Cool 1970s Kingcraft kitchen scales

Just spotted this - fully working and fairly funky Kingcraft kitchen scales. They're the original 1970s deal, and cover both metric and imperial.

 They've got imperial and metric units, so you don't have to worry about converting any recipes, and with a couple of days left, they're selling for either £4.99 as an auction price, or £7.50 as a Buy It Now option.

 And while you're *ahem* weighing that up - it looks like John Lewis have got the Heston Blumenthal Orb Electronic Scales back in stock now.

1960's retro kitchen sink unit...

I rather like the look of this Remploy 1960's timber sink unit, with stainless steel top - the colours definitely work well together.

The taps have been removed, and there is some sagging which would need repairing but at the moment it's £10 with no bids and under 2 days left.

 If you can manage a little bit of repair work, you two drawers and three cupboards - the middle draw is a dummy panel and the handle needs re-attaching, but comes with the unit.

The search for the coolest washing machine...

We've had problems with our Zanussi washing machine for quite a while now, as it stops at random points in the cycle, meaning we have to drain everything and start again. So when it stops 3 times out of 4 it's immensely frustrating.
Luckily the shop has taken it back to fix and left us with a loaner, but it's prompted me to take a look at what's available if you want something that not only cleans clothes, but also looks cool.
It's a bit tricky, as the basics of clothes washing and design don't seem to have changed much, but then I found this:

 It's the OVO washing machine concept designed by Murat Ozveri, and yes, when it's not in use, you get a giant clock to look at. And when it starts washing, the screen also displays a load of information about the washing.
  Not just that, but it looks cool and the different colours you could choose would work well for most kitchens. 
  The only problem is that it was designed and built a while ago, but I can't seem to see it in any shops yet. Come on white goods people - we want more than just square boxes in our kitchens...

  Anyone seen any washing machines that are cool, and also available to buy? Help me out by linking them up in the comments!

A 1940's style kitchen unit for less than £1!

Now this has to be one of the best bargains we've spotted so far. A 1940's style kitchen unit in apparently good condition, and a nice colour-scheme which could slot straight into most places.
And it's currently 99p, with just over a day to run!

It's collection only, but for the current price you'd be able to buy someone a couple of beers to borrow their van or estate car, and you'd still have change from £10.
More proof that despite the rise in online auctions and shopping, it's still possible to find bargains if you spend the time and effort looking!

Retro cupboard with built-in extending table...

Another day, another great bit of space-saving retro furniture. Yesterday I discovered a kitchen cupboard with space for food and shoes - it turns out the same seller also has this great 1950s/1960s cupboard with a handy extending table.
Handy if you're in a bedsit, useful if you want to eat in the kitchen away from the rest of the family (Oh for some peace and quiet), or even as somewhere to put a laptop or iPad so you can check recipes while you're cooking without risking covering your electronics in batter!

The original glass appears to be fine, which is probably increasingly unusual, and like yesterday's example, it's starting off at £75. There's the usual wear and tear, and a load more photos on the auction page.

Cool vintage kitchen cupboard has everything but the kitchen sink...

If you fancy retro storage, but you're also short on space, this could be just the cupboard for you. Not only do you get kitchen cupboards, but the top drawer has an enamelled cutting shelf, the top cupboard has an egg holder, and the bottom features a handy shoe box and a rack, which could also be used for a variety of other things - vegetables or sauce packets for instance?

 OK, so it's a little on the shabby side, but given the yellow, green and pink colour scheme, a bit of repainting might have been needed anyway! And how else could you store all your food and footwear in one place?

The fact it needs a bit of paint probably explains why it's still at a reasonable £75 with two days left on Ebay. And you could fit in a quick bit of refurbishment in time for Christmas.

Heston Blumenthal Orb Electronic Scales

Whether or not you're a fan of Heston Blumenthal's food, his scientific approach means that you can probably trust him when it comes to accurate measuring devices. The fact that they also look pretty cool is a bonus.

They're obviously proving popular at £40,as John Lewis is currently out of stock online - but you do have the option to sign up for an email alert as soon as a new batch arrive. And there's still time for stock to turn up, and be sent out, to make it to you before Christmas...

70's retro kitchen units going for £10!

