron Home allows us to incorporate all of our client's requests, no matter the scope, and create an enjoyable user experience that blends with the home's stunning contemporary design."
Services and Named Brands
Simplicity KC's residential scope covers home theater, distributed whole-home audio, automated and controlled lighting, motorized window shading, wired and wireless networking, surveillance and security, and whole-home automation built around Crestron Home. On the commercial and hospitality side, the firm works on hotel spaces, ballrooms, meeting rooms, video conferencing, training spaces, bars and restaurants, point-of-sale systems, and smart building operations.
The named brands on Simplicity KC's own site are Crestron as the smart-home control platform, Sonance for architectural speakers, and Roon for music streaming and whole-home audio. Josh.ai voice control appears in the Crestron case study and the Design KC feature as a layer Simplicity integrates alongside Crestron Home on select projects.
The Kansas City Metro Footprint
Simplicity KC is headquartered at 19535 Metcalf Ave, Suite D, in Stilwell, KS, with a showroom at 6700 W 121st Street, Suite 103, in Overland Park, KS. From those two locations, the firm serves the Kansas City metro directly, with named service-area towns including Overland Park, Leawood, Mission, Olathe, Shawnee, Lee's Summit, and Liberty.
Simplicity KC has been a recurring presence at the Kansas City area's biennial Artisan Home Tour, a parade-of-homes-style event that both the Crestron case study and the Design KC feature cite as a discovery channel that connected clients to the firm's work. That kind of local visibility, tied to named projects, is what separates a firm with real metro-wide presence from one that just lists towns on a website.
Simplicity KC in the Restrepo Group
Simplicity KC is the local lead voice in the Kansas City metro. Restrepo is the engineering and standards layer the Restrepo Group shares across its member firms: programming standards, network templates, rack builds, and escalation paths that keep a Crestron system supportable years after installation. Simplicity KC taps into that layer for peer engineering review, standardized documentation, and a cross-market technician bench when a large system needs depth beyond what one local team can staff in a given week.
Restrepo brings its own credentials to that shared engineering layer: Elite Pro Crestron Dealer, HTA Luxury Certified, OSHA Certified, and Ubiquiti UISP/Pro. Those certifications belong to Restrepo alone. They apply to the Group's shared programming standards, not to the local firm's own license or its own client relationships in its own market.
"Joe was building luxury Crestron before most of us knew what an XPanel was. Simplicity KC being top of the Platinum Elite list in the Midwest is exactly the peer bench the Group is built on. He teaches me things every conversation." — Michael Restrepo, Founder, Restrepo Innovations
Restrepo Group | Simplicity KC | Kansas City Metro.
FAQ
Who is Simplicity KC?
Simplicity KC is a Kansas City metro smart-home and AV integration firm founded in 2008 by Joe Acree. The firm is ranked the number 1 Crestron Platinum Elite Dealer in the Midwest and designs, installs, and supports home theater, lighting control, motorized shading, networking, security, and whole-home automation for residential and select commercial and hospitality clients. Simplicity KC is a member of the Restrepo Group.
Where is Simplicity KC located?
Simplicity KC is headquartered at 19535 Metcalf Ave, Suite D, Stilwell, KS, with a showroom at 6700 W 121st Street, Suite 103, Overland Park, KS. The firm serves the Kansas City metro, including Overland Park, Leawood, Mission, Olathe, and Shawnee.
What is Crestron Platinum Elite?
Crestron Platinum Elite is the top tier of Crestron's dealer ranking pyramid, held by a small number of dealers nationally based on annual volume, certification depth, and engineering competency. Simplicity KC is ranked number 1 in that tier for the Midwest, a distinction Crestron itself has backed with a published case study on the firm's work.
How does Simplicity KC fit the Restrepo Group?
Simplicity KC is the Restrepo Group's Kansas City metro anchor, led locally by Joe Acree. Restrepo Innovations supplies the shared engineering layer, programming standards, and peer technician bench, while Simplicity KC owns the client relationship and execution in its own market under its own license and certifications.
How do I contact Simplicity KC for a Kansas City metro project?
Simplicity KC can be reached through simplicitykc.com or by visiting the Overland Park showroom at 6700 W 121st Street, Suite 103. The firm operates by appointment, Monday through Friday, and serves smart-home and AV projects across the Kansas City metro.
Next step
For a smart-home or AV project in the Kansas City metro, visit simplicitykc.com or the Overland Park showroom.
For projects outside the KC metro or for cross-market coordination through the Restrepo Group, call Restrepo Innovations at 201.405.2022 or email office@restrepoinnovations.com.