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Ovens & Ranges

These Appliance Prototypes Are Totally Off the Wall

With machines this beautiful, who needs art?

Hotpoint's wall-mounted small appliance prototypes Credit: Reviewed.com / James Aitchison

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If you're anything like me, your kitchen counter is probably littered with a collection of small appliances. Mine plays host to a toaster, a coffee machine, a blender, and an electric kettle—and that's not including the appliances I keep in the cupboard.

The side effect, of course, is that food prep and cleaning is a highly choreographed dance of moving cutting boards, appliances, and sponges. There has to be a better way!

{{amazon name="Breville BTA830XL Die-Cast 4-Slice Long Slot Smart Toaster", asin="B00AZY3TFE", align="right"}} Well, we have some good news: If Hotpoint has its way, there soon will be. The company has collaborated with coffee machine maker Illy and industrial designer Niklas Jacob to create a kitchen concept that's totally off the wall.

The Hotpoint Ariston Wall Units, which were on display at the company's booth at the IFA 2015 trade show earlier this month, are all about taking common kitchen gadgets off the counter and turning them into a series of stylish wall-mounted appliances.

On display were re-imagined versions of a toaster and food warmer, a custom Illy Iperespresso coffee maker, a coffee and tea storage unit, an electric stand that can be used to power either an electric kettle or a cold and hot milk frother, and a plug station with four plugs and two USB ports.

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When viewed from the front, the units look like silver-rimmed black iOS icons, and when stowed away, they extend just two inches from the wall. While they're designed to be functional and convenient, one thing is clear: these are not the kind of products one could grab off the store shelf and plug into the wall. When released, they'll require professional installation.

Hotpoint representatives were quick to clarify that these devices are currently in the prototype phase, but there are tentative plans for a European release in the second half of 2016. In Europe, the Hotpoint brand is owned by Indesit (a European division of Whirlpool) so it's unlikely we'll see these in the States any time soon.

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