I recently heard an insurance expert say that he believed half the car thefts in Australia were as a result of someone breaking into the home and stealing the keys.
So why put a key rack next to the door and make it easy for them?
Especially if the rack can be seen through a glass panel!
I always keep the keys on my person until I go to bed, when the keys go on the bedside table.
How about you?
The attractive key rack photo is from thewww.instructables.comweb site, a great resource for DIY ideas. . . . You could always use it for hanging kitchen tools.
One of the ‘Design Trends’ that I have seen over the last two or three years is the ‘Butlers Pantry’.
But how many of us have a Butler?
In my opinion its just another marketing idea to make you pay more for your new house.
What Does a Butlers Pantry Mean?
Well the original meaning was a storage place for the best silverware and china, and the butlers office . . . not a food preparation area.
In some European Grand Houses the butler even had a bed in the pantry to provide extra security overnight.
These days it seems to mean a second kitchen, that could add $20,000- $30,000 to the cost of your new house.
Why?
The reasons I hear are:
Extra room for storage.
Extra room for food preparation
You can hide away the mess that you make when you are preparing a big meal.
Somewhere to hide away all the dirty dishes.
Why Not?
Apart from the cost, the reasons why not are:
Most of the Houses that have butlers pantries have kitchens with lots of storage anyway. so the extra storage will probably fill with stuff you are never going to use again.
Do you really want to do your food preparation in a poky butlers pantry when you have a large, well lit, kitchen bench.
Entertaining shouldn’t be like an episode of ‘My Kitchen Rules’ or ‘Masterchef’ so do the preparation, and clean up, before the guest arrive! What the working chefs call ‘Mise En Place’.
If you have done the preparation early then you can have the dishwasher empty and the dishes go straight in.
What’s The Alternative?
Well I work in a production kitchen and every day I see lots of preparation going on at least 24 hours in advance of the time that the food is going to be served.
Rather than spend the many thousands on the butlers pantry it might be best spending around $1,000 on a bit bigger fridge to store your prepared ingredients.
If you really must have a pantry why not check out these Hints On Organising.
Many of us get a new dishwasher when moving into a new house.
With some builders it’s included in an ‘Upgrade Package’
You might check on the energy rating and the water consumption . . . . but how many of us check how noisy it is?
With our last new house our dishwasher was fairly quiet . . . but with our current flat the dishwasher drowns out the TV!
Dishwasher noise may not be an issue if you have a ‘Butlers Pantry’ but most of us have the family TV near the kitchen area.
Loudness
The preferred background sound level of a living room is 40dB (decibels) with increases in sound level of 3dB being apparent to the human ear.
My research has found the loudness of dishwashers commonly available in Australia ranges from 40dB to 55dB. (55dB is 3 times as loud as 40dB and will make quiet conversation difficult)
it is not unusual to see a difference of 6 – 8dB across the range of a single manufacturer so check carefully before you buy.
Just because your existing dishwasher is quiet doesn’t mean another model from the same manufacturer will also be the same.
Looking around Display Homes I see a lot of island benches with waterfall ends.
Although I would agree that they can look very great there are some downsides that it is worth thinking about.
Less Flexibility
Most of us use an island bench as a casual eating area.
The waterfall end means that you will all end up facing the same direction rather than being able to look at each other sitting around the end.
You will also find it less comfortable to work of the waterfall end for food preparation. . . because your foot can’t go under the bench you can feel a bit to far from the bench.
Power Point Location
These days there are lots of electrical devices in the kitchen, coffee machines, toasters, kettles slow cookers etc even lap top and phoone chargers.
A convenient place for power points is at the end of the bench. . . but putting a double powerpoint in that waterfall end is really going to spoil the look . . . .under an overhanging end will make it unobtrusive but still convenient.
Cost
All that extra stone counter top and the labour in making a smooth join isn’t going to be cheap.
One compromise is to have a waterfall at one end of the island and an overhang at the end you want to use for casual dining.
