Author: Damian Francis

Damian Francis is Jen's husband and a former consumer technology journalist for T3, GQ and Men's Health

Bosch VeroBar 600 coffee machine with Brita water filter

Post author By Damian Francis
Post date June 14, 2013
1 Comment on Bosch VeroBar 600 coffee machine with Brita water filter

I associate Bosch with power tools. My Dad owns a virtual library of Bosch power tools so the name association is drilled, pun intended, into my head. But Bosch do more than that (as we have covered on Appliance Addict already, here) including coffee machines. Its machines are a Nespresso haters dream.

I’m all for Nespresso, by the way, but it’s unarguable that there are those out there who won’t touch the capsule coffee scene with a barge pole. It leaves them in a bit of a pickle if they want a quick coffee that tastes half decent. This is where the Bosch VeroBar 600 could come into play.

Tags bosch, coffee machines, kitchen, VeroBar 600

Appliances Kitchens

Brita 3 Way Water Filter Dispenser makes water smell waterier

Post author By Damian Francis
Post date June 7, 2013

There is a serious side to this post where we tell you that Brita has released some pretty handy new appliances. Unsurprisingly in the filtered water category. There’s also a fun side, but we will get to that later.

Firstly, the serious part. Brita has launched its 3 Way Water Filter Dispenser which you can attach to a range of four European designed bench top taps. Your options are Square Neck, Swan Neck, Brita 90 Degree and Brita 45 Degree. Prices start at $379 and top out at $499. It’s a DIY and pretty affordable option. If you buy a lot of bottled water this should pay for itself quite quickly.

The taps connect to the Brita filter below the sink and there is a separate lever for regular tap water and the Brita filtered water. The filter itself is apparently easy to install and requires no additional drill holes or anything messy like that.

Tags brita, diy, drinking water, filtered water, gary mehigan, kitchen, masterchef, tap, tap water, water

Appliances Kitchens

Beko enlists architect and designer Patricia Urquiola for Cast line

Post author By Damian Francis
Post date June 5, 2013

The kitchen just got a little bit more stylish with the news that Beko has partnered with architect and designer Patricia Urquiola to create the Beko Cast line. The Urquiola name may put the same expression on your face as someone asking you the square root of pi (it’s 1.772453851 by the way) but think BMW, Alessi, Louis Vuitton and Kartell as she has added her design touches to products for all of those brands as well. Some of her work is even in MoMA.

With Beko, Urquiola has created some pretty stylish items that would go well in most modern kitchens. There are six appliances in the range all around the cooktop and oven category. Each appliance uses simplicity as the cornerstone for the design and then adds touches of modernism such as tinted glass doors without handles or simple stainless steel or cast iron elements for emphasis.

Tags Beko, Cast, kitchen, oven, patricia urquiola, stove top

Appliances

Dyson Hot + Cool AMO5 Air Multiplier review

Post author By Damian Francis
Post date June 3, 2013
11 Comments on Dyson Hot + Cool AMO5 Air Multiplier review

The Bang & Olufsen Beosound 9000, Smeg coloured refrigerators and the Dyson Ball vacuum cleaner: all appliances (well, two and a sound system) that are iconic designs in modern industrial design. Dyson will be hoping to add to that list with the Hot + Cool AMO5.

Dyson’s Air Multiplier fans were launched a few years ago with their iconic bladless design but now comes the AMO5 model which adds a bit of magic that Dyson likes to call heat. I could write a few pages on this and give you a blow by blow rundown of what essentially does the job of a pedestal fan and fan heater in one but that would waste both my time and your time. After all, if it is any more complex than a few paragraphs you really shouldn’t be investing in it. So as briefly as possible (the briefer the better for Dyson), here we go.

Tags AMO5, dyson, fan, heater, Hot + Cool

Appliances

Turn fruit into low cal frozen dessert, instantly

Post author By Damian Francis
Post date May 31, 2013
2 Comments on Turn fruit into low cal frozen dessert, instantly

Maybe I’m just too jaded. Too many years spent writing about consumer technology that promises transporter functions but merely slaps you in the face with a wet halibut. I’ve never actually eaten halibut, is it nice? Anyway, I digress. Yonanas has thrown its press release into the Appliance Addict inbox, promising to make low calorie ice cream-like desserts out of frozen fruit.

