Design is not just being done by designers in the design studio, but also happens in the use situation. This design-in-use extends beyond the human user: (automated) artifacts participate in this. This ongoing critical design project raises the question: what would a smart thermostat look like that very clearly participates in design-in-use? Three design concepts are based on figures of speech that are generally used to refer to what designers do. There is a smart thermostat that frames, one that tinkers, and one that produces and rewrites scripts. The first one is based on the well-known design activity of framing and reframing situations, as articulated by e.g., Bateson and Schön. The second design concept is based on tinkering, a design activity where the goal is to explore, by trial and error, how something works and can be improved. The final concept uses script: the idea that every designed artifact embodies an idea of how humans should interact with it. Each of the design concepts is a playful embodiment and variation of figures of speech that we normally use when talking about human designers. The goal of this project is to contribute to awareness and discussions of design-in-use and the role of artifacts in an increasingly automated and connected everyday. It also contributes to an improved articulation of design spaces in more-than-human design-in-use.