Accessorise Your Kitchen!

I thought this might be a good topic to talk about this week as there are many accessories available on the market today for new kitchens and kitchen renovations.

Some of these accessories are quite expensive and really not that useful, they’re just a great sales gimmick. They look good and sound good, but you really need to think about whether or not it will be that useful in your home.

Also, when selecting accessories, keep in mind how much space they will actually take up in your kitchen and if that space could be better used.

I’ll go through a few of the most popular, practicle and helpful kitchen accessories. If you are getting a quote on getting a new kitchen, don’t forget to mention the accessories you’d like included in your kitchen as they are not automatically included in the price.

1. Twin Bins – having a bin in a kitchen can sometimes be a controversial topic. Some people will argue that it’s unhygenic to have a bin in your kitchen, I have had it both ways, with and without, and I have to say that I’d much prefer to have a bin in a cupboard, than a bag with rubbish in it on the benchtop constantly. Twin bins are the most popular choice these days as they are fantastic for separating rubbish as most households now need to have a recycling bin aswell as general household rubbish and scraps. These bins fit into most standard sized kitchen sink cupboards and take up minimum room.

2. If you can afford to splash out a little, the oragaline system is great! I use it at home and find the best use is the utensils drawer. You know the one that ends up choc-a-block full of utensils facing all different ways, you can’t find what you’re looking for and when you do, it’s like an excavation project trying to get the item out of the drawer and untangled from the mess that’s in there.

Well, the orgaline system can be individually tailored to any size, so if you want all of your tongs in one section, make that section the right size and another might need to be longer for serving spoons. Keeps everything neat and tidy and there’s no more struggling through your utensils.

3. Inner drawers – some kitchen designs require mostly cabinets to fit in with the style of kitchen that they desire, but you may want an extra set of drawers just to make life easier. Inner drawers sit internal of the cabinet doors and slide our fully to allow easy access of any items stored in there. They are ideal for cupboards you would usually store baking dishes, pots and other crockery, and fantastic for the tupperware.

4. Spice drawer – if you have the room, a spice drawer is a must. I used to have spices stashed in my pantry and it took such a long time to find the one I was after. Now, I have a spice drawer right under my cooktop making life so much easier. If you can’t manage to free up a drawer to use for this, a spice rack is equally as good.

Left: Probably what your spices look like right now Right: Organisation with a dedicated spice drawer

5. Tea-Towel Rail – do you find yourself always looking for a spot to hang your tea-towel, sometimes you want it out of sight but still accessible. A tea-towel rail is the solution, it can be installed in your sink cupboard which is the ideal spot to hide it, and yet it’s readily available when your hands are dripping wet.

6. Utensil Hanging Rail – these can be attached to your splashback and are a fantastic cooking solution, you can hang all of your most loved and used cooking utensils on here where it’s easy to access, they look pretty smart too!

7. Lazy Susan – This device is ideal for corner units and saves you having to crawl in to the back of the cabinet to access the items there. There are other similar devices, some of which actually pull right out of the cabinet for even easier access. All of these devices make corner units much more practical.

Well I hope that this weeks’ topic has been helpful and useful. Of course there are many other accessories that can be used in the kitchen but I thought I’d just stick to those that are most usable and popular.

If you have a topic you’d like me to discuss, please let me know and I’ll do my best.