Magnet has been getting in the festive spirit with Anna Ryder Richardson!

Last week we met with the UK media to let them in on the exciting projects that Anna’s been working on…

We set her the ultimate challenge of creating three very different kitchens, to suit very different needs, all using our brand new Savannah kitchen.  We want to show you that a great kitchen catered to your own individual style and uses can be easily achieved by adding some simple touches – and it won’t bust your budget!

Anna started by creating a Rustic Retreat that finds itself perfectly placed at the heart of a family home.  With a simple colour scheme that can be easily updated, the focus here is on practicality – using jars to make your ingredients the key accessory and rustic pots to complement the units and make them a feature in themselves.

The Oriental Zen kitchen was designed for those of you who want to leave the busy working day at the door, and relax with a quick, healthy meal in soothing surroundings.  Turquoise accessories brighten up the slate grey worktop and create a contrast with the cream units.  Vibrant colour pops can also come courtesy of plants and accessories, and can be changed with your mood thanks to the neutral paint scheme.

For a party kitchen take the Savannah and add vibrant colour.  Anna chose Mojito green accessories such as jugs, tumblers and of course plenty of limes!  Colour has even been injected into the worktop with the stunning Aubergine Gloss, and this can be mirrored with matching accessories such as fruit bowls and vases.  Just add people for the party to begin.

Anna created all three of these kitchens and we have the videos to prove that it really is as easy as it sounds to get your own personal style out of this great range.

One of the things I love most about editing Beautiful Kitchens is getting the chance to see designs that have been inspired by the magazine and the companies we feature. I love it when I get an email or a letter with images of a kitchen that has been put together with the help of the magazine.

I know to my cost (I’m planning a new kitchen myself at the moment) how confusing it can be and how much planning it requires to bring the whole thing together, so if you’re in the middle of a project at the moment, I feel your pain!

My current dilemma is how many drawers and how many cupboards. Having seen how much more you can squeeze into a design using drawers rather than traditional shelves my hoarding heart is moving towards more drawers… (follow how I get on at www.beautifulkitchens.wordpress.com).

Whether you’re doing the whole thing yourself or using the services of designers and planner there are so many choices to be made it can be a minefield.

Luckily, for one couple that wrote to me recently some of those choices had been taken care of as they found themselves the winners of a Beautiful Kitchens appliance competition. With their kitchen project well under way and their extension already built they were just planning their Haywood Magnet kitchen when they got the good news.

I’m sure you’ll agree that the finished design by Magnet’s branch in Sale, Cheshire, looks stunning (you can see the whole kitchen in our June issue on sale now.) I particularly like how they’ve made a real feature of the island by creating a border in the flooring to ‘frame’ it. I’m a big fan of built-in ovens too – it’s much easier to make sure you’re not burning that cake when you don’t have to bend to peer into the oven. It just goes to show that you don’t have to be flash to have a ‘wow’ kitchen.

We are delighted to announce that next month we will be having a guest blog post from Ysanne Brooks, editor of Beautiful Kitchens and contributor to the hugely popular blog beautifulkitchens.wordpress.com

Ysanne is currently in the throes of a kitchen project herself. The “not-so-beautiful kitchen” in her new home is the colour of a Simpson’s cartoon (bright blue and yellow) with lifting laminate flooring (due to some poor spousal plumbing) a broken dishwasher and limewashed oak doors.

After years of working at Beautiful Kitchens you’d think that she’d have a fabulous mood board with lots of must-have appliances and finishes with a stunning design already worked out.

Readers of the blog beautifulkitchens.wordpress.com know better… Sometimes, you can know too much!

Look out for Ysanne’s guest post blog in the coming weeks.

]]> http://blog.magnet.co.uk/kitchen/coming-soon/feed/ 0 http://blog.magnet.co.uk/news/kitchens-confidential/ http://blog.magnet.co.uk/news/kitchens-confidential/#comments Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:20:09 +0000 Magnet http://blog.magnet.co.uk/?p=105 We found another great kitchen blog – packed full of ideas and inspiration from the people behind Beautiful Kitchens magazine. There’s everything from the latest kitchen trends to design news. We especially liked the ‘Kitchen Projects’ section where you can follow the the writers thoughts about their own home projects!

It’s definitely worth having a look Beautiful Kitchens Blog