Kitchen Cool

It feels like Spring is here and the kids are already begging for ice-lollies in the garden when school is out. If you're planning a new kitchen this year it's a great idea to build in some stylish cooling capacity for those warm Summer months. Most people are familiar with American-style fridge freezers and if you have the space they are definitely worth considering. Bear in mind that the vast majority do protrude further than the front of your kitchen units as they need space at the front for the doors to open and space around the back (and sides) for venting. The exception to this are some very pricey Fisher and Paykel and Sub-Zero models that are designed to be fitted flush with the cabinetry and retail above the 3.5K price point)

Some American style fridge-freezers come with an in-built water and ice dispenser which can either be plumbed in for a constant flow of fresh water, or tank-based, meaning that no plumbing is necessary. Bear in mind that this feature will take up some of your fridge capacity and that if your fridge does need to be plumbed in, it should preferably be situated less than 1.5m from your stop tap. Alternatively, consider a model with both a water dispenser and in-built drinks chiller like the LG GSX960NSVZ available from a range of retailers including AO:

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This one has a number of interesting features. You don’t need to keep opening the door to check what’s inside thanks to the InstaView Door-in-Door™ panel. Just knock on the door and it will illuminate, turning transparent so that you can see into the fridge. Not only can you quickly see what you need, but you can do it without losing cold air from the fridge, helping food stay fresh. This one is plumbed in, but LG also do a similar fridge that isn't (GSX961NSVZ) Both have wi-fi connectivity which means that you can control your tridge's temperature via Alexa or your smartphone.

So that's the children sorted, how about the adults? Wine chillers are on the rise and can be built into your run of base cabinetry or they can make a nice feature fitted into your kitchen island. There are also models that can be built into a run of tall cabinetry in a similar way to a built-in oven, although these do tend to be quite expensive. Whichever style you're leaning towards, do consider a dual temperature zone model where reds can be stored at 12 to 19 degrees and whites at an optimum 8 to 12 degrees. Caple have quite recently brought out an attractive fully-integrated dual-zone wine cooler (WI6161) that accepts a glazed cupboard door to match the rest of your cabinetry, which is a pretty cool idea ;-D:

And for celebrating the Summer in style with a glass of bubbly or two, there's nothing quite like the luxury Kaelo - an 'open bottle host' which can be integrated into your worktop! Check it out here: