Kitchen Essential

Kitchen Storage Behind Closed Doors

Cupboard storage ideas are only as limited as your imagination.

• Glass doors can often be incorporated into cupboard design — these are generally at eye level to show off colour-coordinated china and glassware.
• Plastic-coated wire baskets are popular for storing numerous items from pots to vegetables.
• A tea-towel rack may be useful in a small narrow space.

Continue Reading »

With all of its pots, pans, bags of groceries and delicious comforting aromas, the kitchen is the heart of the home. But it does have a dual role to play: it has to be efficient yet comfortable and inviting.

Planning a kitchen may seem daunting at first, but most of the important decisions will be common-sense ones. Then you can spend time on the fun things like colour schemes and the overall ‘look’. Continue Reading »

If space is a problem, the single-line layout may be the most practical and efficient arrangement.

It’s a challenge to the designer, but if planned carefully, the single-line kitchen can look neat, and work as well as a beautifully designed machine. In a multi-purpose room, it has the advantage of being able to be contained in one area, leaving most of the floor space free for dining and/or relaxing. Continue Reading »

The most informal arrangement, the eat-in kitchen can fit into almost any shaped room as long as it’s not too small.

A great benefit of this layout is that the cook need never feel left out from what’s going on at the table. On the down side of things it is impossible to close the door on kitchen mess. Continue Reading »

Fridges and freezers are no longer huge white shapes looming in the corner. While they may be less bulky on the outside, their internal capacity is what counts for most people.

Despite all the streamlining, size, more than any other factor, determines which model of fridge or freezer we buy. A tall larder fridge and a matching freezer give ample easily accessible storage space but many kitchens are simply not big enough to accommodate them. Alternatives include a freezer kept separately — in the utility room, garage or wherever — or a combined fridge/freezer unit. Whatever you buy, choose a model on which the door is hinged correctly — it should not open into the central space of the kitchen. Continue Reading »

Children’s parties should be fun and lively and very much geared to the particular likes of the child whose birthday it is. One of the best ways of creating an entertaining, lively atmosphere is to choose a theme which follows through from the invitations to the table decorations, food, drinks and even all the party games.

Decide first on a theme by discussing with the birthday boy or girl what they would like. They may have an interest or hobby that is the obvious topic; otherwise try and choose something that will give plenty of scope for games, fancy dress, a novelty cake, table decorations etc. Here are a few ideas: outer space; ghosts and monsters; castles and dungeons; a favourite television character; the circus; a Disney character; a visit to the Zoo. Continue Reading »

Care of table linens will depend on the materials from which they are made. By and large, synthetics require less attention than most pure cottons and linens, or mixtures of natural and man-made fibres. But the beauty of starched cloths and napkins is often well worth the effort involved in laundering and ironing them.

Synthetic fabrics should be washed in accordance with maker’s directions but as a general rule they may be either machine-washed on the appropriate programme or hand-washed in warm water. Hand-washed articles may be pre-soaked but should not be wrung out, simply drip-dried. Usually ironing is not necessary, although some fibres can be lightly pressed with a warm iron if liked. Synthetic fabrics should not be starched. Continue Reading »

Simple and contemporary

White or plain wood cupboard fronts — with a few glazed doors too. Try mixing white and wood together: white units with a woodblock work top, or wooden base units with white-painted wall cupboards. Stripwood floor. Plain white roller blinds for the windows.

Sleek and high-tech

Everything discreetly fitted, right up to the ceiling — no open storage except for ultra-functional chrome utensils on hanging rails. Recessed lighting. Granite-effect work tops. Black‑’ and-white tiled floors. Slatted window blinds. Continue Reading »

Washing machines have certainly removed the drudgery from washday, but one should have no delusions that even the most sophisticated machines have removed all the work.

The fully-automatic, electronic or computerised job certainly washes better. It copes with delicate and sensitive fabrics and, in many cases, removes stains.

What the machine cannot do is sort the washing into compatible types. It cannot read care labels or washing instructions. It still has to be loaded and unloaded. If a tumble dryer is incorporated into the one machine, some of the load may still have to be put on one side for the dryer to do its job most economically.

After drying, either in the integral tumble dryer, separate dryer or out in the garden, the ironing has to be done and the finished laundry sorted for storing in airing cupboard, drawers or wardrobes sorted for storing in airing cupboard, drawers or wardrobes. Continue Reading »

Everyone has their own pet ideas on storing items that no standard kitchen unit could accommodate. For example, units don’t provide little hooks for all those rubber bands we can’t bear to throw away! So full marks to those British kitchen unit manufacturers who do look beyond merely what their Continental rivals provide, and actually try to see what the housewife really needs.

Recipes and recipe books are never provided for. Recipe cards or small notes are not easy to handle whilst making a new cake for the first time. A bulldog clip and a cup-hook attached to the underside of the wall unit solves this problem. Attach the recipe to the bulldog clip and simply hang it on the hook! Winchmore Kitchens have produced a recipe book holder which looks, when closed, like part of the pelmet concealing the strip light under the wall cupboard. When it is pulled out it holds the book — just like a mini-lectern. Continue Reading »

This young couple have one child and the possibility of more to come. In this first home, with a limited budget, they wished to spend it as wisely as possible. First priority is the working kitchen, which must be efficient, safe and as timeless as possible. They could not afford it to look old fashioned within a few years.

