Fabulous kitchen essentials

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Hello all

We are going to be getting a new kitchen in the autumn - we are very fortunate to be going for a bespoke shaker style.

I would like to squirrel away some fabulous things that I can buy gradually - we will have a small walk in pantry, so some lovely storage jars etc.

Any ideas / inspiration?

Pull out larder!

I know it's exciting but even if it is bespoke, I would recommend waiting until your kitchen is built before you buy any accessories. You can then make sure everything fits perfectly.

Not an accessory but an essential: boiling water tap.
And I too would wait before buying stuff, unless there’s a sale on! But be never found the right bread bin, so if you come across one, pounce!

Good point about making sure things will fit in the new kitchen!

We are getting a Quooker tap which is going to be transformative

Just got a Quooker tap with the cube. Loving the chilled sparkling water. And so much better for the environment... I was always buying so many bottles of it!

IKEA do some lovely jars- both the Kilner type tops and ones with lovely bamboo lids.

Possibly a bit OTT but you could look into a silhouette/cricut machine for making your own gorgeous vinyl labels for them

I love my nespresso machine, and created a dedicated coffee/tea area when I was designing my kitchen. The kitchen designer probably thought it was a bit of a waste of space but it gives me joy every time I make coffee now.

I thought I was happy with my Aldi special cake mixer until I got a Kitchen Aid. It was a gift and I’d never have justified spending so much but it’s actually worth it (and matches my kitchen)

What other kind of accessories did you have in mind?

@Livingintheclouds does it affect your water taste? I really wanted one of these but after reading a thread on here about the tea taste being altered, it's put me off a little!

TKMaxx used to sell beautiful hand blown square glass jars with chrome screw lids. They had a little hand-blown heart on the front. I bought 2 for coffee and sugar but I'm planning on an open shelving larder area for spices etc - should have hoarded a few more jars because they don't seem to have them anymore!

Not helpful 🙈

[quote BlackAlys]@Livingintheclouds does it affect your water taste? I really wanted one of these but after reading a thread on here about the tea taste being altered, it's put me off a little![/quote]
I have a boiling water tap... my mum hated the tea! I now put the water in the cup before the teabag... she says this is much better.

Thank you all.

So great ideas here.

I suppose I was just thinking of beautiful things!! I have visions of opening the doors to the walk in pantry and seeing stylish, tasteful storage.

I recognise that this makes me sound pretty daft - but this kitsch has been a long time coming 😀

I would go for kilner jars rather than tkmaxx or ikea as if you need to add more then you always know you will be able to get jars from the same range rather than ending up mismatched.

Oh very good call @Rainbowshit.

Just bought a magi mix from amazon great price at the moment. So many great plans for it!

Bear in mind that before it starts you will need to find temporary storage space for everything that is currently in there, we are having ours done at the moment and I have resisted buying new stuff yet because I needed every spare bit of storage space for the old stuff.

Not really an accessory, but a pot filler tap above your job his s game changer. Try and have one installed if you can.

I think pot fillers are going to be the new boiling water taps - they are quite common in the US but still fairly unknown here. Of course if you have a tiny kitchen they are a bit pointless, there's only going to be 90cm between my sink and hob so I will be putting my money into a fancy larder cupboard instead!

The Ikea jars are OK but just not quite as good as the Kilner/ French equivalent (much as their clip-top plastic storage is not as good as the Lock & Lock branded ones)

I like the idea of having nice versions of the boring stuff - so Zara Home, H&M Home or even Flying Tiger (!) do attractive kitchen roll holders, washing up caddies etc.

Also love my Dualit toaster, it's handsome, solid, endlessly repairable - I expect to have it for the rest of my life!

Not an accessory, but if your kitchen has the option to include half a dozen tiny drawers, go for it. We use ours for painkillers, batteries, spare shoelaces, the pet meds, picture hooks, string - all the annoying itty bitty things that get lost in a morass of mess otherwise.

I have these and love them! They are good quality, look smart and are practical. Highly recommend for pantry organising!

I found this at John Lewis & Partners. What do you think?  https://www.johnlewis.com/anyday-john-lewis-partners-flip-lock-airtight-rectangular-storage-container-set-set-of-5-clear/p5047047?tmad=c&tmcampid=7&sshare=jlappioss_Y29tLmFwcGxlLlVJS2l0LmFjdGl2aXR5LkNvcHlUb1Bhc3RlYm9hcmQ=

I also recommend kitchen utensils from Denby.. their wooden spoons, metal handle spatulas etc feel a nice weight to handle and are decent quality. There's a sale on their website at the mo... treat yourself!

I don’t understand the point of a pot filler tap when you still have to haul a hot pot to the sink to drain it? It seems like an unnecessary expense for minimal return, and I don’t know how accessible the plumbing is if things go wrong.

Am I missing something? Genuine question because I often am!

@thelegohooverer

I don’t understand the point of a pot filler tap when you still have to haul a hot pot to the sink to drain it? It seems like an unnecessary expense for minimal return, and I don’t know how accessible the plumbing is if things go wrong.

Am I missing something? Genuine question because I often am!

Generally agree but if you often cook meals where you need to add liquid mid stream I guess it's easier? I've never had one though people seem to love them. They do look cool.

When we were discussing layouts with our fitter he said they actively encourage people not to have plumbing behind range cookers as when it goes wrong its very hard to access to repair.

@thelegohooverer

I don’t understand the point of a pot filler tap when you still have to haul a hot pot to the sink to drain it? It seems like an unnecessary expense for minimal return, and I don’t know how accessible the plumbing is if things go wrong.

Am I missing something? Genuine question because I often am!

It’s really useful when you have a glass / ceramic induction cooktop. Means you there’s no risk of chipping the surface with a heavy pan as you try to manoevre it. I would love to have one but can’t justify it as the sink is right behind the hob island

Does it have a hose so you can reach all four rings then? We've always had the kettle next to the hob so you boil that and add it to the pan rather than carrying a pan of cold water over from the sink.