KITCHEN ESSENTIALS : CHOOSING THE RIGHT WORKTOPS

AD/ PR GIFT This blog post is 100% my own thoughts and opinions. I have worked with Caesarstone on our kitchen renovation in exchange for gifted worktops.

A worktop can make or break a good kitchen design, which is why it’s so important to do the research and make the right decision when it comes to your your worktops.

I’m a huge advocate for stone- particularly engineered quartz, especially when it comes to stone vs Wooden tops, and here I’ll tell you why.

Wooden worktops are great if you want that rustic look, but they’re high maintenance needing to be sanded and re oiled every year or so, to keep them looking fresh. They can scorch easily when it comes to hot pans or baking trays and water can eat away at the wood around heavily traffic areas such as the sink and tap. I’m all about low maintenance and I don’t want to have to treat the worktops year on year.

Caesarstone White Attica, engineered quartz worktops.

Marble Vs Quartz

I love marble, but the problem with marble is its much more expensive than quartz, and actually doesn’t work great in a kitchen as the stone is porous and will absorb moisture whilst cooking and cleaning. It also requires regular sealing as Marble is primarily made up of calcite, which means it is not very durable. It reacts badly to acids and alkaline (so anything from lemon juice to vinegar) which can cause ‘etching’, whilst a sudden impact, like a cast iron pan getting dropped, can cause stun marks that can’t be removed.

Quartz is much more durable and won’t etch, plus its also significantly cheaper than marble, making it the ideal choice for kitchen worktops. Plus the brilliant thing about engineered quartz is that it comes in a range of marble like designs which look just like marble.

A marble effect quartz worktop is renowned as one of nature's strongest, most enduring minerals and has been engineered into a surface material that can provide outstanding durability and low maintenance.

In our old kitchen, money was a lot tighter as we were first time buyers, so we opted for Ikea units and spent the money on the quartz worktops and I have to admit that on the day we sold the house, the kitchen still looked as it did 6 years prior to when it first went in, and I think that had a lot to do with the worktops.

This time round I knew I wanted a marble looking engineered quartz worktop to give me that marble look, but a much affordable price.

Caesarstone White Attica, engineered quartz worktops.

What is quartz?

Quartz is an engineered worktop material composed of natural quartz crystals, one of the hardest minerals on the planet, and sometimes an amalgamation of raw materials such as glass pigments, resin and polymers. Usually, the ratio is at least 90% quartz to 10% of the other raw materials. It is worthwhile selecting an established brand to ensure the quality.

After looking around at different quartz manufactures we settled on Caesarstone. Having their HQ only down the road in enfield I was able to visit their showroom out of lockdown, and view their huge selection of engineered quartz designs.

Caesarstone have created an innovative and diverse range of colours and patterns that evoke the luxurious appeal of marble but also add an incomparable beauty that only quartz can deliver. 

Whether you're looking for sleek black marble, stylish grey marble or classic white marble, there's an alternative option made from quartz that is based upon the natural stone but then developed further to create something new entirely.

Caesarstone White Attica, engineered quartz worktops.

How easy is it to care for and maintain quartz?

One of the biggest supporting factors of quartz is that it’s virtually maintenance free. Marble is actually considered a soft and porous stone, meaning it absorbs liquid and leaves watermarks very easily. Regular sealing is required to allow time to clean up spillages and prevent staining, however marble can only be cleaned with a PH neutral cleanser to avoid damaging the surface.

The non-porous nature of quartz means it doesn’t require sealing and is designed to be stain resistant, with no need for specialised cleansers. It’s also less susceptible to mold and bacteria growth, making clean up and care much simpler. If you don’t have the time to keep a natural stone like marble in top condition, quartz is a much lower-maintenance option.

Why Caesarstone?

Caesarstone have been at the forefront of manufacturing premium quartz worktops for almost three decades, consistently creating high-quality surfaces that are designed to last. The non-porous, stain-resistant nature of quartz makes it an ideal worktop choice to contend with all life throws at it.

