Decide what to buy

It’s not a particularly great time to be moving house at the moment so for those of you who just want to spruce things up a bit, you can do so for less than you think.

The kitchen is where all the action happens, food action, that is. It’s also one of the most expensive rooms to totally redo because of all the appliances that have to go in it. But there are some great bargains to be had in the appliances department. We’ve been through all the reviews to pick out a load of cheap appliances that have great reviews from their owners.

We’ve even managed to find a fridge-freezer, washing machine, oven, hob, dishwasher and microwave all for under £800!

We’ve also included some smaller items like kettles and toasters. Check them out:

Best cheap appliances

Washing machine - Indesit WIB111 - £175

Oven - Indesit FI21KB - £135

Hob - New World NWGHU60Ss - £78

Fridge-freezer - Hotpoint RFA52 - £209

Microwave - Russell Hobbs SMS21 - £40

Dishwasher - Beko DWD4310 - £160

All the above for under £800!

Kettle - Kenwood Mona Kettle - £15

Toaster - Kenwood TTP103 - £18

Food processor - Kenwood Delia’s Cheat Gadget - £17

Some real bargains there. I can’t believe that food processor is only £17! It’s been reviewed by 333 people and has a score of 9.1/10 so it’s definitely a little gem. It was also recommended by TV chef extraordinaire, Delia Smith, so it must be good.

There are plenty more bargains to be had too but just make sure you read the reviews first to ensure the product is actually any good.

Back in the day, our kitchens were filled with mug trees, chip pans and egg slicers. Well a lot has happened since then and we now go home to plasma TVs, grilling machines and bread makers. Making meals from scratch has given way to microwaves, ready meals and expensive gadgets that cut down the time and effort we have to put into cooking. In fact, a survey conducted by Reevoo showed that in the 1970s, we cooked seven meals a week from scratch compared to only four today. We also spent 116 minutes a day in the kitchen whereas we only spend around 74 minutes nowadays.

Check out the stats below that show how our kitchens have changed in the last 30 odd years.

The survey also looked at regional changes and found that those in the North East were more likely to own chip pans in the 70s and in the North West and Northern Ireland, kitchens are more likely to come complete with games consoles, HiFis and plasma TVs today. However, gadgets aren’t as important in the North East – they are the least likely to have a dishwasher.

People in the East Midlands spend the least time in the kitchen with those in Northern Ireland spending the most.

Interesting stuff. Although, I do think that the culture of cooking from scratch is on its way back in. With more and more scare stories about packaged food, problems with our diets and the guilt factor pushed onto parents, I think that we are cooking a lot more than we did 10 years ago. It is a little worrying that more people have coffee machines than scales but here’s hoping that we all start putting a bit more effort into cooking healthy meals. The big issue is time but with all these gadgets, it has made things a little quicker than they would have been in the 70s.

Top seventies kitchen items

1.     Teapot and cosy (63%)
2.     Kitchen scales (61 %)
3.     Tupperware (59%)
4.     Chip pan (58%)
5.     Salt and pepper shakers (57%)
6.     Bread bin (56%)
7.     Hand-held whisk (52%)
8.     Casserole dish (49%)
9.     Spice rack (44%)
10.   Pressure cooker (43%)
11.   Tea strainer (42%)
12.   Mug tree (41%)
13.   Toasted sandwich maker (38%)
14.   Souvenir tea towels (37%)
15.   Shaped jelly mould (36%)
16.   Egg slicer (36%)
17.   Lolly makers (35%)
18.   Food mixer (35%)
19.   Soda stream (34%)
20.   Electric carving knife (33%)

Top items found in today’s kitchens

1.     Microwave (70%)
2.     Electric kettle (69%)
3.     Toaster (68%)
4.     Saucepan set (57%)
5.     Knife set (55%)
6.     Automatic washing machine (53%)
7.     Wok (49%)
8.     Sandwich maker (40%)
9.     Blender (38%)
10.   Hand held blender (37%)
11.   Tumble dryer (36%)
12.   Steamer (35%)
13.   Dishwasher (32%)
14.   Grilling machine (31%)
15.   Coffee machine (26%)
16.   Grill pan (26%)
17.   Slow cooker (26%)
18.   Electric scales (24%)
19.   Water filter (23%)
20.   Bread maker (22%)

It seems us Brits are baffled by modern technology that was sent to help us. According to a poll of 2000 people (by the folks over at Reevoo), mobile phones, SatNavs and even TV remotes send us into panic and rage when we can’t figure out how to use them. In fact, a whopping 32% of people admitted to throwing a complicated gadget across the room when they couldn’t work out what to do with it.

