Things to consider when designing a kitchen.

I had two design ideas I wanted to incorporate into the kitchen and they were floor to ceiling units and no handles, to reduce the amount of cleaning and for maximum storage.

Good lighting was also essential.

Did you know washing machine doors are only available hinged on the left, opening on the right?

Had I realised this, I may have swopped the machine with the dishwasher to give me more room to load and unload, we're waiting for the integrated door to be fixed, it will open to the right to allow the machine door to open fully.

We opted to have drawers underneath the hob. The common issue here is the weight you can put in the drawers, which means our cast iron pans are in a different place.

I wish we'd opted for 3 drawers rather than 2, it is slightly annoying having to open the main drawer, then the cutlery one.

Did you also know that double cupboards will open in the middle hinged on the left and on the right, but if you have two single cupboards on the wall, then the doors will both open on the same side?

Double cupboard.

Both door open to the right, however if the door opened to the left on the larger cupboard it would hit the overhead extractor.

Originally these cupboard opened like this, we had the doors changed so they opened as if it was a double cupboard, like the one under the sink.

Finally the last thing, the colour and the finish. The blue in the photo is the protective cover. I'd decided against a block colour for fear of it dating, similar to the avocado bath suite of the 80's. However, I feel by opting for the grey, we've picked the colour associated with covid of 2021/22.

I also opted for the matt finish as I felt the shiny surfaces in the showroom showed up too many finger prints and looked streaky in certain lights. however the matt finish does the same and I'm not sure it's an issue that can be addressed anyway. 

These aren't complaints, they're things that can be worked around or I'd do differently next time, but I'm hoping this kitchen will be in place for a long time to come.

 

Who actually uses gadgets they buy?

I'm assuming, that like me, you buy a gadget as it seems a very good idea at the time, or you buy it as a gift for hubby because you have no idea what else to get him.

The biscuit maker was for me. It's never been out the box.

Hubby likes sushi, so I bought him his own kit, it has also never been out the box.

The pasta maker, also seemed like a good idea at the time, again it has never been out the box.

There's a bread maker also and the only gadget we do use is the slow cooker, although living in Dubai that's been relegated to under the kitchen sink for the time being.

Don't get me started on all the peelers/slicers etc bought over the years after watching a wonderful display of how good they are at local markets and all the crafting items that crinkle paper, cut zig zag lines and hole punch star shapes, or even silicon baking moulds that never, ever just 'pop the cake out'

So out they all go, will donate to charity and we've sworn blind we'll never buy another gadget again.

What gadgets have you bought and why did you think they would be used?

My Sunday Photo Week 6 Domestic Goddess

We're in our new home, everything is unpacked and put away, curtains hung. After 8 weeks of living off restaurant food and weight gain, we've been eating salads and fruit for the near past 2 weeks in an attempt to lose some weight. Sunday is a working day here, although hubby has decided to work from home today and I've decided to put the kitchen to use. Beef Stroganoff in the slow cooker, bread maker on, apple crumble and blueberry muffins in the oven and some freshly squeezed orange juice, fruit and yogurts for breakfast, now just the washing up to do and popping to the shops and have a coffee while I'm out.

Who you kidding? Women can't multi task.

I'm sorry I know I'm letting women down, but seriously who thinks they can actually multi task?

We all say 'men can't multi task' but I don't think us women can either.

Sure I can do lots of things badly, but if I want to do things well I have to do one thing at a time.

But like most women, judging by the tweets, we can't just do one thing at a time, we have lists, we cook tea, make phone calls, sew a hem up on a pair of school trousers and breast feed all at the same time.

When I try multi tasking I end up leaving a trail of destruction behind me. Today I've been altering a dress, made half a handbag, emptied and refilled the dishwasher but not put anything away, stripped the beds but not washed the sheets or re made the bed, been in the pool to cool off and left wet towels everywhere, half written a letter and forgot where I've left it, can't locate my keys for the post box or my charger for the phone under all my mess.

Hubby can't multi task either but he has swept and mopped the kitchen floor and put everything away. I've never seen the floor so shiny, it took him nearly an hour, I thought he was going to dismantle the cupboards so he could finish the job off properly. He's now preparing dinner, from fresh and no doubt he'll have to mop again, but that suits me, while he's busy stuck in the kitchen all day he can't observe my multi tasking mess and my kitchen will be spotless.