Whirlpool's Fireplace Tabletop Cooking Concept Makes Perfect Sense

Irwin Weiner ASID - This new futuristic appliance concept is brilliant, and I wholeheartedly support what Whirlpool would like to create around its new Fireplace product. A table that functions as a cooking, warming, and chilling surface in the center is below a smart light-hood combination that controls the air and humidity. You can bring any meal to the table and gather everyone around for conversation. At a party, drinks stay chilled or tea and coffee stays piping hot.

Click here for more information on Fireplace, and enjoy the concept video. This is a product that's been shown around the world for the past two years, and has now been introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show. It would be a gas to have one in our house, if Whirlpool ever decides to move beyond their futuristic concept and hit the production button. This is exactly the way contemporary families eat and entertain.

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Video: Meet the Nest Learning Thermostat

Irwin Weiner ASID - I admit that I'm an Irwin-Come-Lately to some new products and concepts, but when I finally become aware of them, look out! I'm usually an evangelist for the good things I discover. That's why I was particularly excited to hear about the Nest Learning Thermostat. First good point: it's a thermostat that learns how to program itself based on family habits and patterns and times of day and when it's told to conserve energy and when it's told that people will be away.

Second: you can control the thermostat, and keep it learning, from a smartphone app. So you could be approaching your house after being away for a week, and program it to warm up by the time you arrive from the airport. Elegant, simple, and effective - that's how home appliances should be. Today's featured video will introduce you to the Nest, and click here to visit their website for more information.

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Contemporary Kitchen Designs from Dom Showrooms

Irwin Weiner ASID - I just discovered Dom Interiors on Crosby Street in Manhattan. It's one of those givens about living in NYC - if you have time on your hands before an appointment, you can take a stroll and make exciting discoveries. Dom was definitely in that league, being a showroom that features high-end, eco-conscious design products ... and here are some photos of kitchen designs that they carry. Click on each photo for more information, and click here to learn more about Dom Interiors.  

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3 Most Outrageous Range Hood Designs from Best

Irwin Weiner ASID - It's a beautiful thing when art and appliances shake hands and fuse. They've done this in the various "chimney hood" and range hood exhaust systems in the Style and Lifestyle collections from Italy's Best S.p.A.

I've selected a few of my favorites - totally outrageous - and you can see that they don't really look like range hoods or cooking exhaust systems; when at rest and not in use, they're

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