And if you need any proof then you just need to make an appointment to visit the Caesarstone showroom in Enfield, where you can see the large slabs in all their glory, showing you the full potential of their designs.

Why White Attica?

I went for a Caesarstone design called White Attica. This is a white quartz from Caesarstone Classico collection. Inspired by classical natural marbles, White Attica features a clean white base with dense, dark grey interwoven veins. It looks a bit like blue cheese, and I just loved the dark vein and how it would pick out the dark green tones of our kitchen units.

Caesarstone White Attica, engineered quartz worktops.

The Kitchen design

We used 30mm thick White Attica slabs for our worktops, the kitchen island which has a waterfall design down the sides, then the same inside our pantry cupboard and utility room.

For the 600mm high splash-back and shelf we used a 20mm thick slab in the same design.

It didn’t need to be as thick as the worktops as it was going against the wall.

Caesarstone White Attica, engineered quartz worktops.

The Floating Shelf

The plug sockets were cut out of the splash back on site, ready for the brass sockets to be added.

The stone shelf took a lot of preparation and had to be pre prepped at the beginning of the build. Once the block-work went up for the kitchen extension, our builders added wooden battens leaving a 20mm gap to sandwich the shelf into. They then proceeded to plaster board and plaster the wall, still leaving the small 20mm gap.

Once the wall was painted, the application for the shelf was pretty straight forward. Our fabricators (G Worktops) fitted the splash back first, then applied a strong adhesive then inserted the stone shelf.

The shelf is 200mm deep, and the science is that the shelf counter balances from the wooden beams, plaster board and plaster and glue so that it holds in place.

Our builders applying the timber beams to support the floating stone shelf. They left a precise 20mm gap for the shelf to be slotted inside.

I’d love to know what your thoughts are on Marble Vs Quartz, and what your preference is? I love our quartz worktops and am delighted with the end result. They really finish our kitchen off perfectly.

If you’re in the market for new worktops and want to visit Caesarstone’s showroom, virtual tours are available to book.

Virtual studio tours

 Caesarstone’s virtual showroom is packed full of information to help its customers. The virtual tour invites you for a sneak peek inside the showroom, allowing you to walk through the space and explore what they have on display at the touch of a button. If a particular piece captures your attention, you can find out more information from the interactive elements.

 To register your interest in an appointment, please visit here.

Manchester studio (for when we’re allowed to book in physical visits)

 There are two Caesarstone studios in the UK, one in London, at the brand’s Head Office in Enfield, and one which opened more recently in Trafford Park, Manchester. Both offer a highly engaging and tactile experience and includes large format product displays of Caesarstone’s unique and dynamic designs. Guests can book an appointment via an online booking system, which will secure them a 45 minute consultation in which the studio manager will personalise the visit based on the customer’s preferred worktop style and individual project requirements.

 Caesarstone Manchester Studio

Unit 38, Wheel Forge Way, Ashburton Point

Trafford Park, Manchester M17 1EH

To book a guided visit please contact:

0800 158 8088

info@caesarstone.co.uk

www.caesarstone.co.uk 

WHY WE FITTED A HOME ALARM

AD/ PR GIFT This alarm has been gifted to me by Banham. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own. I wouldn’t recommend anything that I didn’t love.

Showing our home on the internet and having a following on instagram can leave me feeling slightly vulnerable and open when it comes to our home security. I post our home, our contents and most importantly our family, and even though I don’t talk about where our house is exactly I’m sure someone could find it.

Having a child has definitely added to my anxiety in this department too, which is why it was a no brainer to add a home alarm system to our new home to dial up our security.

We already have CCTV, but we decided we also wanted to add a modern security system and started researching all the different systems and brands.

We have Banham locks which I’ve talked about before. You can read it here and how the keys can’t be copied without approval from Banham themselves, so after lots of research we decided to add a Banham Burglar alarm.

Why Banham?

Where do I start? First off I loved the fact that that Banham offer a bespoke designed intruder alarm system which gives our home uncompromising security coverage as it’s been specifically designed and fitted ,to fit around our home requirements and our families needs.

