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High fashion hot plate

At the root of every beautiful design is an artist who knows a little bit about camouflage. When I look at gadgets like this stunning Kalura hot plate, I'm reminded that, no matter how simple its intended use, every contraption deserves to be pretty.

The electric hot plate was designed by Meda Alberto with help from Gozzi Alberto. Meda, who studied mechanical engineering at Milan Polytechnic in the 1960s, began studying new materials in more recent decades as a way to apply his knowledge of polyurethane resins. He's won two Compasso d'Oro awards, prestigious industrial design honors … Read more

Keeping your spices fresh

Every good cook knows that the secret to making spices last longer is to store them properly. Thankfully, someone has decided to create a storage solution that lets you do just that without sacrificing your sense of style.

Designer Giovannoni Stefano has brought us the Happy Spices spice container series. The cups are airtight to preserve the freshness of the spices, and you can determine the spice inside by looking at the plastic feature on the lid. There are two cute twig-and-leaf-adorned containers that can be used for leaf, fragment, or powdered spices; a container for whole chili peppers that … Read more

Add aesthetic to your kitchen

Philippe Starck designed the original Hot Bertaa Kettle for Alessi in 1989: the company's CEO, Alberto Alessi, considers it his favorite design fiasco. Alessi pulled the kettle from the market in 1997 because of its complex valve system--turning those still available into collectors items overnight. But this year, Alessi had Starck reinterpret his design in miniature. The result is the Miniature Hot Bertaa Kettle. This kettle is a 1:3 scale model of the original and is part of a line of iconic designs from the past 60 years that Alessi has re-released, including work from Carlo Alessi, Michael … Read more

Looking good while cleaning up

No, it's not a bionic dolphin. But we did consider opening a contest to see if anyone could guess what it was.

The latest offering from Italian design factory Alessi is actually a handheld vacuum cleaner. As typical of the work by the uber-design house, the "SG 67" shuns the utilitarian or mechanical forms of its competitors and opts instead for the sleek lines Alessi is famous for.

Luxurylaunches says the vacuum cleaner, which is made of stainless steel and thermoplastic resin, even has an "integrated crevice tool" to show that it's not afraid … Read more