THE KITCHENISTA

Expert advice on kitchen design, trends and innovation

Archive for the ‘kitchen’ Category

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Our favourite interior design blogs

Friday, February 5th, 2010

We thought we would share some of our favourite blogs with you, and tell you why we love them. We have included the best places for finding bargains for the home, blogs for practical info about every query you could ever have for your home and blogs that look  so gorgeous they will  make you want to redecorate every week!

Let us know what you think and if there are any more you  think we should have a look at.

Best for all round ravishing rooms
Room Envy is a great blog for interior inspiration and it shows some fantastic pictures of rooms where things have gone just hideously wrong. This salmon pink bathroom is the stuff of nightmares!

Best for country looks

If you aspire to live in the country or decorate your home with a relaxed, traditional look then the blog from the editor of Country Homes and Interiors is a great place to look for some inspiration, Country Days.

Best for bargains

My Deco

If you have not been on already, go and try out the tool to create a 3D room with all the products on the site. Moodboards can also be created and stored on the site – perfect if you want to compare several ideas side by side.

Best for practical advice
Home-Blog – includes updates on all the new rules and regulations covering paving on the driveway to electrics and environmental updates

Best for ultimate design dreams

Often, hotels lead the way in interior design and this blog looks at the best hotels around the world. Look here to source a sleek, five star look for your home Home Design

Best for home envy

ChicTip contains thousands of images from stunning homes around the world. Some of them are just to drool over, but the affordable designs section includes items we can all afford.

Best for kitchen accessories

Once you have got your new kitchen have a look at Kitchen Critic which is a wealth of products and accessories to make the heart of the home your most loved room.

Best industry blog

The Kitchen Directory is an industry blog which highlights different manfacturers and looks at different designs throughout the UK.

Happy blogging and interior designing!

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Posted in Designs, News, Trends, kitchen | 1 Comment »

Two New Ranges from Magnet

Monday, January 4th, 2010

Fiori KitchenIf you’re thinking of getting a new kitchen, there’s no time like the present.

This year Magnet has unveiled two brand new kitchen ranges, fresh for 2010 – The Fiori and Crème Lineaire.

If you fancy an injection of colour this year, then look no further than the Fiori which uses bold floral prints and the hottest colours for 2010.

It has transparent acrylic handles that add to the contemporary feel of this stunning kitchen.

A bamboo worktop adds a natural element to the contemporary design and the bold splashback complements the colourful prints.

Creme Lineaire

The Crème Lineaire is the only Magnet kitchen to use both convex and concave curves in its design to create a truly contemporary feel. The kitchen is a new version of the Urban Lineaire which was featured in Channel 4’s ‘Kirstie’s Homemade Homes’. After gaining curves and a new colour it’s now bang up to date for 2010.

A combination of Zodiac Quartz Soft Mahogany worktop and natural walnut worktop provide a perfect balance to this stylish kitchen

Both of these kitchens are available now and included in the winter sale which means that there’s an incredible 50% off all cabinets.

You can also get 25% off installation of any ‘Uniquely Magnet’ kitchen plus choose from a free AEG functionally pack or a free Hotpoint openspace oven and hob.

The Crème Lineaire was £640 and is now £320 for a 600mm single base unit.

The Fiori was £817 and is now £408 for a 600mm single base unit.

Visit www.magnet.co.uk for more information.

The 50% off sale ends 30 January 2010.

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All I want for Christmas is… A Party Kitchen

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009

If you enjoy entertaining and want your kitchen to be ideal place for your guests congregate during the festive period, there are a number of ways to help create the ‘Perfect Party Kitchen’.

Wine coolerStep One – The Wine Fridge
No party kitchen is complete without a built-in wine cooler which are designed to store bottles at the right temperature. Keep them well stocked to make sure that no party, whether planned or impromptu, leaves guests with a dry mouth.

Step Two – Ice Dispenser
A constant supply of ice is vital for any party. Whether mixing cocktails or fruity soft drinks, ice dispensers are great for keeping drinks chilled this winter. They come as standard in most American style fridges.

Step Three – Kitchen Island
At most parties guests have a tendency to congregate in the kitchen. Installing a kitchen island provides the perfect place for revellers to gather ‘round. They are also a great place to dispense drinks or food from.

Step Four – Lighting
The position of lighting can be used to create the right ambience in the kitchen. When hosting a party never switch all the lights on – select carefully and you’ll be able to create the perfect party atmosphere.

Step Five – Coffee Machine
Vital for the morning after the night before. Help put the hangover on hold with a professional coffee machine. Forget instant and enjoy the taste of real percolated coffee, ideal for those who like a strong espresso to start the day.