The 1970s is an era which seems to divide people when you're looking at retro and vintage furniture. But these units not only look pretty stylish for something from the 70s, but they're also going for a bargain £10 at the moment with under 2 days left.

Glasswear bargains at Habitat of all places...

As much as I love finding things second-hand either online on places like Ebay, or offline in obscure little junk shops, I'm not immune to buying new. And I quite often find myself browsing and occasionally buying from places you might not assume I'd look, like Habitat, for example. We've still got a cool round purple light we bought in a sale years ago - even if we don't have anywhere to put it that's safe from a toddler's grabbing hands.
And a bit of online browsing found these wine glasses reduced for Christmas:

They're 'Twink' wine glasses, and although I could spend the next few months looking for something similar in charity shops, the fact they're down to £2.80 each means that actually it might be more efficient to buy them and spend my time looking for things which get me a bigger saving or are more unusual...
Here's the link for the Blue Twink wine glasses, and for the Red Twink wine glasses. They've also got champagne glasses in blue, assuming you're drinking champagne more regularly than we do!

And here's two personal insights - I'm not a big wine drinker, but I do drink a healthy amount of water, and it always feels a lot nicer to drink from a nice glass than from the bottle/water filter.

And most importantly - Christmas is coming up, and although some of my family and friends might look for obscure gifts, most are busy people and will want something they can grab from the high street. So having a little list of cool things they can pick up without much hassle means we can get stuff we want and need...

Everything including the retro kitchen sink...

It takes a while to wade through the amount of stuff on Ebay, but eventually it comes up trumps. Or at least it would if I lived a little closer to the location of this sale...

 

That's right - if you've got everything but the kitchen sink, this auction running on eBay over the next couple of days could sort you out. And at the moment it's listed for the grand price of 99p. And that's for the 1950s kitchen sink unit, complete with taps, waste and large sink. 

It's tempting enough for me to be trying to work out if I can borrow a van!

Buying a stylish slow cooker...

Over the past couple of years, most people have been looking to save a bit of cash where they can - and we're no different. One thing we've done fairly recently is start using a slow cooker and cheaper cuts of meat, and you'll see that same advice in a lot of places. And the best thing is, it works! I never realised how a good casserole is perfect on a cold day - especially when it's ready and waiting for you....
But there's a bit of a problem - slow cookers are not the most attractive devices, which means getting them in and out of the cupboard... unless there's a stylish one somewhere?

  

This is about the most stylish slow cooker I've managed to find so far the Cuisinart CSC650U. It's funky in an industrial style, and I've found the cheapest place online to pick one up is the aptly named 'Kitchen Fun', which is selling them for £62.20.
That's £6 cheaper than Amazon...
And with a 6.5 litre capacity, you'll be able to feed everyone without any problems...

A serious piece of vintage kitchen furniture...

Want to get a retro or vintage 1950s feel for your kitchen without having to buy loads of little bits? Picking up one massive 1950s kitchen cabinet would save you a bit of time and effort!
By way of example, this is currently on eBay with a bit of time left for bidding:

OK, you'll probably need a reasonably-sized kitchen for it to work, but just look at all that storage! And even adding the cost of collection, it's shaping up to go for a reasonably bargain price... We're pretty tempted, but we've still got tiling to do - and possibly knocking down a wall before we can start refitting...

12 retro kitchen cabinet doors - currently under £1

One of the top tips for updating or changing the look of your kitchen on a budget is to change the doors of the kitchen cabinets, rather than the whole unit.
So 12 retro kitchen cupboard doors in mustard on eBay for £0.99 is shaping up to be an absolute steal.

They've currently got 2 days left, and come with aluminium handles and hinge packs - utter bargain!

The most practical kitchen apron...

There's something great about utility products - those that do the job simply, effectively and won't alienate either sex. As a bloke, I'm not exactly keen about wearing an apron while I cook, and if I do, it definitely shouldn't involve flowers or kittens. At the same time, most of the manly BBQ catchphrases look a bit stupid when Annie is wearing them.
That's why this is cool:

Simple, effective, kinda stylish, and yours for a bargain £14.99 from H&M. (Via @poppyd)

Awesome retro slushie maker....

There's a lot of slushie makers around, and anyone that has memories of Slush Puppy machines and drinks has probably thought about getting one.
For looks alone, this seems to be the best to actually make it into a prominent position in your kitchen - although the reviews on Prezzy Box are all positive - those on Amazon aren't as complimentary.

