It's true, an office refrigerator, unplugged for disinfection and scrubbed with some unsuitable cleaning supplies, grew so rank that it made over 20 people in the office sick. The fire department was called in to handle the situation and the old, smelly lunches.

Refrigerator: 1 AT&T: 0
[via RedLasso]

Over seven feet tall and six feet wide, the Armoire Kitchen is just that, a kitchen subtly hidden inside giant wooden casing. Somehow, magically maybe, it still manages to squeeze in one mini Subzero fridge, two electric burners, a sink, microwave (upgradable with convection functions) and a single drawer dishwasher along with, sadly, about as much storage space as I have in my tiny apartment kitchen.

At a starting price of $9300 (as pictured), the Armoire Kitchen may not seem like a budget purchase. But compared to installing an actual kitchen, it's basically free. [YesterTec via Small Space Living]

Apparently, unrestricted access for your children may predispose them to obesity, but who cares about that when you have: an in-door-ice system, internal water filters and options for both hot and cold water dispensing, all in a sexy stainless steel finish. The whole kid/fridge access/obese issue was noted, and a child lock added for good measure. There you have it; Whirpool, delivering your psychoactive stimulant-infused beverages, cooling your grub and parenting your children. The Espresso refrigerator will ship in January 2008 at an undisclosed price. [Appliancist]

Capacity 9.22 Cu. Ft.
Antibacterial interior
Interior light
3 adjustable glass shelves
1 bottle storage shelf
1 fixed glass shelf
1 fruit and vegetable container
1 dairy box
2 adjustable covered bins
2 bottle storage bins
4 adjustable bins
2 egg bins
1 ice cube tray
Climatic class: T
Energy consumption: 305 kWh/ year
Voltage: 120 V
Current: 10 A
Frequency: 60 Hz
Dimensions (h x w x d ) 57 x 23 x 27 inches
Gross weight: 181.4 lbs
Net weight: 156.5 lbs

There's no word on price as yet, but if it costs around 780 in the UK, then it's not exactly going to be cheap. [Smeg USA via Cool Hunting]

While 47°F is not exactly ice cold, if this thing can cool down drinks that quickly, it might be good for a brewski or two. Five minutes? Heck yeah, we can drink them that fast. Anyway, this little cooler would be perfect for that insecure, perpetually thirsty workmate of yours who walks around with a soda can as if it were a baby bottle. Seems like a pacifier would be easier and cheaper. – Charlie White

Update: Yeah, Brando must mean the unit chills down to 47°F in five minutes, not the drink itself. CW

Product Page [Brando]

Product Page [After 5, via Oh Gizmo]

Custom choices will include satellite radio, a Web tablet with interactive message board and family calendar, a digital picture frame, a DVD/CD player and more. The port can also charge up your existing MP3 player, cellphones or any other electronic trinkets.

Nice idea. We wouldn't mind banishing all those devices from the countertops and hanging them onto the fridge, which happens to be the house's most-central location. No word on price, but Whirlpool says it'll be shipping Centralpark this fall. – Charlie White

Product Page [Whirlpool, via Born Rich]
Press Release [Yahoo Finance]

You can store pieces of fruit in its branch-like modules, and when you take out, say, an apple, it feels like you're picking it off a tree. There's one box that resembles a birdhouse where you presumably refrigerate eggs, plucking them from their nest when it's time for breakfast. Check out more full-sized pics of the goofiness:

Maybe this design concept is good for a laugh, but this can't be very efficient. We'd rather have our refrigerator built-in style, and big enough for plenty of brewskis. – Charlie White

Tree House Fridge [Yanko Design, via BornRich]

But wait, isn't that a touchscreen up there? Apparently only the taller members of the household will be allowed to use this PC. Anyway, when are these appliance companies going to give up on this lame idea? People who have enough money to buy such a high-end refrigerator are probably smart enough to know what they have in the refrigerator and what they need to add to it or not. Give it up, dopes, nobody's that stupid. – Charlie White

Electrolux Cyber fridge [The Appliancist]

Essentially it is a dismantled mini-fridge placed inside a stripped-out Thermaltake case. Add in a little shelving and, of course, a temperature gauge, for a perfect refrigerato to feed the late-night gaming urges.

Mini-Fridge Project [Via Techeblog]

SMEG s Colorful Refrigerators [Born Rich]

This was never called a French Refrigerator. Thermador used the word "Freedom" to name its just-announced fridge because the fresh food and freezer parts of it can be separated and placed in different parts of your kitchen. Thermadore also introduced the built-in wall oven in the 50s, in case you were curious, so this is yet another first for the appliance company. I do kind of like the idea of it, though I don't know if I'll ever have a kitchen big enough to ponder where to put my freezer versus my fresh food refrigeration units. Each part of the fridge has its own compressor and evaporator that eliminates any odor transfer between the refrigerator and freezer and perfectly regulates the interior temperature with a variance of only 1.5 degrees. Pretty nifty. Comes in stainless steel or can be custom-matched to your existing kitchen cabinets. Alas, these Freedom Refrigerators won't be out until (chuckle) July 4, 2006 and will set you back about $2700-$6700. Also look for a wine chiller in Thermador's Freedom Collection next December. No, I'm not kidding.

No pricing info, no nothing. Just the horrible sense that someone out there is eyeing this thinking... "Hmmm, Daddy might buy me that for the New York apartment."

The coolest fridge ever [AkihabaraNews via Uberreview]