Quick, simple and easy energy saving?

In England and across Europe we're all trying to save some money - and it turns out there are a whole range of energy savings we could be doing.

More information on : http://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/topics/markets-and-consumers/consumer-rights-and-protection

IKEA time travel experiment no.2: Jeff & Beth

Obviously we're fans of vintage and retro time travel, and we also love our gadgets and visions of the future. So the idea of being able to time travel inside an IKEA store is quite interesting, although hopefully we'll avoid being hypnotised next time we visit

Retro fridge freezer - Currently £41

Hi folks, recently we have been concentrating on the furniture side of your kitchen, kitchen units, cupboards and the like but we thought that maybe with your kitchen nearing completion you might need somewhere to store that milk for a lovely cuppa, so look no further. We have found a brilliant Fridge Freezer, currently bidding at £41.

It is made by "Servis" and described as in "Excellent Condition" and it certainly looks it from the photo. It is an "A rated" appliance so will not send your electricity bills rocketing. Now for some more useful information regarding sizes, we want it to fit that space you were saving Height: 157cm, Depth 60cm and width 54cm. It's pick up only, from Farnborough, so why not have a day out in Hampshire while you are at it? Once again, bid now for this fantastic Fridge Freezer.

Beautiful Kitchen Unit - Bid from £40

Thinking about a free standing unit for your patchwork kitchen? Look no further than this well loved piece. Just imagine disassembling it, giving it a sand down and then painting it in a lovely Farrow & Ball country colour.
Bidding is currently at £40, and at the time of writing there are more than 5 days left to bid on and win this fantastic Kitchen Unit.

 

Now a bit more information, it works together as one unit but is easily assembled, is 1360mm wide and 1880 mm high with a depth of 600mm. The worktop needs a new bit of edging but if you were painting the unit you would want to replace this with a new matching piece anyway, but is otherwise in good condition. 

Once again, this is a brilliant piece for your kitchen and a bargain with bidding from £40. Good luck

 

Vintage Retro 50's / 60's Kitchen Unit - currently at £5.04

I've just found this stunning vintage piece that would look fabulous in your new "country style" kitchen. At the time of writing this article it's at the rock bottom price of £5.04 although I cannot see it staying at that, it's just too lovely. Imagine it as the centre piece of the kitchen, store things in it, chop things on it and maybe even sit on it. It doesn't matter if the colour doesn't fit with your current theme, it can be painted.

And now down to the item itself, it easily splits into two sections for easy transport, is 176cm high, 90cm wide and has a depth of 55cm. Made from plywood with an solid oak worktop and painted in a cream finish, it is just waiting for the right person to whisk it away from Wiltshire to a loving home. Once again, don't miss out on this beautiful vintage dresser, bid now.

Retro Kitchen Cupboard (1950's style) starting at £35

Quick, grab a bargain. This retro piece would make an outstanding addition to any funky kitchen. Okay, it has been pre-loved and needs some attention to bring it back to its former glory, but once finished it could make all the difference to your room. Just imagine storing all your plates, cutlery, pots, pans and other implements in this handsome item, you'd no doubt be the envy of all your neighbours.

It is listed as "needs some refurbishment", but with bids starting from £35, a bit of sandpaper, a coat of paint and plenty of elbow grease could really make this the finishing touch to your shabby chic style kitchen. Centrally located in Wolverhampton, and standing at 176cm high by 76cm wide and 38cm deep, it would fit into a large car or small van, so what are you waiting for, start bidding now.

Amazing Kitchen Unit - Starts at only £60

Confession time. I have been keeping secrets.
I have found the most amazing unit for my kitchen and spent days agonizing over whether it's worth extending my kitchen a little bit or if we could possibly live without a cooker, just so I could fit this diamond of kitchen furniture in. Sadly, common sense has prevailed and I have decided to share this find with you. It's simply listed as a large retro/vintage kitchen unit but is actually a 1950's bespoke piece.

