7 Smart Upgrades for Your New Kitchen

Read our expert round-up of the 7 on-trend features and inclusions that will take your kitchen from good to great.

Let’s face it, many products out there promise to transform your kitchen, but not all of them actually deliver. To save you time and hassle searching for quality inclusions, our expert interior designers reveal the seven essential upgrades that are guaranteed to boost your kitchen’s style and functionality.

1. A statement tap

A beautiful tap is like jewellery to an outfit, adding that perfect finishing touch that elevates your kitchen to something special. While finishes such as chrome and stainless steel are classic options, there are other tap finishes you can choose for your new Carlisle home, including brushed gold, which adds instant warmth and a luxury feel to your cooking space, and matte black for a contemporary urban edge. 

Add elegance with a tall, gooseneck tap in brushed gold, such as the Phoenix Vivid Slimline Side Lever Mixer 160mm Gooseneck in Brushed Gold. It’s tall enough to make cleaning large pots a breeze and swivels 360 degrees for maximum flexibility. 

Or go sleek and minimalist with the Alder Sachi sink mixer tap in matte black. Its striking combination of square and rounded lines can help reduce monthly bills with a special SAVE mode that reduces hot water energy costs.

2. A high-performance tap

We’ve also got taps that are specially designed to make cooking and cleaning more convenient. If you cook for a crowd regularly and need to wash vegetables and large platters, a tall, pull-out tap, such as the Phoenix Vezz sink mixer with its flexible pull-out hose, makes these tasks infinitely easier.

If staying hydrated is important to you, or you’d like the kids to be able to help themselves to a drink or fill up their water bottles easily, consider adding a second, dedicated drinking tap in your kitchen or butler’s pantry. 

The compact Billi Sahara water tap serves filtered boiling and ambient water so you can make a cup of tea without waiting for the kettle to boil or for the kids to grab a cool drink. Also consider the Zip Water HydroTap – an all-in-one gooseneck tap that delivers a choice of boiling, chilled or sparkling filtered water.

3. A dark sink

A black sink injects instant glamour into your kitchen, plus it’s incredibly forgiving, so you won’t have to spend hours scrubbing it to a gleaming finish every day (hurrah!). 

Take a look at the stunning Oliveri Santorini Black 1 and ¾ Bowl Topmount sink, which combines a generous main bowl, a practical ¾ sink and a sleek drainer board. It’s also scratch-, impact- and stain-resistant, so you know it will look great for years. 

For maximum convenience, add a waste disposal to your sink, such as the bladeless InSinkErator Model 56+, which sits discreetly under your sink, and quickly and neatly disposes of after-meal food scraps. 

4. A drinks cabinet

An under-bench drinks cabinet is the ultimate addition to your entertainer’s kitchen and makes hosting a breeze. Tucked into the end of your island or within your lower kitchen or butler’s pantry joinery, this compact cabinet stores your favourite tipple at the perfect temperature and frees up precious space in your main fridge. It also means guests can help themselves to a drink when you’re busy cooking.

The Fisher & Paykel Fisher & Paykel RS60RDWX1 wine cabinet in stainless steel, which can hold up to 38 bottles, is a great choice.

5. A Range Cooker

Serious about cooking? Then a quality range cooker that allows you to flex your culinary muscle while forming the centrepiece of your kitchen is well worth considering. 

Take a look at our sleek and stylish Fisher & Paykel OR90SCG1LX1 upright cooker in stainless steel. It has an extra-large 140-litre capacity, giving you plenty of space to cook multiple dishes at once (great for entertaining!), plus an impressive five-burner gas cooktop with precise heat control so you can sear and stir fry over powerful heat or gently simmer delicate sauces to perfection.

Or consider the Westinghouse WFEP917DSD 900mm range cooker in dark stainless steel, which has a host of clever functions, including pyrolytic self-cleaning, air fry and steam cooking modes, and a powerful wok burner. 

6. Side-by-side-ovens

If you’d prefer not to bend down to pull dishes out of the oven, a built-in oven that sits with your upper joinery is ideal. Better yet, choose two side-by-side built-ins, and you’ll enjoy the flexibility of cooking dishes at different temperatures simultaneously without compromising on oven space.  

Sound appealing? Take a closer look at the Westinghouse 600mm WVES613SC-L (left-door opening) and WVES613SC-R (right-door opening) multi-function ovens – a stylish, matching pair that open left and right, each with an 80-litre capacity, two-hour auto timer so you can pre-set dishes to cook later on, easy-glide racks and cool-touch doors.

7. An induction cooktop

Whether you favour a contemporary kitchen with sleek, minimalist lines or simply want appliances that are safe around the kids, an induction cooktop, such as the Fisher & Paykel’s CI904CTB1 900mm induction cooktop, ticks every box. 

This seamless, four-zone black glass cooktop heats up fast, is easy to clean, and makes a stylish addition to a modern kitchen. It works by heating your pots and pans rather than the cooktop, so it’s cool to the touch while reducing your power bills as there’s no energy lost heating the air around your cookware. 

It’s important to note that you’ll need to use induction-safe cookware with an induction cooktop. 

And there you have it – seven practical and stylish essentials for the kitchen of your dreams!