Solutions For Smaller Spaces
We talk a lot about large, impressive range cookers here at Rangecookers.co.uk, but in reality many of us are hit with the challenge of choosing a cooker for a more compact space. Although the kitchen is the heart of the home, it is not necessarily the most spacious of rooms.
The cons of a smaller kitchen simply require us to be more inventive with our kitchen design. It also encourages exciting and innovative ideas that you may not have thought about with a large kitchen. Thinking about how you use your kitchen everyday can help ensure you use every spare millimetre of your kitchen space…
Choosing your appliances...
When we think of a range cooker we may automatically refer to a giant AGA style machine, but they don’t have to take up as much of your kitchen as you may think. At Rangecookers we have range cookers in sizes 60cm and 70cm, which make very useful sizes for those who want the power and the presence of a range cooker but may not have the space. We are seeing more brands bring these sizes into their collections and have become popular choices within many homes. After all, a smaller kitchen shouldn’t prevent you from making great meals.
Another option, or alongside your range cooker, could be built in products. We provide a great selection of built in products from Bertazzoni, ILVE and Fulgor Milano. A built in appliance can blend into your kitchen seamlessly and help save space. When it comes to the look and style of your kitchen, you want your appliances to act as design features. A built-in appliance can be placed high or low, even at eye-level for ease of use.
Here are some of our top picks...
This range cooker is perfect for more compact spaces. The extra width allows this Select 70df2 to feature not only the five-burner gas hob but also two ovens - a 53 litre fanned programmable main oven and a 35 litre conventional top oven with variable electric grill. The top oven can also be used with heat base only, which is perfect for cooking crispy pizzas! Both ovens are double-glazed with removable inner door glass, with the main oven also featuring a left-hinged side opening door.
Bertazzoni Professional 60 Single Colours
The Bertazzoni Professional Series offers premium Italian quality wrapped up in clean, professional lines, solid build quality and functional ergonomic design. All the usual Bertazzoni refinements are present to ensure you get the best results - triple-glazed doors which minimise heat-loss and noise levels, and also provide low temperature external surfaces, enhanced insulation materials maximise energy efficiency, and cleaning is easy with full-screen inner glass on the oven door and special easy-clean oven enamel. Five shelf positions are clearly lit by two oven lights, and there is ample storage for all your paraphernalia in a compartment below. On top, high quality gas burners provide power and efficiency, with very clean combustion which allows pans to be placed closer to the flame, giving quicker boiling times and reduced gas consumption.
The Smeg Victoria range may be something of a styling departure for the slick Italian brand, but its characterful format and appearance is aimed squarely at the UK consumer. As a flagship product for a brand renowned for its range cooking heritage, the Smeg Victoria does a superb job. The build quality and general feeling of sophistication is impressive, and the Victoria definitely looks like a very good option even compared to some of its pricier competition.
The Smeg Victoria has a generous 68 litre fan assisted oven (A-rated) together with a four function auxiliary oven and grill. Both ovens include oven lights and an impressive build quality throughout with features like roof liners and removable inner door glass.
Bertazzoni Professional Built In Oven
This Bertazzoni Professional with LCD display gives you a simple package but with rewarding benefits when cooking. Behind the triple-glazed, cool to touch glass door is a 76-litre capacity oven with 11 functions to choose from. These include mid-low cooking for baking or slow cooking, whilst the fan-assisted mode ensures even heat distribution across all five levels for roasting and baking with no crossover of flavours. A clear LCD display makes choosing the different cooking modes easy.
This 60cm oven shows off the new Nero style from ILVE, with gloss black oven doors and matt black handles. Behind the triple glazed, soft closing door is a 37 litre cooking space, providing you with 14 functions to choose from including a pizza setting. When using the pizza setting, prepare the pizza yourself, turn the oven and it can reach an impressive temperature of 400°C. Wait just over two minutes for it to be cooked thanks to ILVE's precise temperature control.
This 60cm blast chiller also follows the modern styling of the Roma appliances, whilst featuring a 40 litre cavity which offers multiple functions from slow cooking to blast chilling, proving to microcrystalline freezing allowing you to preserve, cook or store food and even has the option to chill beverages. The blast chilling is a particularly useful feature, designed to quickly bring the core temperature of your freshly cooked food down to 3°C and therefore preparing your food for the next step of the cooking process.
This 90cm gas hob features five exceptional solid brass burners and cast-iron pan supports, which are hard wearing, heavy duty and easy to clean. With single handed ignition, you can choose from a powerful 4kW wok burner, 2 x 1.75kW small burners, 1 x large 3kW burner and an auxiliary burner. Each of which have a flame failure device connected to ensure if the flame is extinguished for any reason, it will stop the flow of the gas through the burners.
Some space saving ideas to consider…
Think about how you’re using the space…
Functionality is one of the most important parts of designing your kitchen. Thinking about how you use your kitchen every day helps you to see the equipment you use most, the food you really need to store and the appliances that you need to allocate the most space for. Focusing on your storage ideas for items such as cookware to maximise food preparation space is key.
Select tiles and flooring in calm, natural tones…
Carefully selecting your flooring and tiling using natural and muted tones helps to create a sense of space, with light and subtly patterned tiles avoiding an overpowering look that you may get with darker colours.
Including combinations of stone and pale shades are becoming increasingly popular to create a contemporary styled layout.
Adding little luxurious extras…
Choosing added extras such as a bold trim for your cooker or a statement splashback, combined with good lighting and decorative handles for your cabinetry can make a small kitchen look organised, often making the space look larger with the smaller standout pieces reflecting the light.
Aiming for a vertical approach…
Utilise the height of each wall by creating as much storage space as possible. Choose appliances that go up instead of out, just like these wine coolers. Thin and built in, these appliances offer plenty of storage for your wine but in a compact, space saving way.
To find out more about any of the products mentioned or for some more space saving tips, call our team on 01244 402 975 to find out more or visit our website here.