Secondly, the Banham team manage the security from designing a system to fit for our home, and manage the the installation, and then after installation they continue to provide a premium service after.

24- Hour Alarm monitoring

Banham offer 24-hour alarm monitoring with their in-house Alarm receiving centre, and key-holding and alarm response services for complete peace and mind. This means they will contact you about false alarms, power failures etc, making sure your system always stays fully connected. They also provide full reporting and offer around the clock customer support.

Which means if the alarm was to be triggered by an intruder, the Banham alarm controller will instantly respond with a personal phone call and alert you, key-holders and or the police depending on the level of alarm response which you’ve chosen.

Quality Alarms and Aftercare

As with all Banham services, their emergency and maintenance is second to none. Technical support is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. In the event of alarm failure they can despatch an alarm engineer to be at your property within 4 hours.

The Design

Oh the design. It would be a lie if I said the design didn’t also sway my decision with getting a Banham Alarm, as I am a designer after all.

The outside front and rear is fitted with a bell box for the alarm. These alarm boxes are available in black, white and grey and you can choose which colour your want when they do the first assessment. I went for a black box to contrast on our white render and match our black window frames.

On the inside you have two boxes which need to be wall mounted internally. One needs main power and is the main hub. This is fixed with a un-switched fuse, but also has batteries in case the power trips. (If the power does trip Banham will call you to check it’s a power fault).

The second box pictured below can be mounted next to the main powered one, or alternatively can be mounted nearer your front door for easy access with your key fob for when you set it and return. This one is battery operated and sends a signal to the mains powered box. Both boxes can be controlled manually with your chosen pin code, or with a key fob.

This box comes in multiple colours of black, white, gold and silver. I went for the gold box… naturally.

The Banham fob box comes in multiple colours of black, white, gold and silver. I opted for the gold.

You can pick up to 12 key fob holders, and Banham recommend you having two key holders which should be trusted family members who live close enough to come if there was a problem with the alarm.

All in all, the Banham Burglar Alarm is not only a bespoke designed, and expertly installed and maintained system which gives us peace and mind for when we’re home and away, but its also a very stylish piece of kit which doesn’t interfere with our homes aesthetic inside and out.

Our Banham security box is sitting pretty on the outside of the house - in the top left.

We’re huge fans and we can’t actually believe we never had one before!

HOW TO CREATE A RELAXING SPA INSPIRED BATHROOM AT HOME

** Ad/ disclaimer **I received a pr discount on the Crosswater and Burlington bathware on on the Otto, and CTD tiles. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own. I wouldn’t recommend any products mentioned in my post if I didn’t love them.

What if you could bring the spa to your own home? This was my thinking when planning our family bathroom over at our ‘Rat House’ Renovation.

Especially since all spa’s are closed while we’re in the thick of Lockdown 3.0.

This bathroom was a blank canvas as it was part of the new first floor extension, which meant I could plan out everything from scratch, even down to the plumbing locations. Although saying that, there were some limitations as there normally always is. Such as the toilet plumbing had to be on the right wall - closest to the external side wall as I had said to the builders that under no circumstances was the waste pipe, or any pipes for that matter to show on the back of the house. Theres no problem with having pipes on the back posterior, but since the house is detached, I thought it would be nicer to keep it all to the side purely for aesthetics and accessibility. But apart from that I had free rein!

I wanted the atmosphere and decor to have that spa like nature, because everyone needs a trip to the spa once in a while, right?

A before shot of our bathroom which was a blank canvas as it was part of our first floor extension.

The Palette

When you think of spa’s you think of clean white lines, minty aquatics, plenty of plants, fluffy robes and soft towels. So, thats whats what I decided the palette should be in here.

Plus with the added extra of copious amounts of brassware, because brass is my favourite material in the world, so it was only fitting that all the hardware and trims would have to be of a brassy gold nature in here.

The Tiles

This bathroom took me the longest to source everything as I wanted to mix three very different tiles together and find the perfect balance. Each were a different thickness, so it caused the tiler some stress with levelling the walls, but we got there in the end.

