Demonstrating its commitment to building the best outdoor grills and ovens as well as to the constant improvement of existing cooking products, Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet has taken the revolutionary hybrid fire grill design and made it even easier to switch between gas and charcoal cooking. The reengineered drawers now offer better performance and greater simplicity. A single design delivers improved gas cooking thanks to carefully placed perforations and angled surfaces. When cooking with wood or charcoal, the new fire drawer is now easier to clean. It also holds smaller pieces of wood and charcoal, so you can use lump charcoal and get more smoke out of your wood chips. And of course, you don't need to change drawers when going with gas from charcoal.

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New hybrid fire drawer design from Kalamazoo is a post from: Spincycle Home Appliances

To boldly use what no man has used before - the design competition that spawned DustMate Shoes and the FlatShare fridge announces 2010 theme.

Electrolux Design Lab 2010 invites design students to compete for a six-month paid internship and prize money by submitting ideas that consider shrinking domestic spaces. The brief specifically seeks solutions that address how people will prepare and store food, wash clothes, and do dishes in the homes of 2050, when 74%* of the global population are predicted to live in an urban environment.

"Now in its eight year, Electrolux Design Lab offers the designers of tomorrow an opportunity to test themselves and gain valuable insight in to the world of commercial product design" says Henrik Otto, SVP of Global Design at Electrolux. "This year we’re looking for concepts that consider the way we use domestic space. The ideas need to be green, adaptive to time and space and allow for individualization."

September finals in London
Eight finalists will be invited to participate in the final event in London to present their entries to a jury of expert designers. The jury will consider entries based on intuitive design, innovation and consumer insight when awarding the first prize of a six-month paid internship at an Electrolux global design centre and 5,000 Euros. A second prize of 3,000 Euros and third prize of 2,000 Euros are also on offer.

Deadline for entry is May 1, 2010 via the Electrolux Design Lab website.

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Electrolux Design Lab 2010 – The 2nd Space Age is a post from: Spincycle Home Appliances

According to Thom Filicia, award-winning interior designer and host of Style Network’s “Dress My Nest,” who put his observations into practice with a recently rolled-out refrigerator line for Amana, “People are feeling more confident, and they want color that’s fresh and optimistic but still grounded and earthy.”

What’s more, the mixing and matching of favorite colors and patterns, which is a given in apparel and other rooms of the home, has finally migrated to America’s kitchens. “Consumers are no longer necessarily buying their kitchen appliances in matching suites,” Filicia observed. “People like eclecticism, and they’re mixing it up by bringing more personality and an emotional connection into the kitchen.”

“Appliances don’t have to match,” he said. “They just need to coordinate and look good.”

Filicia, who gained national celebrity as a member of the personal makeover squad in TV’s “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” said examples of this new kitchen eclecticism can be found in appliances from Viking, Jenn-Air and Amana, which employ a host of finishes and colors.

His own refrigerator collection for Amana includes such designs as Green Tea, a leaf pattern inspired by room color; Mojo, a striped design with bold colors; Inked, an etched pattern suggestive of body art; and Corduroy, which was inspired by classic fashion and textured like fabric.

“The refrigerator has become part of the fashion of the home,” Filicia said.

The kitchen connection was underscored by a recent Amana survey of 1,000 consumers, who identified it as the No. 1 room they would most like to see get a design facelift. The majority of respondents also identified the kitchen as the hub of their home, and while nearly a third chose the room as the best for entertaining, only 17 percent believe their kitchen best represents their sense of style, suggesting new opportunities for appliance manufacturers.

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New Refrigerator Design Reflects Consumers’ Attitudes is a post from: Spincycle Home Appliances

The hood

The oven

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Futuristic kitchen appliances from De Dietrich Design Contest is a post from: Spincycle Home Appliances