Coffee gear can take over a counter quickly. Is integrated storage a reasonable solution? In a world where pour over coffee takes several discreet tools and a cubic Nescafe unit the size of a microwave is an acceptable appliance, Sam Cho's Coffee Cube suggests a return to the blocky but efficient design of a bygone era. 

Just last week I mentioned my hesitation around concept work, but when it scratches an itch, what can I say? It's a product idea I'd want to tinker with. 

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At heart, the Coffee Cube is a drip machine with storage bins. The angular maker would like to do your brewing, hold your grounds and filters, and fit it all in a shape that's mindful of counter space efficiency. 

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It may sound simple, or unnecessary, but it's an optimistic idea. Stashing a week's supply of grounds and a full package of filters immediately at hand would make a sleek and snappy coffee station. I know I'd just be happy to reduce the number of half full boxes of filters and mostly-gone containers of beans that seem to reproduce in my kitchen. 

But while squares might work into a counter lineup more neatly, the current angularity of the internal storage containers could make for a poor user experience. Would grabbing a filter be hard? Can you retrieve grounds from a rectangular box with a normal spoon? Would a square-cornered carafe be hard to produce and clean? Plenty of room for awkwardness there, but I can already imagine a few satisfying adjustments that would smooth things along. 

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The Cube design has plenty in common with vintage coffee tools by appliance makers like Rams-era Braun, who regularly combined function and storage. Is it time for an integration revamp, or should we stick to Ebay auctions?

KMM 1 and KF 20, by Florian Seiffert and Hartwig Hahlcke for Braun