2014 will go down in history as the year smart home technology went mainstream. Rapidly evolving security, entertainment, cleaning, and mobile technology have made home automation more affordable and easier to integrate than ever before. And this holiday season is the perfect time to give yourself and others the gift of smart home convenience.

Feel like you’re still living the Stone Age? No need to fret, there are ways to modernize almost every part of your home.

Front Door
Arms full of holiday shopping bags or hands covered in clunky gloves? Ditch fumbling with your keys in the cold and upgrade your front door with the Kwikset Kevo powered by UniKey.

Featuring Touch-To-Open technology, unlocking the front door is as simple as tapping your lock, without needing to remove your phone from your pocket.

Have holiday guests visiting? No problem! Send them an electronic key (eKey) to grant them instant access.

Living Room
A leading trend for audio products has been to make them as small and unobtrusive as possible.

For the music and home theater enthusiast, a smartly engineered pair of compact speakers, such as SVS Prime Satellite speakers, can produce big-time dynamics from a tiny cabinet so you can enjoy holiday classics without the bulky audio equipment.

Garage
Cleaning the garage used to be a pain, but smart home technology can make it quick and convenient.

For example, the mountable Vroom Garage Vac from H-P Products has an attached 40 foot hose that can help you remove sawdust, metal shavings, sand, debris and even tiny shreds of wrapping paper from the furthest reaches of any garage, basement, or workshop, eliminating the need for schlepping a bulky shop vac.

There now are smarter ways to keep garage messes under control and even vacuum the car.