But forget that for the moment, and imagine what happens when friends and family come over for a party. Do you want to be the guy or girl stuck to a slushie machine all day?
Or would you rather have an effectively limitless supply of slushie goodness all ready to go, whether it's for the friends of your children, or with a splash of alcohol for the adults?
Then I suggest to you....

Packing a whopping 3.7 gallons per bowl, that's 7.4 gallons of slushie goodness - and yours for just $2,999.95 (Down from $3449.99). And it might seem pricey now, but imagine how popular you and your offspring will be during warm weather. If you're more financially minded, why not charge the neighbourhood kids for a cup, and make the money back (Maybe even a profit!).
How's that for a DIY kitchen gadget - one that gives you a business and maybe gives you a profit!

Kitchen chairs for the designer freak you know....

I love great design, despite the fact my artistic talents are limited to words and terrible guitar playing. And personally I think these Pantone chairs are ace - although I suspect you'll need to be a design fan to properly appreciate them...
But it should help the next time you're looking for the right colour to co-ordinate your kitchen.

They're £54 each from The Holding Company. And could lead to inspiration for more funky colourschemes - our hallway is currently the same light blue as the chair hanging at the back...

The geekiest kitchen utensil you've ever seen?

While I'm not a huge fan, I'm well aware that there's very little in the Geek universe which is more universal than Star Trek. Even if you come down on the Star Wars side of the debate, or you just can't overcome the memory of the Tribbles, you can't help recognising the icons it created.
And now the U.S.S. Enterprise can journey across pizza!

 It's like it was meant to be - but has actually been created by the talented people at ThinkGeek. And it's officially licensed, stainless stell and just $24.99. So if you're a Trekkie, or you know one, grab the Star Trek Pizza Cutter!

Update your kitchen cabinets with some new parts

One way to improve the look of your kitchen without spending thousands on replacing the whole thing is to look at what you can update and reuse. For instance, it's often possible to replace the kitchen cabinet doors and handles to transform the space, rather than replacing all the parts of the cupboards that you'll never see.
There are cheaper ways to find the parts, but I've just spotted some handy art deco kitchen cabinet knobs on ebay which would be just the thing...

They're being sold for £10 each, with £4.90 postage, but there appears to be the chance of a deal if you're buying in bulk. And if you're replacing a number of cabinets, or if you can find a friend that's also thinking about making some changes, buying in largr numbers is often a good way to save money.
Alternatively, there's always the option of checking out secondhand shops, reclamation yards, junkyards and even building sites and skips (obviously there are legal rules on just helping yourself to stuff that you might find).

 I've been thinking of taking that exact approach with our kitchen. The cupboards are pretty dull and not exactly inspiring, but it's pretty rare we'll ever see or notice the back and sides of them. So by replacing the doors, handles and possibly the worksurface, we'll be able to transform them. And we can even split the cost by leaving the current worksurface in place for the time being!

1950s kitchen cupboard/larder - I must stop browsing ebay....

Every time I spend a few minutes taking a look around ebay, I seem to find something I'm tempted to buy. Someone stop me...

For instance...

Can't go too far wrong for £29.99 with just 15 hours left!

Potential kitchen unit bargain on ebay?

It's worth looking all over the place for kitchen-related bargains, and you'll never know what might turn up. Unfortunately we still haven't reached the stage where we can start amassing some furniture, which is a bit of a shame, as I've just spotted some vintage English Rose kitchen units, and they're currently at just £26.

As you can see, they're far less twee than the name might suggest! Built in the 1950's, English Rose of Warwick built high-quality fitted kitchens. And CSA, the company which made these cabinets, previously made the nose cones for the Spitfire plane!

Fully restored they justify a high price, but if you can find some in need of restoration like these, then you could grab a bargain. Just one thing to keep in mind is that you'll be working with metal rather than wood, so it helps if you're a panelbeater rather than a carpenter.

Obviously there can be a lot of competition on eBay, but it occasionally still comes up trumps, so it's worth checking regularly, and playing around with. Annie seems to find virtual window shopping strangely relaxing, so let us know if you'd like more eBay finds posted up on a regular basis?