Sensibly, the washing machine and a sink were plumbed in the garage where the central-heating boiler had already been installed to allow more space in the kitchen. The fridge/freezer, fronted by decor panels to match the units, was placed next to the garden door. Adjoining this is the gas double oven. Base and wall units link up to the double-bowl, round red enamel sinks under the window. Continuing round the kitchen, units link up to the matching red gas hob with an extractor fan above. Base units continue fromthe hob up to the peninsular breakfast bar — also a useful extra work surface. To make use of the end of the wall unit (see picture left) a midway unit, normally wall mounted between worktop and cupboard above, was fitted to hold cruet, jam, sugar and so on in handy reach of those using the breakfast bar. Continue Reading »

Shape solutions

Small, awkward-shaped kitchens can present special problems. These examples show how these virtually unworkable kitchens were transformed into labour saving dreams.

Five walls

A tiny kitchen in an old end-of-terrace house in a garden suburb presented a challenge with three windows and five walls, none of which was of equal length.

The new owner was a busy professional woman who lived with her teenage daughter. Breakfast and evening meals were to be eaten in the kitchen. Maximising on the microwave and the freezer, they entertained friends about once a month. The budget for this kitchen was moderate.

The previous occupants had fitted some units which had suffered from misuse. The double- drainer sink unit was against an inside wall which complicated the plumbing to the drains. A free-standing cooker stood in one corner near the door which led to the tiny utility room and toilet. Continue Reading »

Complete kitchens should never come ‘off the peg’. Every kitchen is different because every household is different — small or large families, a single person, a group of adults and children — almost any combination, in fact, with almost any lifestyle. Added to this, the family or household group will have different needs in, say, ten years’ time, and different budgets available for the work to be done.

Of the hundreds of kitchens that Roma Jay has planned, we have taken eighteen examples to illustrate the variety of family sizes and needs, and the range of budgets available.

The size of the kitchen is not necessarily the crucial factor. A spacious kitchen can be just as inconvenient as a very small kitchen if the layout is bad and if it does not meet the needs of the people who use it. All the case histories described here are actual living, working kitchens, but you should not assume that any of them will perfectly match your unique requirements. The intention is to help you to analyse your own requirements and see the tremendous range of possibilities open to you. Continue Reading »

More ambitious ideas and budgets to match are illustrated by these four kitchens where extensions were constructed and living rooms incorporated.

Family planning

Two adults, two teenagers and two young children made up this family who planned an extension to their home to contain a completely new kitchen. There was a separate utility room for the washing machine, but the existing floor-standing gas central-heating boiler had to stay where it was. They wanted to eat in the kitchen at a breakfast bar to seat up to eight people; they liked a rustic look, and were able to spend a reasonable amount to get the kitchen the way they wanted.

Three meals a day were eaten, plus home baking at least once a week, batch cooking for the freezer once a month; dinner party and other entertaining from time to time. This family had thought deeply about what their real needs were. Continue Reading »

Probably one of the greatest needs when improving kitchens is to create more space by repositioning walls, doors, windows and demolishing cupboards. The objective is to achieve more usable space without going to the expense of building an extension. These examples illustrate ways of achieving this end.

Window into doors

When this young couple wrote to Ideal Home magazine for advice on their kitchen, their first child was expected. The house, built in the 1920s, had a very large kitchen with windows overlooking the garden; a large walk-in larder and a big utility room. In fact the house was featured in the magazine during the 1930s.

An interior designer herself, the owner only needed a kitchen planning expert to provide the key to spark off her own creative ideas to revamp the kitchen. In this case, the key was to convert an existing window overlooking the garden into French doors, in order to give easy and safe access into the garden for the future family. Continue Reading »

Restoration

This Hertfordshire residence, built in the 1920s, is a relic of a gracious era. It comprised two large reception rooms, large airy hall, butler’s pantry, morning room, huge larder, kitchen and laundry room.

The family who moved into this house were parents and two pre-teenage children. Cooking and entertaining, as well as growing her own fruit and vegetables for freezing or preserving are this housewife’s relaxation. She is also a keen junk shop addict — spotting objects that anyone else would reject. She then lovingly restores them not merely to their former glory, but improves on the original.

While she could see the potential of the house, she could not visualise the kitchen area with its maze of cupboards and rooms. As a designer it is necessary to find out how the kitchen would be used and what the family’s requirements are before producing a plan. During our discussions it became clear that cooking was a major part of the activities. The wife cooked not because it was expected of her, but because she truly enjoyed it. She seemed cut out for an Aga cooker, and once it was explained to her just what an Aga was about, she couldn’t wait to try it. The gas- fired Aga is on continuously, heats the water in the kitchen and cloakroom and warms the kitchen. Once this was agreed, the plan for the kitchen seemed to fall into place. Continue Reading »

FOOD PREPARATION

Frequently used items must be housed at hip height. Position wall mounted cupboards 45 cm from the base unit so that they are easy to reach but still allow space for small appliances below.

For easy accessibility, fit deep cupboards with one or two shelves on runners, or have a number of narrow adjustable shelves in the unit. Wicker or wire drawers make good containers for vegetables or cleaning equipment. Continue Reading »

Of all the rooms in the house,the kitchen is the most difficult to plan. Unlike other rooms where you can move furniture around to your heart’s content, you have only one opportunity to design the perfect kitchen layout. Once the plumbing is in, your design is fixed, so take as much time as you need to work out the most pleasing and practical plan.

Cooking is a serious task that requires adequate space, specific equipment and functional fittings. Good kitchen design is more about planning well than having the largest possible room.

As the kitchen occupies a central role in our daily lives, it’s important to consider its position in relation to the rest of the house. Continue Reading »