I chose Zellige 10cm x 10cm tiles from Otto Tiles for the top of the bathroom in an Icy blue shade to bring in that minty freshness into here, then for the bottom of the wall I went for Large format Marmori Calacatta White Polished Tile - 1200x600mm from CTD which I wanted laid in a portrait position.

Then for the floor I searched high and low to find floor tiles which were an off white which could be laid in a herringbone design. After speaking to Artisan of Devizes they were able to source the Lido Ice White floor tiles for me. These aren’t on their website yet, but will be in the spring of 2021.

Artisan Of Devizes -Lido Ice White

Otto Tiles - Icy Blue Zellige Tiles

CTD TILES - Marmori Calacatta White Polished Tile - 1200x600mm

Wall Tiles - Bottom row Marmori Calacatta White Polished Tile - 1200x600mm from CTD, Top Ice Blue Z-11-04 Zellige Tiles from Otto Tiles, Floor Tiles from Artisan of Devizes - Lido in Ice white. The bath has the Crosswater MPRO Industrial 5 Hole Bath Filler with Spout & Handset in the unlacquered brass £949.00 RRP, and the bath is from Burlington and is the Admiral 165cm Double Ended Bath £1899.00 RRP.

The bathmat and towels are from Anthropologie, and the small white side table is from Pottery barn kids and is the Collins table.

The Bathware & Furniture

I always think its good to mix and match with bathroom brands, and not feel too restricted to buy everything from the same brand. In here I mixed pieces from Burlington, Crosswater and had the bathroom vanity made by a carpenter as I couldn’t find what I wanted off the shelf so I designed it myself.

The bath is from Burlington, its the Admiral 165cm Double Ended Bath £1899.00 RRP. We could have fitted a 185cm one in here, but I liked the idea of it not being too cramped and at 165cm long, it’s still plenty big enough to stretch out in. It’s made of a tough resin which can also be painted. We’ve decided to leave it white for the moment.

All of the taps and brassware in this bathroom are all from Crosswater and are the from their MPRO industrial range.

I went for the MPRO Industrial 5 Hole Bath Filler with Spout & Handset in the unlacquered brass £949.00 RRP, to be set into the wall beneath the window instead of a floor standing outlet as A) I wanted to mix it up and look different to the other bathroom and B) I wanted it central so we wouldn’t bash our heads on it if it was on the end of the bath and we were laying in it.

For the vanity which I designed, we chose the Crosswater MPRO Industrial Basin 3 Hole Set in the matching unlacquered Brass which was £339 RRP.

Burlington - Admiral 165cm Double Ended Bath

MPRO Industrial 5 Hole Bath Filler with Spout & Handset

MPRO Industrial Basin 3 Hole Set

For the shower we opted for the matching Crosswater MPRO industrial 8” shower head in the Unlacquered Brass, with the matching. MPRO Industrial Crossbox 2 Outlet Valves (1500 Valve), and matching MPRO Industrial Wall Outlet, Single Mode Handset & Hose from Crosswater £189.00 RRP.

MPRO Industrial Easy Clean Shower Head 8"

MPRO Industrial Crossbox 2 Outlet Valves (1500 Valve)

MPRO Industrial Wall Outlet, Single Mode Handset & Hose

My bespoke Vanity unit which I designed myself and had made by a Carpenter. Brass Double Arm Wall Light with Opal Shade from Spark and Bell. Mirror is from Dunelm. It was black, but spray painted it gold. The taps are the Crosswater MPRO Industrial Basin 3 Hole Set in the matching unlacquered Brass which was £339 RRP.

The towels are from Anthropologie .

The vanity idea came about as I couldn’t find anything that I liked, so I decided to design my own. Our builders had a contact for someone in Portugal so it ended up being made over there with our front door and came over on a van a month later. You’ll see from my design that I was always dreaming of an arched mirror, but decided on a wider one in the end and not to go for the cut away splash back.

The arched mirror was originally black and is from Dunelm, but I spray painted it gold and it came up perfect. I’d definitely recommend spraying things that you can’t find to save money.

