THE KITCHENISTA

Expert advice on kitchen design, trends and innovation

Archive for the ‘Trends’ Category

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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Big Brother’s Kitchen ‘Steels’ the Show

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

Big Brother has always been very bold with its interior design. The TV phenomenon has been at the forefront of using space and design to affect the mood of the contestants for years.

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Interestingly, in Celebrity Big Brother this year we have seen the usage of a stainless steel kitchen. This stark and clinical looking kitchen presents a very cold and unwelcoming environment for the contestants.

Stainless steel appliances are a great way to inject a contemporary feel to a kitchen, however a full, stainless steel kitchen hasn’t been on trend for a few years now.

Is it possible that CBB’s use of stainless steel in this fashion is a deliberate move to remind contestants that they are living within a controlled environment, and therefore preventing them from getting too comfortable?

At Magnet, we believe the contestants deserve a much more luxurious kitchen like the Acadian, which is both modern but welcoming with soft white timber doors and luxurious Corian Beach glass worktops to help create a stylish retro look.

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SEE A CANVAS, NOT JUST A KITCHEN…WITH MAGNET ME

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

A new concept in kitchen design is set to rMagnetMeevolutionise the look and feel of the heart of the home.

It will allow you to truly personalise your space and make your kitchen totally ‘you.’

Exclusive to Magnet in the UK, this brand new design concept called ‘MagnetMe’ allows kitchens to be truly personalised by printing favourite images, designs or photographs direct onto the cabinet doors.

Choose from an array of images and designs at the virtual online kitchen where individual photos can also be uploaded, helping to create the perfect personalised kitchen.

Whether it be your children, your pets, your favourite food or even yourself, find an image or design that truly brings your kitchen to life like never before.

Simply visit www.magnetme.co.uk choose your design, choose your image and create a completely unique kitchen.

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How to decorate the kitchen this Christmas

Monday, December 14th, 2009
Christmas dinner table

Not the first place you would normally think of when decorating at Christmas, but a few well chosen items can make your kitchen feel especially festive and will get you into a seasonal mood while preparing the Christmas lunch.

Please see our tips for what to do and what not to do for a stylish kitchen this Christmas

Don’t – put up fussy decorations, they will just get in the way
Don’t – use fabric decorations, they will absorb the cooking smells and may not look the freshest when it is time to take them down

Do – buy pretty poinsettias. Everyone’s favourite plants at this time of year look lovely and freshly festive
Do – find Christmas tea towels and table cloths to add more subtle seasonal cheer

Don’t – position anything flammable close to the hob
Don’t – clash the colour and style of the decorations with your kitchen units and appliances

Do – use fresh holly and ivy to create table decorations which can be left on the table in between visitors
Do -  decorate the top  of wall units if there is space with fairy lights and holly and ivy strands

Please upload any pictures of your kitchen beautifully decorated to the blog and we will send you a Christmas surprise!

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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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BRIGHT LIGHTS…BIG TREND

Friday, September 11th, 2009

NEVE
Lighting has moved away from its functional role of general illumination and task lighting, to much more of a striking design feature. It can be used to create a mood, change the feel of a kitchen and act as the perfect finish to the room.

A key trend in the kitchen world, it is a fantastic, stylish, and cost effective way of adding that little extra something to the design.

Whether it’s bright, subtle, atmospheric, dramatic or diffused, the right combination can transform any area into a main feature of the home.

For an uber-contemporary look, the brand new Neve incorporates frosted, glazed doors, high gloss and dramatic internal lighting. The icy blue lights reflect in the edges of the green glass effect laminate worktop. This highlights the already crisp and minimalist design.

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TREND ALERT – MIX AND MATCH

Monday, August 10th, 2009

cubistaMixing and matching cabinet frontals is big news in kitchen design right now. It’s also great way to personalise your kitchen and make it totally unique.

If you’re not convinced, then check out Magnet’s Cubista Wenge featuring Onda kitchen. It really works by giving a striking and contrasted look with the dark wenge wood and warm cream finish.

Onda is also bang on trend as the frontal has a rippled texture giving it a ‘touchy feely’ element.

Other ranges that are great to mix and match are Urban Gloss, Caldo Walnut and Studio White.

You heard it here first!

 

 

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THE HEART OF THE HOME

Friday, August 7th, 2009

heartRecent research (by Halifax Estate Agents) has revealed that the kitchen is truly the heart of the home – as if we didn’t know that already!

Over a quarter of people in a survey said that a new, modern fitted kitchen is the home improvement most likely to make a house appeal to any potential new buyers. It also beat other home improvements like fuel efficiency saving features and extensions.

 

 

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