Trick or Treat on the Kings Mile Sat 31st
October is becoming more and more defined by the spookiness that comes with Halloween, and everyone knows and loves the joy of dressing up in wacky and wonderful costumes. Here at the Kings Mile, we celebrate by inviting children to trick or treat in our shops. Last year we had over 300 children and had such a great time seeing all of the costumes and passing out candy. If you have a child, or the child in you would love to dress up- come join other trick or treaters between 1pm-3pm on the 31st at the Kings Mile!
To get in the mood for the trick or treaters to come, this week we want highlight some of our favourite Halloween decorations, and good ideas for ways to turn your kitchen spooky, even for just a week. We know we will be decorating the showroom for the day.
Spiders webs and bats are Halloween classics, but there are more interesting alternatives to consider. A great tutorial by Melissa Mortenson on Polkadotchair shows how to make Floating Witch's Hats, but a similar effect could easily be done by simply adding the witch's hat to your lampshade!
You could even try Matthew Ashman's great Cardboard Gravestones. Simple decorations are easy to make, and can really add flair to fit the festivities.
Food is another easy resource to use when decorating! Everyone knows carved pumpkins are great, but not many know how easy it is to find great designs for them! Pumpkin Pile is a great site which offers these designs for free - all you have to do is stick them on the pumpkin whilst you carve and carve through them! These can result in fantastic designs, like Randy Cox's Spiderman, or Elizabeth Noguera's Olaf from Frozen! For added flair, you could even try and turn the carving into a snack! Mom Shara made a Watermelon fruit monster for her daughter's birthday, featured on Heather Dalton's blog, which is just perfect for a Halloween party!
Having fun with Halloween decorations is a great thing to do, and can be especially fun to decorate with your kids, or even just for a party. Putting a little bit of effort in can be extremely rewarding. We hope to see you on the 31st!
How to Consider Your Choices for the Kitchen Sink and Tap
With so much to choose when designing your kitchen, we wanted to highlight the importance of the sink and tap. The kitchen sink does not often come to mind when considering design choices, but as with most things, technology has caught up with our simple taps to give interesting choices to enhance and set the tone for your kitchen.
Material makes up your first big choice. A stainless steel sink can look lovely and is very easy to maintain, as it will not easily chip or crack. Ceramic sinks are more traditional, and whilst a bit more care is needed, they can complete a look. Composite sinks may perhaps fit your worktop better, being granite or quartz, which would integrate the sink more readily into your design.
Style of sinks vary differently, with single and double bowls allows for different styles of washing, and the more rural farmhouse sink can make a statement in some modern kitchens. Under and top mount sinks are incredibly stylish, and can be fit to work with the worktop you choose.
Some of the more interesting options come in the form of new designs. An incredibly popular option at the moment is the boiling water tap - a single tap that manages both hot, cold and boiling water. Eliminating the kettle saves worktop space, and can be handled from a single tank that fits underneath the sink. Alternatively, a separate tap can be used for the boiling functionality.
The tap developments don't stop there! These new stovetop taps are used for fillings pots or pans with water for boiling, and add a stylish, almost traditional feel to your kitchen. Easily fitted on to the wall, they are another example of convenience added to the kitchen. Pull out taps are also incredibly popular, and make washing up so much easier, as they can be used to dynamically rinse or wash dishes.
The sink seems a somewhat overlooked part of the kitchen, but surely has as much choice associated with it as worktops or cabinets. Making the right choice is important, and this is but a guide - a fitting or quote from a designer will give you the best idea of what could work or fit in your design. Our showroom also offers plenty of examples, and we are more than happy to book a visit to see how we can help you with your vision.
Light Tips for a Bright Kitchen
When designing a new kitchen, often the aspect towards the back of your mind is lighting. It is easy to forget how lighting can entirely change the mood and feel of a room, and whether natural or artificial light will paint your new room in the best light.
There are a number of options you can take. The first is natural light, and many find this the best option. Windows and glass doors are standards in the modern kitchen, but you might consider a skylight. The feel of natural light throughout the day can make your kitchen feel more homely, and can be a defining feature when used correctly.
However, it is always important to remember that when night falls, your bright room can easily become shadowy. Varied lighting is important to ensure that come nightfall, the room feels just as comfortable and beautiful as during the daylight. The standards of lighting are fairly well known, but important to the new kitchen is how the design fits the aesthetic. Chandeliers or lampshades can add interesting features, and even give a glittery glow.
LED lights are becoming increasingly popular as alternatives. Strip lighting underneath cupboards, or even in cabinets or around a TV can give a subtle, but more natural, feel to a room. Perhaps the best compliment to natural light is the LED system, especially due to the long-lasting nature of LED bulbs - almost 50,000 hours compared to the 1,200 hours of incandescent bulbs. (as well as a dramatically reduced wattage, saving on power!)
Should you want to go even further, many companies are incorporating technology into the LED bulbs. Hue, a part of Phillips, offers LED bulbs that can be controlled to change colour and shades to compliment the room, at the touch of a button. Connecting to a smart phone app, the bulbs can dim, flash, pulse and do anything you want, fitting directly into current fittings. Perhaps a more dazzling option, these will surely add a bit of flare to your new room!
A final option comes from the design of your kitchen itself. Lighter materials and paints will make a room feel lighter itself - light quartz worktops, a pale painted wood for the cabinets and a light colour on the walls will ensure a light room. The difference is, you get to choose. Designing your kitchen is a fun and personalised experience, and Herringbone Kitchens ensure that your design is what comes first.
Useful Tricks for Increasing Storage Space
Most of the time clients come to us knowing they want a specific item in their kitchen like an island, range oven or American fridge. We will start the design process around this. But practically speaking, one of the most important things in your kitchen is not the big ticket items, but how usable the kitchen is. Storage space makes a big difference to the day to day living of your kitchen. Being able to access everything you need without having to go in to the loft to get your bread maker out a couple of times a year is useful, and who knows, might mean you will start making bread more often. Below are our top 5 ways of increasing storage space.
1. Taller larder units can add extra space.
2. Internal drawers make things easier to access within a larder.
3. Integrated bins not only hide the bin, but also can offer recycling compartments.
4.Deep drawers allow space to easily access bigger items.
5. Magic corners are a great way of not increasing storage, but making hard to reach storage areas, usable.
