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FIND YOUR DREAM HOME OR APARTMENT
7 ways to make your home more luxurious
By MSN Real Estate
Bio-Matic fingerprint recognition door locks by iTouchless Forgot your keys? Well, as long as you have your fingers on hand, you'll be able to open your front door with a Bio-Matic lock by iTouchless. Designed as much for security as for convenience, Bio-Matics unlock your door when the built-in optical scanner recognizes a fingerprint. Up to 150 fingerprint scans can be stored in the lock (iTouchless suggests scanning several prints for each user), which is completely reprogrammable — so when you decide you really shouldn't have given your mother-in-law access, you can just delete her prints. Bio-Matics are available in deadbolt and latch models for securing doors to the outside or to an interior room. The locks also include digital pass codes and conventional keys as backup systems.
By Rich Maloof, MSN Real Estate
More on MSN Real Estate
7 ways to make your home more luxurious
Wood cabinet wine chiller
by Avanti
If you're going to spend a few hundred dollars on a wine fridge, wouldn't it be nice if it didn't look like a dishwasher? Now the cooling technology of Avanti wine chillers is available in a credenza-style wood cabinet. This insulated chiller has a 46-bottle capacity and wooden racks that extend for ease of loading. An electronic unit within the enclosure controls and monitors temperature in two separate zones, so the 16 bottles of white in the upper zone can be chilled at one temperature, and the 30 bottles of red at another. This is a classy cooler that can reside in a dining room or living room, where you actually enjoy your wine.
7 ways to make your home more luxurious
Platinum Vision espresso machine
by Gaggia
Gaggia's Platinum Vision is the Ferrari of espresso makers, a graceful combination of design and functionality. A touch-screen on the stainless-steel face allows you to program options such as water temperature and cup size, and additional settings for grinding, brewing and tamping allow you to automate while still preparing a cup of espresso exactly to your liking. Features also include a water reservoir with filter, a topside cup-warming plate, and a "bypass doser" so you can brew the occasional cup of decaf without dumping all your caffeinated beans out of the hopper. Latte and cappuccino lovers will appreciate the optional Milk Island attachment for steaming milk at the turn of a knob. Gaggia's machine has the mark of Italian elegance and will turn the average joe into a world-class barista.
7 ways to make your home more luxurious
Zero Gravity massage chair
by Sanyo
Sink into Sanyo's Zero Gravity chair and it'll be a long time before you want to get back out. As you first recline, the chair "learns" where your areas of stiffness and tension are and then begins a 15-minute massage. Motors and rollers go to work with a remarkable capability to mimic the pressure and knot-kneading relief of a live masseuse. A remote control off the right armrest allows you to customize variables such as intensity and technique.
On the top-of-the-line HEC-DR7700K model, thumb-shaped rollers reach out from the chair to address stiffness in the neck and shoulders. Soft, synthetic black leather and a handsome design keep this Zero Gravity from looking like some kind of orthopedic device. With a calf massager and shiatsu foot massager built into the front, this is one chair that truly can boast head-to-toe comfort.
7 ways to make your home more luxurious
E-light Indoor/Outdoor Entertainment Light
by Infocomm
E-light combines audio speakers and lights in a unique design that is just too cool for school. The compact unit resembles a small flying saucer, and casts light downward from the six LED lamps on its underbelly. Behind the grille of the upper rim hides a set of speakers, so you simply connect your MP3 player (or any other audio source) using the included cable and E-light becomes a stereo.
Designed for both indoors and out, the unit can detach from its desk-lamp base and be mounted on an umbrella post. E-light charges on the lamp base, so when you're ready to move the party outside you have about six hours of power for your speakers and light.
7 ways to make your home more luxurious
Bistro table patio heater
by Desa
Have you heard? Outdoors is the new indoors. As homeowners transport living-room luxuries to the back patio, one consideration is staying warm. Several outdoor heaters are on the market already, but most are obtrusive eyesores. Desa's Bistro table, on the other hand, generates ambient heat with a nod to interior décor. The table top is at standard bar height, and its 360-degree heat distribution provides a warming zone for anyone sitting on a barstool or standing within a few feet. With a propane cylinder (like the kind used in a gas grill) housed in the base, the Bistro delivers heat where you need it.
7 ways to make your home more luxurious
AromaSteam
Enjoying a steam is a real luxury, typically reserved for vacations or long Sundays at the gym. AromaSteam, though, is a portable pod that makes it possible to take a steam just about anywhere within reach of a plug. The collapsible capsule requires only 4 square feet of floor space, so it can fit into the corner of a spare room, den or even a good-sized bathroom. The plastic walls and top attach easily to the base, which encloses the water reservoir and a receptacle for aromatherapy oils (though you don't have to use them). Add a few pints of water, and in about 10 minutes your private steam is ready.