Digital cameras were voted the most complicated with SatNavs and mobile phones close behind. Interestingly though, people are obviously happy to live in confusion with their SatNavs, as only 6% actually read the manuals!

More alarming is that the same numbers of us are as baffled by our laptops as our ovens (the nation’s health crisis suddenly makes sense now…). And people are more inclined to read their TV manual over their oven’s. Hmmmm.

And even when a device goes wrong, more than a quarter will try to fix it themselves, or even buy a new one, instead of turning to the instructions.

Here’s the full list of things we find complicated:

1.    Digital Camera - 26%
2.    GPS navigation    - 21%
3.    Mobile phone - 19%
4.    Washing machine - 18%
5.    Camcorder - 17%
6.    DVD player - 15%
7.    Games console - 13%
8.    TV remote control - 13%
9.    MP3 player - 13%
10.    Microwave - 12%
11.    Computer - 12%
12.    Digital photo frame - 12%
13.    Scanner - 11%
14.    Laptop - 10%
15.    Television - 10%
16.    Modem - 10%
17.    Oven - 9%
18.    Printer - 9%
19.    Answer machine - 9%
20.    Freeview box - 8%
21.    Broadband - 8%
22.    Sky - 8%
23.    Dishwasher - 7%
24.    Digital TV - 7%
25.    Hi Fi system - 7%
26.    Tumble dryer - 6%
27.    Iron - 6%
28.    Telephone - 6%
29.    Clock Radio - 5%
30.    Smoke alarm - 5%
31.    Electric timer - 5%
32.    Smoothie maker - 5%
33.    Alarm clock - 4%
34.    Blender - 4%

…and how many people bother to read the manuals for these items:

1.    I don’t read manuals - 46%
2.    Mobile phone - 19%
3.    Washing machine - 17%
4.    Television - 16%
5.    Digital Camera - 14%
6.    Microwave - 11%
7.    Oven - 10%
8.    DVD player - 10%
9.    MP3 player - 9%
10.    Laptop - 9%
11.    Computer - 8%
12.    Printer - 8%
13.    TV remote control - 8%
14.    Broadband - 8%
15.    Telephone - 7%
16.    Tumble dryer - 6%
17.    Iron - 6%
18.    GPS navigation - 6%
19.    Camcorder - 6%
20.    Dishwasher - 6%
21.    Hi Fi system - 6%
22.    Scanner - 5%
23.    Freeview box - 5%
24.    Answer machine - 5%
25.    Alarm clock - 5%
26.    Modem - 5%
27.    Smoke alarm - 5%
28.    Clock Radio - 5%
29.    Games console - 5%
30.    Sky - 4%
31.    Digital TV - 4%
32.    Digital photo frame - 3%
33.    Electric timer - 2%

We thought it was about time we carried on our rooms on a budget theme. This week, we’re looking at kitchens on a budget.

We’ve looked at everything you’d need for a kitchen – minus the cabinets themselves – and our budget kitchen comes in at £1114.

Obviously everybody’s kitchen will be different colours so we’ve gone for standard, yet sleek, black and stainless steel.

First up are the essentials, sink, oven, hob and fridge-freezer. 

We’ve gone for the attractive Astracast KO10RS sink. It’s £150, 98 cm wide and has a bowl size of 43 x 50 cm.

Everyone knows that if you want the best control over your cooking, the only way to go is gas. We’ve found this great stainless steel hob and oven pack from Baumatic. It’s £200 and has been rated 9.1/10 on Reevoo.

The top rated and best value for money fridge freezer we could find was the Indesit TA5S. It’s £240, has more fridge room than the large American-style fridges and it’s got some great reviews. Lots of owners are very impressed with its capacity, quality and value for money.

