Keep an eye out for these stunning Karim Rashid appliances from Slovenian appliance manufacturer Gorenje ... they should be available soon. They incorporate colour adjustable LED strips - in a vertical bar handle, for the ovens, shown above - so that you can choose from seven different colours to illuminate your kitchen.

Some of you may not have heard of Gorenje - if you've not looked at new appliances for a while - although I have featured their retro fridges here before. I think you'll certainly hear about them in the future, though. They're very design orientated having worked with Swarovski, French designer Ora Ito and Ferrari designer Paulo Pininfarina in the past. They also have very good environmental credentials having won green awards as well as awards for design. Their latest refrigerated appliances have an A⁺⁺⁺⁺ rating ... using 60% less power than an A rated appliance ... and, as I mentioned for the retro fridges, most of their appliances come with a five year parts and labour warranty.

Karim Rashid is a well known international designer with over 3,000 products in production. He's famous for his use of colour and his wide range of interests, from pens, to watches, to clothes, laptops, buildings ... and now domestic appliances. He has described his style as "sensual minimalism" ... which I think is quite apt for these Gorenje appliances ... although some of his interiors look far from minimalist to me! He likes to work on a very diverse range of products and one of his overall aims is the "beautification of the built environment".

 Karim Rashid is not an impractical designer, whose products are there mainly to look good. His background is in industrial design and he has been quoted as saying that he doesn't like: "nostalgia, antiquated traditions, old rituals and ... meaningless kitsch". His philosophy, therefore, fits in well with Gorenje and their modern looking, efficiently made, environmentally friendly products.

The seven colours featured in the new appliance range are shown on the ovens (left) ... which are also large capacity (60 litres) with a super-size baking area. Not many details are available, as yet, but the range also includes induction and gas on glass hobs, and a cooker hood (see below).

Incidentally, Gorenje introduced white appliances into their minimalist Ora Ito range earlier this year - perhaps another sign that, apart from bright colours, white could be the new colour for appliances. See: "Are White Appliances Making a Comeback?"

a Gorenje Ora Ito single oven in the new white