For me, the quaint charm that a shabby chic design offers is exactly what I’m looking for in a kitchen. Cold, hard designs are all well and good in a commercial kitchen but our homes are all about comfort and there’s nothing more welcoming that soft pastel colours and periwinkle china.

For those that don’t already know, shabby chic is a kind of interior design where your furniture and furnishings are chosen for their appearance of age and signs of wear. You could also ‘add’ the wear and tear to your existing furniture if you wanted to (believe me, it’s a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon!)

As well as ‘antique-y’ looking items, soft, cottage-style decor can be incorporated to give a room a feminine feel. It’s all about mixing and matching. I’m thinking beautifully distressed wood, beaded mini chandeliers and old jars made new with gingham fabric tops and elastic bands. Have I painted a picture?

The beauty of shabby chic is that is can be so cheap. It’s all about what you make of it. One of my latest creations was tying ribbons to some white china plates then securing the ribbon and plates to the wall and ending up with a gorgeous piece of art.

Shabby chic fridge magnets are an easy way to update a plain kitchen. You could get yourself a decent-sized collection and turn the beautiful canvas that is a fridge like a Beko TLDA521W into something beautiful.

 

Leisure also make a selection of quirky range cookers, the CMTE95C being one of my favourites. With something like this the work is already done – you’ve got a stylish cooker shabby chic cooker that’s actually brand new!

Whether you’re into shabby chic or not, there’s no denying that our kitchens are an extension of our personality, so make sure yours gives off the perfect impression of you.

Got any tips for me? Whether it’s a cute shop or a website that’s full of little gems, leave a comment and let me know. I’m always on the lookout for great finds.

From time to time we’ve all thought ‘I wonder what I would do if I won the lottery’. I bet your first thought wasn’t ‘I’d get myself a new washing machine.’ Was it?

Well Tuesday saw a young couple from Nottinghamshire take home £45 million in the latest Euromillions draw. It might be coincidence, but they just happened to be discussing the purchase of a new washing machine moments before discovering their life-changing win. £45 million will quite easily get them a brand-new home with a brand-new kitchen, let alone an upgrade on their washing machine!

It got us here in the Appliances Online office thinking about what dream appliances we’d like to get our grubby little mitts on. Personally, mine has got to be the SN26T595GB. It might not be the flashiest model we currently have, but having someone else doing the dishes for a change would be a dream come true. It’s also A+++ rated for efficiency, so you can make sure you aren’t forking out the rest of that £45 mil on electricity bills.

After breaking out the calculators we figured out that a win that big would get you the following in terms of appliances from our lovely site:

9975 x Smeg A2BL-6 Dual Fuel Range Cookers

6684 x LG GS9166AENV American Fridge Freezers

14306 x Samsung WF1124XAC 12kg ecobubble Washing Machine

And

5128 x Neff C67P70N0GB 1000W Microwaves

That’s one heck of a shopping list! What appliances would you buy if you won the next big draw? Let us know in the comments below.

On the first day of Christmas, my true love went on Appliances Online and they saved themselves a packet. On the second day of Christmas, my true love went on Appliances Online again and they saved themselves a packet. On the third day of Christmas... Well, you get the idea. This version doesn’t quite have the same ring, but wait until you hear what gifts we have for you in our hefty sack this Christmas.

We’ve not one, not two, not three, but 12 chances to save on everything from washing machines to range cookers. In true Appliances Online form, there really is something for everyone here and no turkeys in sight. As we’re into day four already, there’s plenty of time to check out our very best prices on a range of kitchen appliances. But be quick mind – these savings are here for 12 days only, so you’d better snap them up while you can. 

If you’ve been good this year, you might fancy a brand spanking new washing machine to give your kitchen a bit of a boost in 2012. On the first day of our 12 Day Extravaganza, we gave you the chance to save a whopping £100 on the Indesit WIXXE127 washing machine. With a 7kg drum and an A energy rating, it’s the perfect chance for families to save a little extra after splashing out over Christmas. 