Ok, so far we’ve covered the essentials and we’re up to £590. Not bad for a fridge-freezer, oven, hob and sink?

Let’s move on to appliances.

The Breville JK123 kettle is simple to use and great value for money at £16. The matching Breville TT48 toaster is only £19. It has independent controls for each slice and a digital display.

This £51 Kenwood SJSS25 microwave has been rated 8.5/10 by the people who have bought it. Its capacity is 25 litres and it also has a grill function. One review reads “Easy to use, attractive, cost effective, efficient, fast, easy to wipe clean and maintain”.

For a dishwasher, we’ve gone for the Hotpoint FDL570. It’s £215 and it’s only 49 decibels so you won’t annoy the neighbours.

And finally, the washing machine. The A-rated Hotpoint WF321 is £223 and it has a larger than average load capacity of 6kg. Pam  from  Salisbury says “It is easy to use, not too noisy, nice big door and nice looking”.

So there you have it, a stylish kitchen for a little over £1000. Job done.

Have you ever considered that all of the appliances in your home may have been designed by people who have never had to use them? For example, that your fridge was designed by someone who still kept things underground to keep them cold? It would certainly seem so, going by some of the reviews we’ve been reading.

As we’re on the subject of fridges, we’ll start there. The Bosch KGU30605 fridge has been designed by a genius who thought an egg tray with space for five eggs was revolutionary. The unfortunate sixth egg that almost certainly is included when you buy a standard pack of half a dozen eggs, will have to find its own home amongst the jungle of jars and leftovers.

How about the Elba C96DF 90 gas oven that gets nice and hot on the inside but feels the need to heat up its surrounding area by getting dangerously hot on the outside too? I guess we could all start frying our eggs on oven doors to save energy. Maybe that’s what the designer had in mind here.

We talked about the amount of energy you can save by not leaving your appliances on standby last week but what if your TV wouldn’t turn off at all? The LG 37LF66 can only be turned off by switching it off at the mains. And there’s even a washing machine that insists on washing cotton and synthetics at 60 degrees - all in all, just great for your energy bills.

If you feel your life isn’t inconvenient enough, why not purchase a couple of dishwashers? One won’t fit standard sized cups on the top shelf and one won’t fit standard sized plates on the bottom but by buying them both, you can be sure that your crockery will be squeaky clean…one way or another.

And for those of you looking for something to amuse the kids over the summer, you might want to check out the reviews for the Easy Store Large Slide. It seems to be multipurpose - a slide and a bug collector. It’s all kitted out in bright yellow so that hundreds of insects are attracted to it as soon as you set it up. I wouldn’t advise sliding on it but it could be great for a wildlife project.

These are just a few of the dodgy designs we found by reading through reviews. We’ve compiled a list of the top ten so that you can take a look. If you’ve got something that you think must have been designed by wild monkeys, let me know and we’ll add it to the list.

1. Bosch KGU30605 Fridge - the egg tray which only holds five eggs instead of the standard six.
2. Zanussi ZWF14581 Washing Machine - The default temperature when you choose cotton or synthetics is always 60 degrees. But almost all synthetics are labelled 40 degrees or less.
3. LG 37LF66 Television - that doesn’t turn off. You have to pull the plug out of the wall to turn the TV off.
4. Easy Store Large Slide - the bright yellow colour attracts thousands of bugs in summertime.
5. Kenwood DW12CFE Dishwasher - Normal sized plates stacked as design suggests in the bottom tray stop the spray arm spinning, and thus the top layer does not get washed. Trays are non removable so the dishwasher won’t run without the top tray in. Hard to fit standard sized dinner plates.
6. LM Tech Battery Powered Heated Gloves - the heating element doesn’t get warm, and doesn’t cover the fingers.
7. Carlton CTD1W Table Top Dishwasher - doesn’t fit standard mugs on the shelf
8. Elba C96DF 90 Gas Oven - the knobs heat up when the grill is turned on
9. Hotpoint RLA21 4.6 Cu.ft. Larder Fridge - there is no light inside so it is impossible to see all the food at the back.
10. UNI MEDIA 22/1 IDTVDVD 22” HD Ready digital television - It is impossible to adjust the picture when the picture adjustment box pops up in the middle of the screen and covers most of the picture.