It measures an impressive 244 cm long, is 92 cm high and has a depth of 46 cm. The unit is painted in a cream colour and is covered by a red Formica top which does have a small chip at one end. As the unit is made from solid wood and is in one piece it is very heavy, but on the plus side it doesn't require any assembly as doors, drawers and handles are all included and attached. I personally love this piece because of the simple clean-lined design and  the chrome handles and sliding doors just add to its charm.

Despite being of some age, it looks fresh and clean and I think it would appeal to both minimalists and vintage lovers. The only thing is, that because I have been unwilling to share this until I was absolutely sure I couldn't buy it myself, there is only a couple of days left of the auction. However,  at the time of writing there have been no bids placed despite the tempting starting price of a mere £60.00. I can imagine the reason for this is that people have trouble picturing driving all the way from Cornwall with this attractive piece of kitchen furniture sticking out of the boot of the hatchback.

This is definitely a man-with-a-van job if I ever saw one. Don't let that put you off though because I would challenge you to try to find something similar from one of the major furniture retailers for less.. 

36 AUTHENTIC MEXICAN TILES - starting at £29

How do you liven up a kitchen where white, black and brown set the tone and it feels more like a lab than the heart of the home? I suppose a Smeg or Aga would add a bit of personality but would also stretch the finances to the limit.
As always I'm on a budget and was thinking of placing some retro pieces of kitchenalia in strategic places in my kitchen or perhaps a funky blind in the window.  As I was trawling the internet for inspiration, I stumbled across something even better and fell instantly in love with these amazing Mexicanwall tiles.

They are not retro, vintage or period, instead they are contemporary, practical and functional. They are also colourful and unique and give a distinctive and lively finish to the walls. 

These particular tiles are Azucena authentic tiles that have been handmade in Mexico. Fortunately no overseas travel is required to get your hands of these fantastic little pieces of art as they are available on line. They are sold in batches of 36 and are competitively priced at £29.00 plus £6.00 P&P.

They measure 10.5x10.5cm though as they are hand made no two tiles are identical. This is something worth bearing in mind before fixing them onto the wall, preparation and planning will save time and lessen the frustration on this occasion.  The tiles are also waterproof and could be used in the bathroom or even outside, but personally I think they would make any kitchen feel warm and welcoming and as soon as I can decide on my colourscheme I'll be placing my order.

Retro Formica Table & Six Chairs for 99p

When you think about 1960's retro or vintage kitchen, three materials must spring to mind: Formica, Chrome and PVC. And now you can have all three for less than you think! For sale at the time of writing is a Formica table with six PVC chairs at the rock bottom price of 99p. The thing that caught our eye about this particular table is that it seats six, not four like most Formica tables you see for sale from this era. So now, even if you have a family you can eat in a retro fashion at this family sized table.

The table top is made from white Formica, a heat-resistant wipe-clean material which isn't just incredibly practical but also bang on retro trend. The table is 137 x 76 cm and measures 74 cm tall. The chairs are 46 cm to the seat and the seats are covered in caramel coloured PVC which though functional may need replacing. Tables and chairs all have chrome legs which look to be in a good condition.

All in all, a funky and easily maintained essential if you are looking for that genuine 60's – 70's feel to your retro kitchen diner. Granted you have to venture out into the Cambridgeshire Fens to collect, and the chairs could do with some TLC, but we would say this is the bargain of the week.

1960s Remploy Kitchen Unit for under £10!

It's almost the weekend, and what better time to pick up a cool 1960s Remploy kitchen unit for less than £10 at the time of writing?
To get the low price, you'll need to pick it up yourself from Scotland, but just make it into a fun weekend trip with the cash you've saved against buying an expensive new cabinet - and it's a freestanding unit so easy to fit into the kitchen or any other room.

It's 121cm tall, 107cm wide and 45cm deep with a pulldown draw featuring a formica top, a shelf,  a cutlery draw, and all the original plastic handles and knobs are correct and present. And we love that aubergine colour! But not as much as we love the fact that at the moment it could be yours for £8! A cool kitchen cupboard for less than a packet of cigarettes - what could be better?

