Have you ever struggled to open a package, cut fruits and vegetables, or trim plants with dull scissors? If you have, a utility knife is what you need. Utility knives are versatile cutting tools that make household tasks much easier and more efficient. Whether you’re a seasoned DIYer or just starting out, this guide will give you everything you need to improve your household tasks with a utility knife.
When designing a kitchen, it is important to think about how you will be using the space. If you like to cook, you will need a different layout than someone who prefers to eat out. In this article, we will discuss some tips for designing a kitchen that suits your own cooking methods. We will also provide some ideas for choosing the right furniture and appliances for your needs. Let’s get started!
Is your kitchen showing signs of aging and looking dull? It’s time for some revamping! Since kitchens are the most important room in every house many people want the best of the best for their kitchens. But sometimes you need to make your kitchen look new without even spending loads of money on it. No matter what the event is, your kitchen is the place for the meals and entertaining guests, so making sure it looks new and fresh is important.
Professional Oven Cleaning – Is it Worth it? is a paid collaborative post with Ovenclean. I had often wondered what the fuss was when it came to having your professional oven cleaning. I had heard so many people rave about it, but personally just couldn’t justify the cost. Well, I couldn’t have been more wrong. It seems that this was a secret club that I needed to be part of and now I have joined there is no going back!
We have a rule in The Mad House, which is that we do not partake in the ice cream van, this means that I have a freezer drawer full of ice lollies and we love making homemade ice lollies or popsicles. I never throw away nearly out of date juice or smoothies as they make fab lollies, Just like Kate at Crafts on Sea.
As I have said I have a love of mid century and Orla Kiely has a great interpretation of it. I love her tins and fell hard for her melamine range. The tray is a great size and the handles makes it perfect for the boys to carry. The containers are going to get a lot of use from storing baking to summer picnics.
I adore Camila Prada’s designs, they are clearly the love children of Tove Jansson and Orla Kiely. We use a Koko storage jar as a sugar dish and it makes me smile everytime I use it. I love functional peices that look good and work for us and rather than having the same things as everyone else I am happy to save up for the item I want or ask for it for Christmas!
Most of you will know by know that I am a tea monster too and when Not on the High Street offered me a gift I decided to get a Linda Bloomfield tea pot. I choose the handmade 2 cup size and it is reassuringly heavy and pours beautifully. It is a delight to use and makes drinking tea even more enjoyable. MadDad things is looks rather breast like and it is delightfully tactile
After losing yet another lamp shade and cup to a ball in the house, we decided we needed some family rules and Find me a gift were happy to help and sent me a personalised family rules print. My rules are: no balls in the house, try new things, use kind words, mind your manners, do your best, laugh out loud, be happy, share, enjoy the little things and keep your promises. What would yours be?
I am planning a video of my updated kitchen as soon as a few last things are finished and in place.
Get the Basics Right in Your Kitchen
We would all love to have a more impressive kitchen but what if you don’t even know where to start? Will you need to spend a fortune on completely overhauling the place?
Before you start splashing out big sums of money on expensive changes it is best to think of the basics which can make the difference.
The Right Kind of Lighting
The type of lighting you use in the kitchen is vital to making it a pleasant room to be in and to cook in. Your first step should be to check out some ideas using chandeliers, recessed lighting, under cabinet lights and all of the other kinds which are available now. Once you know what the options are you can work out which ones would fit in best to your room. In general terms, a mixture of different types of lighting is best, although this might not be the case in a particularly small kitchen.
The Pots and Pans
Of course, the kitchen is a room we cook in and this means that you need think about the basics required for doing this right. A good example here comes with the saucepans from Lakeland. Buying a few of these will give you practical pieces of cookware and will also ensure that you have attractive pots in the room as well. You will find other ideas for useful basic items on the site at Lakeland.co.uk. By stocking up well on these things you will make it a nicer room at little cost.
The Colour of the Walls
There are some highly popular colours used in many kitchens and others which aren’t so highly recommended. The exact tone you would be best using will be determined by factors such as the style of the kitchen and the size of the room. If you aren’t sure which colour to use then a good idea is to buy a few of those little sample pots and paint small areas of the walls with different colours. After you have lived with the different tones for a few days it should a lot easier to work out which one to choose for the whole room.
The Space
One of the most common complaints which people make about their kitchens is around the lack of space. If your kitchen is too small or cramped then cooking is probably more of a problem than it should be. This might seem like an issue without a solution in some cases it could be but there are some tips to help you get a bigger working space in most types of kitchen. The first and simplest one is to clear out anything you don’t use on a daily basis. This can make a lot of space and help the room look better too.
We were given a some welsh lamb and the ingredients to make a welsh lamb stir fry from the Cool2Cook2 book which has been produced by Meat Promotion Wales (Hybu Cig Cymru) to help get kids cooking. I love getting the boys in the kitchen, so we set about following the recipe on Saturday evening. The boys chopped all the vegetables, whilst I did the ginger and MadDad prepared the lamb, which was welsh and organic. I have to say that the recipe was really easy to follow and the boys did the majority of the work, with me and MadDad supervising. We really enjoyed it and there was 4 empty […]
In an homage to my fellow MAD finalist Nick at My Daddy Cooks, Mini and I made a twist on his and Archies Tiffin We followed Nick’s basic recipe, but made a few tweaks as we went along. 125g butter250g digestive biscuits4 tbsp golden syrup3 tbsp high quality cocoa powder75g raisins250g plain/dark chocolate Instead of using the microwave we melted our butter, golden syrup and chocolate over the stove, for me I love the way it all melts together, so smooth and silk like. We then added it to our biscuit mix and added in raisins and mini marshmallows. What is truly great about this recipe is that mini did most […]
I dont say it lightly, but these cookies are amazing and never last in our house. They truly are the best. This is an American Recipe (it came on the back of some sunmaid raisins from the US), but that said is super easy for the boys, as I have some plastic cup measures that they use. So here goes Ingredients 3/4 cup softened butter or margarine 1 cup soft brown sugar 1/2 cup caster sugar 1/4 cup milk 1 large egg 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup plain flour 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 3 cups quick or old-fashioned oats 1 cup Raisins […]
I am a great fan of affirmations and inspiration quotes and sayings and have been looking for a way to display some of these in my home. I spend a lot of my time in the kitchen, cooking, eating breakfast, washing the pots, putting the washer on, sitting and chatting to friends. So was ideally looking for something to use in the kitchen. I also wanted to be able to update the words as and when I needed to. MadDad came up with the idea of a chalkboard after me and MaxiMad painted the playhouse. Never one to sit on my laurels I set too yesterday. We marked out the area […]
