Kitchen Essential

The idea of the kitchen as the heart of the home dates back to the dayswhen kitchens were power houses of service and industry and had a staff to run them! Fitted furniture and neat appliances mean they now have all sorts of other benefits to offer — and are much more fun to decorate.

Practicality should be uppermost in your kitchen planning. Even if you’re not a keen cook, or want a rustic, unfitted look,you will still need unobstructed access to cooker, fridge, sink, work tops and storage. And the kitchen is usually the room that has to accommodate all the general paraphernalia for which there’s no room elsewhere, from cleaning equipment to spare light bulbs and fuses. Colour and decoration will make it a pleasant place to work, but the most important thing is that it suits the way you live. This tells you how to plan a new kitchen — and how to update an old one at a fraction of the cost! Continue Reading »

Kitchen styles fall into two main groups: streamlined and high-tech, to emphasize the room’s status as a work centre; or softer and traditional, which makes it feel less functional and more lived-in.

The sleek, modern look provides simple lines and easy-to-clean surfaces, with no awkward corners. Kitchens in this style are good for small areas where too much decoration would feel cluttered and fussy; small kitchens really can’t take a rustic, unfitted effect without looking a mess. Continue Reading »

Your choice of colour will determine the style and ambience of a table, so don’t rely on a quick decision. Colours can be used quite consciously to achieve precisely the effect you are hoping for.

It may help you to run through the colour palette, starting with the colour which appears on almost every table — green.

Green for freshness

For nature lovers, the fresh green of flowers and leaves brings life into the house, especially during the winter months. Therefore green is a welcome addition to the table, because besides its fresh appearance, it has another quality. Green lifts and emphasises other colours, especially its complementary colour, red. You can exploit this characteristic if you place big green leaves on the table and then lay a single, or just a few, brightly coloured blossoms on top (for example, rhododendrons orhydrangeas). Continue Reading »

Thoughts of an attractive table setting usually start with a freshly laundered tablecloth which is carefully spread over the table. Sometimes that’s as far as the table decorations get — which is a shame, because with a few tucks and a bit of imagination, just a tablecloth on its own can provide your table with an effective “outfit”.

There are a few basic rules which will help you to make the most of your tablecloth.

The tablecloth must fit the table.

This makes sense, because nothing is more detrimental to the effect of a table than a cloth which is too small. On the other hand, your guests won’t enjoy fighting to disentangle their legs from acres of cloth hanging down from the table. It should still be possible to sit comfortably at a fully clothed table. Continue Reading »