If NASA built kitchen blenders - the National Solid State Recipe Blender

As a gadget geek, I think I may have fallen in love with this vintage 1982 National MX-370N Solid State Recipe Blender. For one thing, noone names their products in quite such a pseudo-scientific way. It sounds more like a NASA mission than a kitchen gadget. And for another, it looks just like the technology in American homes in early 1980s films, when VCRs and Nintendos were still exotic dreams for us in the UK.

If you ever wanted to make sure you have a blender ready for a Gremlins infestation, this is definitely the one to pick up.

But more importantly than any of that - check out the control panel. This may have made life easier for chefs, but only those with a degree in asto-physics. Buttons, dials, and a radio type tuner to select how you want your food chopped?

See what we mean? It has a button labelled for 'Short Spurt' - that in itself is enough for us to want it, besides the other chunky buttons and dials. And it's only £14.99 with just over a day to secure it.

Futuristic 1970s Soehnle kitchen scales

When it comes to gadgets and accessories for your kitchen it's sometimes hard to get away from vintage scales of the sort found in a Dickensian sweet shop with a selection of weights and no funkiness. Luckily the 1970s provided us with cool stuff for the kitchen, along with dreams of jet cars, food pills and teleporters. In this case, even the normally-reserved Germans got in on the act.

These 1970s Soehnle scales are from Germany and you may have noticed the large orange weighing dish which can handle items under 15cm in diameter, and can be turned upside down to save space if you want to hide such a lovely weighing machine away.

Soehnle continue to be a high quality manufacturer of kitchen goodies today, and this set will take weights of up to 2kg, so plenty for most kitchen tasks. They're currently on sale for £12.50, and would certainly make sorting out your ingredients a lot more fun.

Get a complete 1970s kitchen

You could spend a lot of time and effort sourcing all the furniture for a complete retro kitchen. Alternatively, you could buy this complete 1970s kitchen, which is currently going for £150.

That's right - the entire 1970s, 'possibly Hygena' kitchen is for sale, giving you the complete retro set-up in one swift purchase. That includes:

• Sink Worktop - 2670mm x 630mm deep
• Dishwasher Worktop - 2140mm x 530mm
• Hob Worktop - 1370mm x 530mm
• Cooker unit - 600mm x 1980mm tall
• Cupboards under hob - 450mm wide
• All other cupboards - 525mm wide
• 4-Drawer unit - 525mm wide
• Kitchen sink - 1050mm x 460mm
• Working extractor unit - 685mm wide
• Utility Worktop - 1740mm x 670mm
• Utility sink - 1000mm x 500mm

Two things to note - firstly the oven, dishwasher, fridge and bin aren't included. Secondly, you'll also need to uninstall it all with help from the seller, so be prepared to get your screwdriver out. But the good thing is that taking it apart yourself will make it a lot easier to put it all back together in your own home. Top tip is to not only label everything to know which parts go where, but also take plenty of photos at each stage - it'll save you swearing as you try to reconstruct various seemingly random bits of the cupboards!

Two 60's kitchen cabinets for the price of one!

Finding one 1960s kitchen cabinet in reasonable condition for a decent price is nice. Finding out that there are actually two of them is even nicer! Three drawers up top, sliding doors below, and a nice vintage yellow colour would make this example stand out for a current price of just 99p.

But when you take a closer look at the description, it turns out there's actually a second cupboard included in the price. The pictured cabinet is complete with the second example apparently missing two handles. But that's a solvable problem, or you could use it for spares or repairs. If the price doesn't rise much more before the end of the auction you could probably find a way to resell the second cabinet to possibly make the first one free - how much more of a bargain could you get!

1960s retro gas cooker for a pretty hot price

We haven't often seen vintage gas cookers for sale, and obviously you'll need to keep safety in mind if you purchase something like this - getting it checked out and installed in proper fashion to avoid blowing up your retro kitchen when you're trying to heat up some soup.

