With solid colours, clean lines, and uncomplicated modernist purity, Samsung unveiled the first example of its “new era of customized home appliances” this month. It starts with a series of refrigerators, though the new Samsung Bespoke collection is hardly recognizable as an appliance at first glance.

Set to launch in Europe this year, Bespoke is a refreshing departure from the stainless steel and chrome refrigerators that have dominated the market since the 1990s. As a counterpoint to the polished sheen of contemporary appliances, the streamlined design’s bold, solid colours lend a sense of playfulness to the kitchen.

Available in nine colours and eight configurations, the collection’s minimal design language facilitates extensive customization. Configurations of material, colour and sizing allow individual units to be combined in a variety of contexts. For one-person households, a single fridge is a slim, space-saving presence, and multiple units can easily be combined for greater capacity. Here, the variety of colour accentuates the line’s unique character.

While two refrigerators can be elegantly paired to recreate commonplace French door configurations with a single colour, the ability to mix different colours and layouts brings greater aesthetic appeal.

Taken to their extreme, Bespoke layouts can evoke Piet Mondrian; solid colours combining with the geometry of squares and rectangles to create a bold (and fun) presence. Complementary hues can be paired for a more subtle approach, or even a gradient of tones with multiple units.

But the appeal is more than aesthetic. The ability to seamlessly combine slim fridge and freezer units into a larger set lends Bespoke a versatility that responds to changing needs and lifestyles. Units can be added and separated as households evolve – expanding to accommodate growing families and shrinking in tandem with downsized homes and retirees.

It’s a welcome – and eco-friendly – contrast to the hulking, inflexible refrigerators that dominate the market, and which are frequently discarded as spaces are reconfigured. In combining utility with high design, Samsung has created a fridge worth keeping.

The new refrigerator collection is the first element of Samsung’s new “Project PRYSM.” Launched in Korea, the project is described as an initiative to create “home appliances that can fit into any lifestyle by allowing customers the ability to personalize the materials, colours, shapes and designs of the products.” It’s an enticing idea. For now, Samsung Bespoke is a promising first step.