( I’ve moved this to projects so you can get individualized responses based on your own preferences and requirements. 
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Different things work for different people, but the one thing I would say upfront is that I’ve found it works best for me if I judge each use case by what I need there. So I have some smart bulbs and some smart switches. The smart bulbs are mostly in table lamps, the ceiling fixtures are controlled by smart switches. This worked well at our house, but you might find something else works best for you.
The question of bulbs versus switches is an argument that is been going on since this forum started, and I don’t expect it will ever really end. There are passionate opinions on both sides. But, again, I’ve found that sometimes one is best, sometimes the other. Smart bulbs give you color changing options, which we have found helpful for notifications. A lot of people like a bulbwhich changes color temperature from cool white to warm white. And the bulbs can generally dim lower, for some technical reasons. We use smart bulbs or strips for our night lights, for example. And of course bulbs don’t require wiring.
Smart switches often cost less for large rooms and of course instantly solve the question of providing an intuitive alternative to go with the rules-based automation.
The following should be of interest:
One thing to note up front… There are now many different devices available to provide physical switch control of smart bulbs, so you can ignore any argument that says " people turn off the power at the switch, making the bulbs useless." That was originally a problem, but now definitely doesn’t have to be.
Finally, you might enjoy taking a look at the “get started” Quick browse list in the community – created wiki. Lots of interesting ideas there.