Wednesday 17 April 2013

Fridges: What ever happened to good design?


Dream Kitchen? This beautiful eclectic kitchen is rounded off perfectly with this bright pink Retro Fridge
Smeg Fridge. I love Smeg fridges, my parents have one and it just looks so darn pretty!
Retro fridge: Drying herbs and open shelving..A loved and well used kitchen is the best 
Blue Vintage Fridge: Love that handle.. 
English Electric Vintage fridge: Love those Blackboard Walls
Do you ever browse shops and look at the modern electricals and feel a rush of inspiration? A desire to have these items in your home? No, nor do I.

Modern fridges... Sterile white rectangles with a big plastic dip for a handle and selling features like an egg tray. Well for starters eggs shouldn't be kept in the fridge, and secondly these fridges are a miserable excuse for design.

I would love to replace my sterile white rectangle for a pretty retro fridge. I love those beautiful curved lines and the designers attention to detail, reflected in those big chunky space age handles. The only flaw with these chunky beauties is the terrible energy efficiency. So saving hard for a Shiny pretty Smeg it will have to be :)

What do you think? Is a fridge just a functional item for you?


13 comments:

hippyatheart said...

that blue vintage fridge is perfection!!

Boho Mixology said...

I 100% agree I don't understand, why do they have to be quite so ugly!
any of the above would be welcomed in to my home.

Zoe xx

frula.opperheim said...

I love those fridges, but it seems that now the producers of such devices care more about the technology than the overall look... which is really a pity. Anyway, nie post, thank you!

Kath said...

Love the blue fridge, also the beautiful table runner, I'd like to get a better look!

Anonymous said...

To answer your question, a fridge is just a functional item to me but that doesn't mean it has to be drab looking. I miss the old styles. What drives me nuts though is why the fridges are so large now a days. We don't need that much room unless we are feeding a circus or something. I wish the U.S. would start adopting European fridges more. I know once my husband and I get our off the grid Earthbag/Cob house built we will be using a European fridge for sure.

Unknown said...

Love the old fridges. I don't know why they cant's mix style with tech.

Moon to Moon said...

I Live in the UK. i didn't realise those massive fridges were widely used in the states! Some one commented on my instagram that their large fridge gave them water and ice.

I have a small fridge and buy fresh food 2x a week. I guess this doesn't suit everyone, but it cuts down on waste and means you dont have to panic eat because you brought too much.

Cheers for all your comments


Gordita said...

I can't figure out if the comment about technology being more important than looks is sarcasm or not... but technology IS more important; the old fridges not only were terribly energy inefficient but also emitted CFC which is bad for the ozone layer. Also, they were built with latch handles which could trap children inside - people sometimes dumped their old fridges irresponsibly and unfortunately children who then entered them for games of hide and seek risked suffocating inside, there have been deaths this way in the past.

Depressing facts aside, they do look lovely, and I do wonder if appliance companies aren't missing a trick by building safe, energy-efficient fridges using retro designs. But if anyone is hanging onto their own fridges for whatever inane reason (aesthetics isn't a good enough reason), get rid of them responsibly and buy new ones. Even if they're ugly - the environment is more important and you can always paint your fridge to pretty it up.

Introducing New World's With a Shrug said...

http://bigchill.com/

Here's a great website for vintage appliances :)

Soul Pretty said...

I agree...some of us are just old souls...I can remember sitting in my mother's kitchen as a little girl and hoping that one day I would have a kitchen just like it...and I do...and whenever people come over they always comment on how vintage it looks...UGH!

What are you going to do...like what you like...and let people like what they like, right?

www.soulpretty.etsy.com

Unknown said...

It's also nice when people don't go for the whole fitted, matchy kitchen which is so the norm these days. I like the mix and match look!

Unknown said...

Bad energy efficiency? hm, even apart from how polluting it is to gather raw materials and manufacture and transport a new fridge (and dispose of an old one), older fridges were built way heavier thus having more insulation, so they have to turn on way less. Those energy ratings on the back of the fridge measure how much power it uses when it's actually running.

Maybe worst of all, any self-defrosting fridge (ie new fridges) actually use energy against themselves: how do you think fridges get rid of ice buildup? They have *heating* coils in their freezers, which their cooling systems have to work against! (The melted ice is evaporated in a little pan at the back of your fridge...aided by a fan which...surprise...uses more energy)

Plus you're lucky to get 10 years out of a new fridge, compared to 50+ years out of an old one.

If you think new appliances are more energy efficient, you're getting your information from industries or from GDP-pushing government propaganda, not engineers. (sorry, MAJOR hobbyhorse; this blog is a favorite guilty pleasure :) :) )

Anonymous said...

Thats wonderful Gabi. The freedom of having your own house is something else.
You are a lucky girl as a homeownership is fast becoming a thing of the past , especially for the working classes. We will be a nation of renters in the future. You have made a shrewd move Gabi.

When I bought my house at 29, everyone said it would tie me down...it set me free. I have rented it out three times for vagabonding years out, it has worked so well for me. Now I'm nearly 50 and will pay off the mortgage in 6 years! Thought those 25 years would never end...