Category: Kitchens

Guest post by Hubert Dwight

The kitchen is the heart of the home.

No matter how you spruce up your living room our outdoor spaces, people always gather in the kitchen.

Whether guests at a party, or hungry teenagers, the kitchen is the most natural gathering place in a home.

The design and functionality of the kitchen can make a huge difference when packing in people, or even just providing a meaningful meal for your family.

The word “remodel” can induce anxiety in some home owners, for it often means big budgets and long timelines, however, this doesn’t have to be the case.

With the right resources and support, you can transform your kitchen from a lacklustre room to your dream kitchen.
Read on for 6 tips to transform your kitchen.

1) Seek expert advice

It is easy to get lost in Pinterest boards and online blogs on how to remodel your kitchen.

Why not save yourself some time and begin your renovation journey with the experts?

Find a trusted company with good reviews and a lot of years in the business.

A favourite of mine is Brentwood Kitchens, a company with over 30 years in the business.

Here you will find the option to browse online, or visit a showroom.

Working with a trusted, experienced company from the beginning will save you time, energy and frustration and will ensure to get you that jaw-dropping dream kitchen.

2) Make the most of what you have

A kitchen transformation doesn’t have to mean tossing everything you have and starting from scratch.

That is often an expensive and wasteful way to approach a renovation.

Take some time in your kitchen, and see what you can bring with you into your new kitchen.

What can be spruced up? Repainted? Refurbished?  what will be able to transfer into the new style you are hoping to create?

Once you know what can stay and what must go, you can begin refurbishing, replacing and designing!

3) Refurbish cabinets

Before you go tossing out your cabinets, assess whether they are worth refurbishing.

Often, cabinets are made of high-quality wood, the style is just a bit dated.

With a good sand, prep, prime and paint, even the ugliest cabinets can become a tasteful centrepiece for a stunning kitchen.

4) Replace Hardware

One easy and surefire way to give your kitchen an immediate facelift is to replace the hardware on the cabinets.

If your cabinets are a bit outdated, chances are the hardware is even more so in addition to having a lot of wear and tear.

Replacing all pulls, handles and knobs can be a fun first step to testing a new design theme in your kitchen.

5) Embrace imperfections

If you need to replace your kitchen appliances, but your budget doesn’t allow the super high-end models, there is another option.

Often, appliance stores will run a “scratch and dent” special for appliances with mild cosmetic imperfections.
This is a great way to be able to go up a step in quality without paying the high price tag.

6) Lighting

The right lighting can be considered the jewelry of your kitchen.

Lighting offers the opportunity for style and function, acting as both a centrepiece and an accent.

Getting the lighting right in your kitchen will boost both your culinary and conversation experiences in this well used room.

The key to great lighting in a kitchen is to combine natural light with overhead and under cabinet lights.

As the sun moves through the kitchen and eventually sets, various lighting options can ensure everything well lit in a comfortable and functional style.

Try as you may to put all the snack trays in the living room, people will still gather in the kitchen.

The kitchen is the heart of a home where friends and family naturally gravitate.

You will never regret giving your kitchen a mild or wild transformation, and lucky for you there are options for all budgets and styles.

Before wasting too much time find a specialist that can help guide you in the direction of your dream kitchen and off you go!

Guest post by Hubert Dwight

An overflowing, clumsy looking and completely disorganised pantry is unfortunately a nightmare that many people have to deal with everyday.

Whether you have a big family and huge grocery hauls every week, or are simply a cooking aficionado who has every ingredient under the sun from Saffron to Squid Ink, a messy pantry can easily cause anxiety levels to soar.

Here are 7 ways in which you can regain control of your overflowing pantry, leaving your life running just that little bit smoother.

It’s Time To Totally Detox!

If your cupboards are exploding with packets that have merely a handful of rice or pasta left, it may be time to completely purge your shelves and do a complete overhaul.

Go through all the items you have in your cupboards, throw anything that is expired into the bins and any ingredient that you may no longer need or want to use.

If you have had an ingredient that you’ve only used once and has been sitting there for years, it’s time to get rid of it.

This is also the perfect time to purchase nifty storage solutions from stores that sell homewares online in Australia to help you organise what is left of your pantry.

Get In The Zone

Once you have all your ingredients, spices, oils and vinegars sorted out, it may be time to keep them all in separate zones to avoid clutter and confusion.

Keeping similar items together will help you locate them in times of rush such as when you’re rushing to prepare breakfast or are looking to cook up a quick dinner in the evening when you’re feeling ravenous.

Store bottled items such as sauces, oils and vinegars together; other items such as crackers and biscuits should be kept in the same storage container or box and spices should be neatly stored in a spice containers which you can purchase online.

Label All Your Items

Every wondered if a jar was full of sugar or salt?

Instead of wasting your time having to taste or smell every ingredient before using it, easily identify your ingredients by labelling all bottles and jars with label stickers.

Whether it is long grained rice, sushi rice or bomba rice, you’ll never be confused again!   

Height Matters

Due to the nature of hot air rising to the top of the room, always remember that the coolest part of your pantry will be on the bottom shelves or drawers.

Lower drawers and shelves are a good place to store items that need to be kept cooler, such as Chocolates, Apples and Spreads.

Other more robust items can be stored on higher shelves – this way, you prevent wastage by having to throw out food items that have gone off due to improper storage

Light It Up!

There is nothing worse than having to fumble around a dark pantry, looking for ingredients you need and not knowing where they are because of the dim conditions of cupboards.

A great idea would be to install some lighting into your pantry or close by to your cupboards and drawers to avoid the need of rummaging through items and picking up the wrong thing.

Keep Check Of What You Do & Do Not Have

One of the reasons many people end up with exploding pantries is because they do not know whether they are out of a certain ingredient or not – thus, when at the supermarket, people end up buying duplicates of items they already have at home.

A great way to avoid this twin-magic scenario is to always keep a grocery list stuck up on the pantry door.

Every time you are out of an item, write it down.

This way, when you do go shopping, you know exactly what you need instead of trying to recall if you still have that packet of crisps from last week in the cupboard or not.

All It Takes Is 10 Minutes A Day

To further prevent disorganisation in a pantry, all you have to do at the end of the day is take 10 minutes to ensure that everything has been put back in its proper place.

Ensuring this on a daily basis will also help you fight the battle against a messy pantry.

The term that many chefs use, “clean as you go”, can be used as inspiration when it comes to organising your pantry and making sure that everything is in its place at the end of everyday.

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With these 7 ways to regain control of your overflowing pantry, the chaos that is your overflowing cupboards and over stuffed drawers will be nothing but a nightmare of the past.