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TREAT YOUR KITCHEN TO A CHRISTMAS PRESENT THIS YEAR

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

Christmas-Tree_web

Your kitchen is at its busiest over the festive period. With all the Christmas parties, entertaining and cooking the hub of the home certainly gets hectic at this time of the year. So why not treat your hard working kitchen by investing in a new cooker or appliance – it will certainly make cooking the Christmas lunch easier. Magnet the kitchen expert talks through three of the latest and greatest types of appliance…

Steam Ovens

It’s about to get steamy in the kitchen. Emerging built-in steam ovens are either dedicated steam ovens or the more practical, combination ovens – which allow you to either use as a normal oven or steam only. The beauty of this type of steam oven is that you can still get the crisp finish when needed as you can combine steam and heat – as well as using steam only! Another really big benefit is, thanks to the steam, the oven is significantly easier to clean – perfect for the turkey!

Self-Cleaning Appliances

Making appliances easy to use is ideal for the annual Christmas dinner clean up. Pyrolitic cleaning is a must have for ovens – the self-cleaning system restores the oven back to its showroom sparkle, even when the oven is twenty years old.

Compact Appliances

There is increasing demand for ‘luxury’ compact appliances, particularly for city apartments and penthouse flats. Innovative space-saving appliances like the Candy Trio combine the hob, oven & dishwasher in such a stylish and functional manner that it will be the most talked about present this Christmas.

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How to maximise space in a compact kitchen

Friday, November 6th, 2009

The most important thing to take into consideration is the size and shape of your kitchen. Magnet offer a number of slimline units and built in space saving solutions to help maximize the space in kitchens of all shapes and sizes. Smaller kitchens benefit from plainer frontals or those with a lighter finish. Simple slab doors like the Urban Calico range help create a minimalist feel, while gloss finishes help increase the feeling of space by reflecting light.

An example of a specially designed compact kitchen range

An example of a specially designed compact kitchen range

Don’t feel you need to choose between wall and floor units if your kitchen is compact. A bank of tall larder units can be a great solution and look striking in one area of the kitchen.

Lighting is an important feature within any home and non-more so than in the kitchen when preparing food. Light can enhance the perception of dimensions whilst clever use of reflective services can maximise the look without the discomfort of installing numerous high intensity lighting features. To maximise room height, avoid suspended ceiling lights and the use of lamp shades.

Bring colour into dark shadowy rooms that often create an inhospitable and depressive atmosphere. Avoid beige at all costs and do not plump for dark shades or metallics, be adventurous – choose a colour that will bring a smile to your face.

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Add value to your home

Monday, October 5th, 2009

A new kitchen is one of the best ways to add value to the cost of your home which is more important than ever in the current climate. But don’t just take our word for it. Here on the Kitchenista, property expert Kirstie Allsop exclusively reveals her top home improvement tips….

“Getting a new kitchen is one of the top three ways to add value to your home. This is because changing a kitchen is much easier than you think.

“The perceived value of the kitchen from prospective buyers is much higher than the real cost of the kitchen. The kitchen and bathroom are the two main rooms that sell a house so anything that can be done to update these two rooms and make your home attractive to potential buyers the better.”

forsale

Channel 4 Homes also think that a new kitchen is a must for anyone looking to boost their home’s value and it can add as much as 10% in value. It’s the first thing a potential buyer will look at and it’s the room you’re likely to spend much of your time in.

For more top tips on how to add value to the cost of your home – check out the link below to the Channel 4 Homes website

Channel 4 Homes

And if you have any top tips then let Magnet know, we would love to hear from you!

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Latest trend in kitchen appliances

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

Example of kitchen highlighting latest trend in kitchen appliances

Example of kitchen highlighting latest trend in kitchen appliances

There is a popular trend for incorporating multiple single unit appliances horizontally in the kitchen is an increasingly stylish and practical option.

From an ergonomic and safety perspective, having two single ovens running horizontally rather than vertically, means any cooking is easily viewed at eye level and doesn’t require any bending or stretching to reach hot pots and pans.

Appliance manufacturers are moving towards designing all products to run in clean, symmetrical lines to achieve an ever-more European, minimalist look – a total contrast to the stereotypically English country kitchen.

This trend is not only applicable to ovens, it’s now possible to run a whole host of appliances in a horizontal line so that the microwave, oven, grill and even coffee machine are all easily, compactly and stylishly, accessible.

The ever increasing popularity of cookery TV shows has also helped to boost this trend with more people becoming aware of how their appliances are positioned in the kitchen and how this can affect the overall look.

The Madison kitchen is a great example of two ovens positioned next to each other at floor level. Then a coffee machine and matching single oven and grill is next to it.

Has anyone else recently designed a kitchen like this??

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