Our shower enclosure is 1700 x 800 and the screen is the ‘BOARDER’ Drench Showers shower screen, which is in brushed brass with fluted glass and it matches the Crosswater Unlacquered brushed brassware from their MPRO industrial range perfectly.

I loved the idea of having fluted glass in here to make the enclosure feel more private like a spa.

The shower tray is from Crosswater and is the Rectangular 25mm Stone Resin Shower Tray & Waste at £279. I sprayed the waste grill gold to match the rest of the bathroom.

Brushed Brass and fluted glass ‘Boarder’ shower enclosure from Drench showers in size 80 x 1200.

Brushed Brass and fluted glass ‘Boarder’ shower enclosure from Drench showers in size 80 x 1200.

Now, no bathroom is complete without a toilet and we opted for a wall mounted one in here so we could clean the tiles easily underneath. This one is the Kai wall hung toilet £395 from Crosswater. We also bought their 0.98m Height Wall Hung Toilet Support Frame £365, I then added the matching brushed brass flush plate from the MPRO range which was £125.

The Accessories

As we don’t have a close wall to the left or right of the toilet we opted for a marble and brass freestanding toilet roll holder from Made.com which was £39.

MPRO Flush Plate from Crosswater in brass at £125, Kai wall hung toilet £395, and 0.98m Height Wall Hung Toilet Support Frame £365 all from Crosswater.

The toilet roll holder is from Made.com and is £39.

The brass hook is from West Elm which is £79.00.

The towels are from Anthropologie, prices £14.

We already had the brass and marble West Elm coat hook from our old hallway- see our old Hallway post, and since we now have a coat cupboard we no longer need this out so decided to hang it in here. Its great for towels, those fluffy robes and also hanging planters to create that relaxing spa like feel at home.

MPRO Flush Plate from Crosswater in brass at £125, Kai wall hung toilet and brass hook from West Elm which is £79.00.

The towels are from Anthropologie

I chose an electric lacquered brass heated towel radiator from Vogue via Stylish radiators. It was quite expensive, but I couldn’t find anything else that matched the brushed brassware as well. We also added underfloor heating in here so it’s nice and toasty under foot.

I bought a lacquered brass radiator from Vogue radiators via Stylish Radiators

Every spa wouldn’t be complete without the fanciest of face and body creams, and Ren skincare is my go to. Plus, you can never have enough plants - faux and real to really capture that spa experience and give you the feeling of bringing the outdoors in and back to nature.

My bespoke Vanity unit which I designed myself and had made by a Carpenter. Brass Double Arm Wall Light with Opal Shade from Spark and Bell. Mirror is from Dunelm. It was black, but spray painted it gold. The taps are the Crosswater MPRO Industrial Basin 3 Hole Set in the matching unlacquered Brass which was £339 RRP.

The lacquered brass radiator from Vogue radiators via Stylish Radiators . The towels are from Anthropologie

I’d love to hear what you think and if you’re going to try bringing a little bit of the spa to your own home?

If you have any questions about any of the products which I’ve used, then feel free to leave me a comment below, or contact me on Instagram.

I’ve also written a post for CTD tiles on the marble tile trend which you can read here.

CTD have given me a 15% discount code to share with you. Use code : Houselust15 for 15% off.

DESIGNING OUR KITCHEN AND CHOOSING OUR AEG APPLIANCES

Our green and brass kitchen. Kitchen cabinets by Teco Bespoke, all appliances by AEG and are the Matt Black Collection appliances, handles from Corston Architectural, Flooring from 3Oakflooring, Worktops from Caesarstone and are the ‘White Attica’ engineered quartz and sprayed brass all from Quirky interiors.

I knew early on how I wanted the kitchen to look. The colour, the style, the brass accents and the marble look quartz worktops. I’m obsessed with brass accents and we have them all over the house in the form of light switches, sockets, handles and lights and I knew I wanted some brass accents in the kitchen really early on.