The idea is quite cool. Pick any frozen fruit, whack it into the machine and almost instantly an ice cream-like substance will appear. It looks like your average blender and works like one too – stuff things in the spout, push it down and you’re golden. That old gem of “trick the kids into thinking it’s bad for them” comes to mind.

Appliances

New Bosch dishwashers with Zeolite technology

Post author By Damian Francis
Post date May 26, 2013
3 Comments on New Bosch dishwashers with Zeolite technology

I was introduced to the wonderful world of dishwashers 3 years ago when I first moved out of home. Before then it was all manual, like our cars. But since then I have grown to love and loathe the dishwasher. I love it because it’s so easy to use and to wash an enormous amount of dishes in one go. It’s usually environmentally friendly too. I loathe it because washing tablets are expensive and the quality is patchy depending on the brand. Could a better dishwasher help the latter?

Bosch would like to think so. It has released a new range of dishwashers – 20 in total in fact. It would take all day to talk about every single one of these washers, so here is the quick spill.

Tags bosch, dishes, dishwasher, dishwasher tablets, zeolite

Interiors Addict

Don’t touch my stuff!

In his now regular guest post, my fiancé makes me sound like a crazy lady. Again.

I’m sure it happens in every household. Well, I’ll console myself with the thought that it happens in every household. Don’t you dare ruin it for me and tell me otherwise. That’s not what the comment section is for – I’ve been assured that the comment section is simply for agreeing fans. And back on topic…

When I left the apartment this morning, it looked like the one I was familiar with and had grown to love. An apartment that had everything I needed in it. A space I could call home. Over the last 12 hours I had grown accustomed to it. I developed a deep attachment. And then I came home.

Home to a different apartment. There were things that were the same, but there were also things that had changed. Furniture had been added (a new Jonathan Adler chair in the bedroom, if you’re asking), cushions had been stacked (damn cushions) and my stuff… it was… somewhere else.

Interiors Addict

Pillow talk (or why men hate cushions)

Post author By Damian Francis
Post date February 22, 2013
22 Comments on Pillow talk (or why men hate cushions)

My fiancé enjoyed his last therapeutic guest ~~rant~~ post so much, he’s back for more!

This isn’t a blog about men versus women. Or interiors addicts versus non interiors addicts. Or gay versus straight. This is simply a blog about practicality and function. About being able to use your abode for what it was always intended – living. Which brings me to a rather controversial topic: cushions.

Let me be tactful. Cushions… no. When you use cushions… no. Cushion usage… no. You know what, screw it – people, no matter who you are, what you do or what you like, you don’t need 20 damn cushions on your two-seater sofa! Or your king size bed! Or your… in fact, it doesn’t really matter, you just don’t need stacks of pillows.

I get the fact that some cushions are pretty. The aesthetics of a good pillow add to a room. That’s cool, I’m down with that, I bet Jay-Z has some pretty cool pillows. Maybe JT does too, he likes a good suit and tie after all. But any more than three on your sofa, or your bed, or anywhere else really, and I think you may be missing the point of what that piece of furniture was all about.

Tags bedroom, cushions, homewares, interiors, pillows, sofa

Interiors Addict

Living with an interiors addict (by my fiancé)

Post author By Damian Francis
Post date February 18, 2013
22 Comments on Living with an interiors addict (by my fiancé)

In a very brave move, today I gave my fiancé Damian the chance to blog about what it’s like living with me. I must be crazy…

I used to have a collection of interiors books which I kept in my Ikea Expedit bookcase in my bedroom. I was quite proud of them, from Terence Conran’s Storage to collections on small spaces. Sydney property prices being what they are, I was realistic about the size of my first property. I felt like I was in touch with interiors. An interest beat out only by Formula 1… and cars… and travel… and planes… OK, it was a distant fifth, but just go with me here.

In the middle of 2010 (I think – the last few years have been a bit of a blur), I moved in with Jen. We lived in a small two-bedroom Mosman apartment next to the local school. Handy if you had kids. We don’t. I had it in my mind that I was going to turn that apartment around and add New York and Paris inspired minimalist touches that would revolutionise what was quite a bland little pad (Jen hadn’t been there long enough to put her mark on it).

How clueless I was (and arguably still am).

Tags damian francis, ikea, ikea expedit, interiors addict, jen bishop