Stewart Kirby Design

If you need a new electric cook top you should look seriously at an Induction model. They provide the control of a good gas hob, combined with very low energy use and superior safety (no open flames or heated surfaces). More importantly, they are also fantastic to cook with. They make ceramic and solid element cook tops completely obsolete. The downside is that they are much more expensive. The one exception seems to be a portable Induction hob from Kenwood that sells for only AU$199.00. At that price, it’s worth buying one as an experiment to see if you like Induction cooking. You might also need to upgrade your cookware, especially if you use aluminium saucepans. Is it worth the hassle? Yes!

I know televisions keep getting bigger, but when they start to make an upright piano look small I personally think something is (aesthetically) wrong with the world. From the perspective of watching a movie, I can understand the argument that bigger is, perhaps, better (although picture quality plays a big part too). However, when the television is turned off, it presents as an unattractive huge grey and black shiny thing surrounded by other grey and black audiovisual things. Today’s tip: if you must have a television, keep it as small as you can cope with (or choose a stylish television … and yes, there is such a thing … keep watching my tips!)

The bicycle in this image has been parked on the footpath opposite my building, in front of North Adelaide Cycles, for the past couple of weeks. It is made by Vanmoof and I am falling in love with it. It is so refreshing to see a bike that you wouldn’t mind parking in your entry hall or living room. I think I need to take one for a test ride. See www.vanmoof.com for more information.

“Today’s consumers want more than just a refrigerator – they want whole walls transformed into elegant, practical, brilliantly integrated refrigeration facilities.” This statement was published in a Miele advertisement in INDESIGN magazine, issue 39 2009, along with an image of a wall of Miele “refrigeration facilities”. To be fair, I like Miele appliances, however I couldn’t help but reflect that I have never had a client request this. I have had clients who require serious amounts of refrigerated space, but not a whole wall of it. More often I find people wanting to fit a whole kitchen into the space of this one wall, much as per the image above (image from www.miele.com.au). 

I have been looking for an outdoor bath for one of my balconies for years and I came across the Dutch Tub earlier this year and fell in love with it. Unfortunately the weight of it when full of water is too great for it to be used on my balcony, but I still love this product for a whole range of reasons. For instance, it comes in any colour you like, is designed specifically as an outdoor bath, needs no permanent connections, it looks fantastic (especially in orange), it has its own mechanism for heating the water and it is movable as it doesn't weigh a huge amount (until you add water). I want one ... but don't want it falling through my balcony floor into my living room below, so I'll have to keep looking.  But if this sounds like a solution to your garden bath desire, check out www.dutchtub.com