My Kitchen Mooboard

The only problem was getting around the stainless steel elements which you find on *most appliances. I hadn’t actually given the appliances much thought until the kitchen planning kicked in. I decided to attend the KBB (Kitchen Bathroom Bedroom) Event in Birmingham back in February 2020- before Covid-19 had stopped any kind of human interaction and when you could see the launch of new ranges, and thats where I first saw the Matt Black Collection from AEG.

I went to the event in hope of some kitchen inspiration and it served up plenty of it. AEG were at the KBB event showcasing their new Matt Black collection which was due to launch in the summer of 2020 and this is where this love story starts. I mean what’s not to love really, Matt black, appliances with minimal or next to nothing chrome accents -hell yes!

The Kitchen Design

We had just over 6.5 meters of run to work with on the back wall of the kitchen, and although the appliances were going to be on show, the main feature of the kitchen was going to be the island and a floating stone shelf on the back wall. See Kitchen drawing below.

Our Kitchen plans, designed with Teco Bespoke with our AEG Matt Black Collection appliances.

The stack (appliance stack) was going to be on the right of the kitchen run - balanced with our pantry on the left, and being the true Virgo which I am the stack had to look symmetric with the appliances. I knew we needed an Oven and a Microwave Oven as these were essential. A Warming Drawer, wine cooler and, Coffee Machine were nice to haves, and luckily we were able to add them into the design whilst still keeping the stack look balanced which pleased me no end. This is my dream kitchen at the end of the day, in our forever home, so I’m glad we didn’t compromise on the design and style.

We also knew we wanted an island- and the big question was where to put the hob? Do we put it on the island or the kitchen run? Well, I’m super pleased we added the hob to the island for multiple reasons, but I’ll list a few for you..

• We don’t leave dirty plates on the island which would be more of a focal point. This will be handy when entertaining too (when i't’s safe to do so).

• It’s more family friendly to cook and watch Otis from the hob/ island as theres a tv and sofa just in front of where I will stand to cook.

• Who does that much washing up? ha! Just kidding, but being on the back run it means it’s also next to the dishwasher which is handy for plumbing too

Our AEG Matt Black Collection appliances

Our AEG Matt Black Appliances

The Matt Black Integrated Coffee Machine from AEG

As I mentioned before that I was drawn to AEG’s new range because of the sleek Matt Black design, but also because of their amazing features and benefits which I’ll go into more detail one by one.

Starting with our starting with our integrated coffee machine. Located in our kitchen stack on the top right, this guy was a real treat to have integrated freeing up more worktop space.
Mr Lusty is a coffee connoisseur so when we designed our kitchen, this was his main request - it also keeps me pretty happy as I don't have to have a bulky coffee machine cluttering up our worktop.

Not only is this Matt Black as the rest of the appliances, but it also blends perfectly against our dark green cupboards and has some pretty nifty features. It can make Espressos, long and mug coffee and it has features to adjust the strength from Mild to intense. Plus you can even adjust the temperature making Mr Lusty one happy guy.

This appliance is model model number KKK994500T and is the Matt Black Integrated Coffee Machine from AEG.

This is the Matt Black Integrated Coffee Machine from AEG and model model number KKK994500T.

Matt Black Collection Integrated Combi Microwave Oven from AEG (KMK968000T.)

The integrated Combi Microwave Oven is located at the top left of our appliance stack.
This Combi Microwave Oven has a series of special features like its fast grill mode, meaning total versatility when cooking from melting mozzarella to hardening a creme brulee's sugared lid- all in one microwave which is genius! It has a fast heat up setting which uses less energy, preheating the oven 40% quicker than a conventional oven and it's command wheel gives me the option to adjust the temperature, timings and a whole host of different functions from defrosting to re-heating drinks so handy for me and that cold cuppa or for Otis' bedtime milk!

It also has an array of other cooking functions such as a crispy bottom function and a pizza function- which is another favourite in this house, so you can get professional results every time😀. In a nutshell it's a bit like having a second very clever oven, but with all the added benefits you would expect from a microwave and more.

Matt Black Collection Integrated Combi Microwave Oven is product code number KMK968000T.