Speaking of savings, on the second day we offered the chance to pick up the Beko WMB81241LW washing machine for just £240. As it’s rated A+ for energy efficiency, it can save 10% more energy than A-rated models. I don’t know about you, but I’d have either one of these over a partridge in a pear tree and two turtle doves any day.

What about if you’re in the market for a new fridge freezer? On the third day of Christmas, we slashed the price of the Samsung RL39THCSW. Spacious and brimming with modern charm, this model has an understated white finish and a 283 litre capacity – plenty of room for those three French hens.

No matter what you’re after, there’s nothing worse than missing out on the January sales. So, make sure you come back here each day to see if you can make the new year that little bit happier.

Leading trend predictor Pantone has released its 2012 forecast, with bold blues standing out as a top colour for the new season. Blue is calming, fresh and revitalising. Perfect for keeping your home serene and your spirits up.

Their swatch of choice is Soladite Blue, “a classic maritime hue that brings order and calmness to mind, this dependable shade works with every colour in the palette.”  Our Smeg fridge freezer is a great match and is a fun product for any home. Its dark blue exterior is right on trend and will refresh a drab kitchen into a stylish and fashionable space.

This retro style fridge freezer could also be teamed with the mega Stoves Richmond Dual Fuel Range Cooker, which includes a huge fan oven capacity of 64 litres and is available in the same shade.

These products could be used as statement pieces or if you are feeling brave and super trendy you could use blue across the whole kitchen. Our built in appliances like this Baumatic Slimline Dishwasher and Baumatic Vented Tumble Dryer can be fitted inside your cupboards, to keep the continuity of colour throughout. 

Strong blues also team up really well bright whites, and in a smaller kitchen this will create the illusion of space.  Think of a beautiful Greek island; bring these refreshing colours into your home by adding splashes of lemon yellow to keep it vivid.

If your space is minimal try one bold product like this Freestanding Stoves Mini Dual Fuel Cooker with brilliant white walls. This will keep the room feeling airy and fresh, though it still tips a hat to the blue trend. You can tie the room together with smaller details to create an authentic nautical look.

Vibrant blues are naturally energising and will turn your kitchen into a stylish and exciting place to be. These products are made to be shown off, so embrace the trend and have some fun!

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They are calling it the Baking Renaissance. Shows such as ‘The Great British Bake Off’ have rejuvenated our love of all things baked and it seems we can’t get our goodies to rise quick enough. There are plenty of TV chefs spreading the gospel of cake, tarts and bread buns, though it may surprise you to know that it isn’t just the more mature generations who have cottoned on.

To support National Baking Week 2011, 17th – 23rd October, Leisure Range Cookers released the results of their study about baking, and they were really rather unexpected. It turns out that people aged between 16-24 are six times more likely to bake something from scratch every day, in comparison to every other age group.

These TV programmes are clearly having a big effect, as now 77% of us Brits enjoy making something sweet or savoury from scratch. That’s a pretty tasty statistic, especially if you’re getting invited round for afternoon tea!

In honour of the rekindled love for all things born in the oven, we in the Appliances Online Content Team held our own baking competition to put our culinary skills to the test. Dubbed the ‘Bread-a-thon 2011’, there were only two rules: No store bought items. No bread makers.

After some apprehensive conversations before the big day and a healthy amount of gainsmanship, a few good recipes and a selection of fantastic ideas got us all through the experience with ease. And the results were stunning.

You can see for yourself that everyone really pulled it out of the bag. We loaded all our loaves, bread buns, Stromboli and even hot cross buns on to the judges table, waited for them to finish casting their votes and then dived in to enjoy the fruits of our labour.

It wasn’t long before the whole office came to have a nosey and at the end of the day, there was nothing left but crumbs. I think it’s safe to say we’ll all be trying our hand at baking again soon, though I think our Director of Marketing might be disqualified next time. His Apple & Cinnamon hot cross buns won 1st prize, though the fact he was on the judging panel may have had something to do with it…