Five Funky Kitchen Gadgets As  kitchen designers, the team at My Beautiful Kitchen can be a bit of a sucker for kitchen gadgets. If you looked in our attics, you’d find a few dodgy purchases, but here are 5 cool kitchen gizmos that are well worth the money. 1: Sink top chopping board and drainer Have you ever been preparing food, only to find you’ve run out of space on your worktops? This chopping board is the solution. It fits over your sink, giving you more space to work with. And, with a handy removable collapsible colander, it even gives you somewhere to stick your peelings. 2: Alligator Onion Chopper Chopping onions – a great way to get tears in your eyes and smelly hands - until now! With the Alligator, simply peel the outer skin off of the onion, cut it in half, and place face down on the chopper. Then push the

Choosing The Perfect Kitchen Worktops Kitchen worktops mainly come in four different types. Choosing which is right for your kitchen comes down to three main factors: appearance, durability and cost. Durability is particularly important as hot pans, knives and cleaning chemicals will take their toll over the years and the more durable the worktop, the longer it’ll retain it’s original appearance. So let’s go through the options…   Laminate Worktops The primary benefits of Laminate worktops are lower cost and the vast range of colours available. Laminate surfaces are a popular choice for people who don’t want to spend the earth on their worktops. They’re hard-wearing, resistant to heat and very easy to maintain. They’re also available in a wide range of colours, so they’ll fit in with whatever colour scheme you want for your kitchen. The downside is that the quality and durability will never match wood or granite but, if properly looked

Which Hob Is Right For Your Kitchen? Choosing a kitchen hob can seem confusing. But, once you know the differences between the different types, it’s fairly straightforward. So here is our quick guide to different hob types…   Gas Hobs Gas hobs are very easy to control because the flame and heat can be easily and quickly increased or decreased. For this reason they’re a popular choice with professional cooks. They come with either four or five burners and are available in a variety of different styles and colours. Some even come with dedicated wok burners.   Gas on Glass Hobs The gas-on-glass hobs work in exactly the same way as the traditional gas hobs. The big difference is that these hobs have a ceramic base that not only looks stylish, but also makes them very easy to clean. This makes them suited to people who enjoy cooking with gas but like the low maintenance

The Pop Up Power Socket Adding a Pop Up Power Socket is the perfect solution for providing power to areas that are awkward to access, such as an island or breakfast bar. Imagine the scene: you have just installed a huge island in your new kitchen, it has a monster worktop and is perfect for preparing the Sunday dinner… but you could need a socket for an appliance. That’s where this little gadget comes in handy. Simply press it once and, hey presto, instant sockets! It’s ideal for anything electrical such as blenders, food mixers, listing to the radio or even charging you phone up while you’re on the go. When you’re done, simply push it down and it disappears, hidden from view and no messy cables trailing everywhere. It’s the perfect solution for islands or breakfast bar area’s where there is no fixed wall nearby. Does exactly what it

Brilliant Ideas For A Bigger And Better Kitchen Flick through any glossy interiors magazine today and you’ll probably find at least a handful of kitchens you could fall instantly in love with. Whether your dream kitchen is high gloss and coloured glass with solid wooden worktops or chunky verging on the shabby chic, the design is there. Unfortunately for you the space might not be. Possibly that’s because in recent years the trend has been to transform large dining kitchens into second bedrooms – particularly in tenement flats – leaving just a tiny galley kitchen in the property. This means that at times the lack of space can leave you feeling like you’re cooking in a giant doll’s house. So the idea of cramming fancy designer units into your kitchen seems ridiculous. Or maybe not… At My Beautiful Kitchen we’ve come up with a number of creative tried and

Choosing The Perfect Flooring For Your New Kitchen You’ve chosen a design for your new kitchen – picked out the units, worktops and appliances - but have you remembered to think about the flooring? The choices can seem endless: tiles, vinyl, laminate, wood and stone

An Eco-Kitchen Needn’t Cost The Earth ‘Sustainability’ has become a buzzword in these modern times. It’s all about reducing our carbon footprint and using as many eco-friendly products as we can get our hands on but how does that relate to kitchens? Well, for a start your kitchen is the most eco-hungry room in your home. All those energy-guzzling appliances such as fridges/freezers, washing machines and dishwashers - not to mention toxic paints and rainforest-reducing wood - can have the green brigade screaming in outrage. So how can you make your kitchen more ‘green’ without too much extra cost to yourself? At My Beautiful Kitchen we have a few answers: Reclaimed wood Cabinets made from this are often cheaper and have a lot more character than newly-produced versions - perfect for an eco kitchen. Worktops can be made from recycled stone (which is a lot more glamorous than it

Top Tips for an Immaculate Kitchen Installation Congratulations on your new kitchen! At least that’s what friends and relatives will be saying in a fortnight or so when you invite them round for a look. After all it’s a big deal completely changing the look and feel of one of the main rooms in your home. Next to the bedroom, the kitchen is probably the area in which you spend most of your time, especially if you’ve a large family-sized table where everyone chooses to sit. Because of this, getting an entire new kitchen fitted can seem daunting, for instance where will you cook, wash, kids do their homework etc? Well, worry not. At My Beautiful Kitchen we’ve worked it all out for you with the following handy step-by-step guide to preparing your existing kitchen for renovation. Cooking up a treat Unless you’re a take-away lover, cooking is probably one

If you are looking for a kitchen that is homely, comfortable and full of warmth, then the Shaker style range could be perfect for you.   Our wide range of  kitchens are of the highest quality and are custom built to suit your specific requirements, so if you live in Scotland in particular the cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh and would like a free kitchen design in the Shaker style then contact, the UK's number 1 kitchen company. The Shaker Style kitchens first appeared in the good ol’ U S of A, but here at My Beautiful Kitchen we’ve got the kitchens and the know-how to help you get your very own Shaker kitchen here in (not so) sunny Scotland. Since the Shaker range are usually of quite simple design, it means you can really indulge in some classic colour schemes. Use rich creams and hearty wood

Open Space For Mr & Mrs Main Working with a large open space can often be as much of a challenge as working with a small one. However, the Mr & Mrs Main’s kitchen was a beautifully large, bright space, and the My Beautiful team couldn’t wait to get stuck in and let its true potential shine through. Our designers got to work straight away to help the Mains make the most of their kitchen space. The recommended installation teams took care of everything, such as removing the old kitchen and waste, installing the new one and carrying out all plumbing, electrical, lighting, gas and plastering work, including wall painting and decorating. Mistral solid worktops in ‘toffee cream’ were chosen for the Main’s kitchen, offering a soft warmth against the cool white of the kitchen units. Although the size of the kitchen could have handled darker shades, keeping things light and