Fitted Kitchens That Fit Your Needs
Fitted kitchens are not only prime eye-candy, but they are more efficient, by being tailored to your personal needs and preferences. A kitchen in many homes is actually an extension of the living space and persons including women and children often spend long hours within its confines. Naturally, proper ambience, efficiency, and safety become primary concerns while designing a kitchen, and to suitably address these concerns, bespoke fitted kitchens are your best bet.
Are Fitted Kitchens Only for the Rich?
Many people avoid going for a fitted kitchen from a perception of enormous costs affordable only by the rich. While to a great extent this may be true, it is actually a mistaken approach created by faulty prioritization. Whatever be the range of our earnings, all of us earn and spend, and it is the pattern of our spending that defines our status and our priorities. We do not hold back on spending when it comes to the education of our children because we recognize the priority. We do not hold back from spending on medicine because to us it is necessary. We hold back spending to create a better kitchen only when we fail to recognize the need for a comfortable and efficient space, where our family members spend a large part of their time. Whether one opts for a fitted kitchen or not does not depend upon him or her being rich or poor, but whether he or she recognizes the importance of a kitchen and its influence on family health. Fitted kitchens are no less important than fitted bedrooms for both require a stress-free environment.
Best Rate in Fitted Kitchens
The best rate in fitted kitchens for you depends upon many factors including your needs, desires, availability of services etc. Consumers have learnt enough to not confine appreciation of products and services only upon the money component. It is always a matter of cost-benefit analysis to find what is best for you. In going for something major like a fitted kitchen, costs include time, money, after installation services, and material longevity. Some people go for good-looking but cheap surface materials since they like to change the looks of their kitchens ever so often. For such people longevity of surface materials is not the prime concern, but efficient design and solid plumbing as well as structures matter.
When it comes to choosing between your friendly neighborhood carpenter and plumber, and a company specialized in fitted kitchens, it is usually the bigger company that wins unless you are located in a too remote area. Bigger companies provide the best rate in fitted kitchens since they make bulk purchases from around the world and produce equipment in bulk. Bigger companies also tend to use standardized plumbing fittings, which are easier to repair or replace.
Off-the-shelf designs do provide the best rates in fitted kitchens, but one needs to be wary of the brand or the company supplying the material. With the new type of compressed wood furniture, sometimes the surface lamination peels off too quickly, and though initially costlier, natural wood surfaces provide the best rates in the long run. Since installing a fitted kitchen is usually not a regular affair, it is prudent to go for bespoke fitted kitchens, or suitable off-the-shelf kitchens that fit in with your design.
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Monday, June 28th, 2010Our Guide to Health and Safety in the Kitchen
Tuesday, May 25th, 2010The kitchen is the focal point of the British home; the social hub of a party; the place where culinary delights are created; and the location for families to exchange dinnertime stories. It is a well known fact that the majority of accidents happen in the home, and it is no surprise that most of these occur in the kitchen. The elderly and children are particularly susceptible when navigating around the various surfaces, often greeted with unstable objects and protruding corners.
Whichever relates to you, health and safety in the kitchen applies to everyone. If you have a kitchen at work, you are constantly reminded of the potential hazards with the help of animated signs, reinforced by the HR manager. Unfortunately, these guidelines do not exist in the average home, so we all have to be more vigilant of the dangers that can happen in the kitchen in order to enjoy our time in it.
Your kitchen should be ergonomically designed to reduce unnecessary movement and awkward manoeuvres. This applies particularly to the hob and oven area. Burns and scalding usually occur as a consequence of distraction, but there is some further protection if you use triple-glazed or cooling system ovens. These have a low surface temperature as they operate, and so prevent burning through accidental touches or leaning by children.
Hob areas are the most potentially dangerous, though they should all now have an automatic cut off installed so that the gas stops if the flame accidentally goes out. The hob should never be placed in front of a window precisely to prevent this from happening, and also to prevent curtains or blinds flapping dangerously near naked flames. When cooking, ensure that pan handles are not receiving heat from another hob or ring, and that you do not leave the handle hanging over the edge.
Always allocate sufficient space around the cooking surface. You will need an amount of worktop by the oven and hob so that hot and heavy items can be put down quickly. Fit plug sockets on either side of the hob so that appliances and their leads won’t need to be pulled across the hot surface. Lastly, always position the hob near to the sink so that it won’t be necessary to carry full pans very far and never put the units either side of a door. You do not want to collide with someone coming in whilst you are carrying boiling water.
Store your kitchen items wisely to minimise the risk of accidents. Heavy items and awkward pots and pans should be stored in the lower cupboards, while glassware and other lighter goods can be stored in wall cupboards. If items are exposed, they must be positioned on a level worktop and so it cannot be dislodged.
Kitchens can easily become the dirtiest room in the house, but it is vitally important that they are also one of the most hygienic. Using certain materials in your fittings can make the kitchen easier to clean; granite and quartz worktops for example, are smooth, seamless and stain resistant. A well designed kitchen will try to avoid the common dirt and grime traps such as the joins around the sink and between worktops.
Changing your kitchen work surfaces is not only a good way to improve overall heath and safety, but one of the simplest methods of upgrading without being a major upheaval. John Porter worktops and kitchens understand the significance of health and safety, and offer a comprehensive range of quality kitchen worktops that guarantee peace of mind for their customers.
“Health and safety in the kitchen can and does get forgotten, particularly when rushing in back from work, or preparing a stressful dinner for the family, so we try to ensure that our worktops are fitted to the highest standard,” says John Porter. “This is why ensure we only recommend expert fitters, use the finest materials and adhere to the rigorous safety standards that are set. If all of this is achieved, then we know our customers are receiving the best possible service.”
So remember, the kitchen can be safe place to inhabit, we just need to be aware that accidents can and do happen. That reminds me, I have a dinner party next weekend….