Matt Black Collection Integrated Combi Microwave Oven from AEG (Located at the Top)

Matt Black Integrated SenseCook Oven With Pyrolytic cleaning (BPK948330T)

Introducing our Matt Black Integrated SenseCook Oven With Pyrolytic cleaning from AEG. It’s located at the bottom left of our kitchen stack- just below the Combi Microwave oven.
This oven has an assisted cooking function which is like having our own at home sous-chef, giving us options to scroll through menus to select a food category, and the oven will generate the correct settings for that dish! It also comes with a food sensor probe which I can easily plug into the oven and will analyse the temperature of the meat for reliable results.
I can control our oven cooking through the command wheel, whilst browsing through programmes, set timers and choose specialist functions. Once I'm all finished I can turn on the self cleaning Pyrolytic function, which heats up dirt, food and grease in the oven, converting it to ash which can then be easily wiped away.

Because let's face it - no one likes cleaning ovens so now I don't have the stress of the harsh chemicals burning my nostrils and a sous-chef on demand.

This is the AEG Matt Black Integrated SenseCook Oven- With Pyrolytic Cleaning, and is product code number BPK948330T

This is the AEG Matt Black Integrated SenseCook Oven- With Pyrolytic Cleaning, and is product code number BPK948330T.

This is the AEG Matt Black Integrated SenseCook Oven- With Pyrolytic Cleaning, and is product code number BPK948330T.

AEG Intergrated Matt Black Collection Wine Cooler (KWK884520T)

Do I even need to explain why I wanted one of these? LOL. Especially now we’re in our 3rd lockdown… only kidding. That's actually my son's chocolate Santa in amongst the wine - handy for wine, Prosecco, champagne and chocolates Santas.

I love how this Wine cooler is integrated into the stack and doesn’t take up space in our island. I personally think they look newer integrated like this.

Other benefits include a Temperature ranges from 5 to 20 degrees . Stores up to 18 bottles.. Let’s give that a huge clap, and the flexible design means bottles can be stored in different positions.

This is the AEG Intergrated Matt Black Collection Wine Cooler, model number KWK884520T.

This is the AEG Intergrated Matt Black Collection Wine Cooler, model number KWK884520T.

AEG INDUCTION COMBOHOB 83 CM

Introducing my favourite of all the appliances and the final one which I’m going to talk to you about. This induction hob from AEG and has a built in extraction fan and is a powerful induction hob all in one – providing limitless options for ultimate convenience and a modern minimalist design. I’ve never had an induction hob before as I always used to cooking on gas before, but I’m an induction convert now.

Did you know it can boil water from cold to boiling in less than 9 seconds? It’s incredible.

It’s Hob2Hood extraction allows for automated extraction during cooking which we have built venting which goes under our flooring and outside. When the temperature is turned up or down on the hob, the hood’s fan will adjust themselves accordingly. Plus as the the ComboHob has 4 cooking sections you can bridge them together at the touch of a button to make a larger cooking area. It’s pure genius, and makes me feel like a need to learn to cook more.

This is the AEG INDUCTION COMBOHOB 83 CM model number IDE84243IB.

This is the AEG INDUCTION COMBOHOB 83 CM model number IDE84243IB.

This is the AEG INDUCTION COMBOHOB 83 CM model number IDE84243IB, and our Caesarstone ‘White Attica’ engineered quartz worktop.

This is the AEG INDUCTION COMBOHOB 83 CM model number IDE84243IBpc and our Caesarstone ‘White Attica’ engineered quartz worktop.

All in all I’m delighted with my gorgeous AEG Matt Black appliances and think these are by far the best option for someone like myself who is passionate about cooking, but also doesn’t want to compromise on their interior style.

I hope you found this post helpful. If you’re a brass trim fanatic like me then Matt Black appliances are the way forward - especially against dark cupboards.

If you have any questions on the kitchen design, feel free to leave me a comment. I also made a video which I have left a link to below.

The appliances mentioned were all kindly gifted to me by AEG for our kitchen renovation. Our opinions and views are 100% my own. I’m super happy to have them, and wouldn’t promote anything I don’t recommend.