Then again, you could be really sneaky, and just hide a microwave in the oven compartment!

It's a 1966 Flavel Equerry 3 Automatic Gas Cooker, complete with instruction manual, and some seriously funky red knobs. The seller points out that it's in very clean condition and the pictures certainly back that up. Plus it's currently on sale for £20 with a bit of time left.

There are actually a set of regulations regarding the sale of secondhand gas cooking appliances, which include that gas shouldn't escape, the burner should light promptly, carbon monoxide shouldn't be given off in large quantities and any cut-off device should work correctly.

Vintage Kitchen Larder Unit for serious restoration

OK, so here's a kitchen larder unit for someone who isn't afraid of some serious restoration and repair work, but it's still cheap enough to make it viable if you have enough motivation. At £4.99 with no bids yet, you could pick up this 1950s retro Hygena kitchen larder unit which has been with the same family since it was bought in 1953.

There's quite a lot of grime to clean considering the larder unit has been stored in a garage and sadly the bottom panel has rotted, so would need replacing. But all the bits and pieces are there, and it does have a lined bread compartment and vegetable cupboard with three wire wracks. A good thorough clean and a new bottom panel and you're ready to rock, or alternatively, stripping and repainting would be a viable option. At 6ft high, you'd currently be paying less than £1 per foot!

Retro kitchen scales and cocktail stools going cheap

Proving that you can still find some seriously interesting items online which are bargain buys for your chic vintage kitchen, we've found these rather nice vintage Tower kitchen scales which currently have no bids with a day left, and a starting price of £14.99. Worth watching, because if noone bids it's always worth making a cheeky offer.

And we were also pleasantly surprised to find these two retro-style bar stools for just 99p with 24 hours left. Having watched countless items like this end up becoming rather expensive, or being resold by professional sellers for a lot more, it seems like a lot of bargain hunters might still be recovering from Christmas and not be up to their normal eagle-eyed eBay watching.

OK, so the stools are collection-only, but even including a quick trip in a van or car with a large enough boot, you'll still get a sizeable saving. You might have missed out on stylish New Year's cocktails for this year, but you'll be prepared for the end of 2012 in style!

And although you could spend a bit of time polishing up either the scales or stools, they're cool enough to fit into a vintage or retro kitchen with a quick wipe of a cloth, which is always handy. It's always nice when you don't have to refurbish absolutely everything!

Vintage kitchen cabinet for £1?

It seems that prices are definitely rising for vintage kitchen cabinets and furniture on eBay at the moment, so it's getting a bit harder to track down some bargains. Luckily, there are still some great finds available at reasonable prices if you know where to look, and if there's something to be discovered, I'll find it!

This vintage kitchen cabinet with a formica top isn't the prettiest kitchen furniture out there, and you should notice that the seller currently has no feedback, but if you're willing to take a chance on a new seller, you could grab a very cheap bargain with bidding currently at 99p and no bids with 4 days left.



Plus, the dark photography is actually a bonus, as it might mean other bidders won't be paying attention to it, and if you can grab it dirt cheap, you could easily give it a bit of an update, or use it as a cheap project base.

I'd be tempted to consider repainting it a brighter colour, and possibly doing something with pop art on the top to replace the formica. Some suitable art or photos under a clear cover would make it extremely funky without costing a lot to achieve...

1950s glass-fronted kitchen cabinet - currently only £10.50

If you need some kitchen storage, and fancy a vintage cabinet with a glass front without paying the earth, it's worth checking out this Ebay auction with a couple of days left.
It's a reasonable 1950s glass-front kitchen cabinet, which is currently listed with a max bid of £10.50 and just a couple of days left, and free local pick-up. Which means if you're in the right area, you could pick up a very cheap bargain.
And because it's quite a tall cabinet, you'll get a lot of storage space without taking up too much floorspace.

The pictures do suggest it might need a little tidying, but if you can grab it for under £20, you'd have plenty of cash left over to accompany a bit of elbow grease!

Some retro kitchen inspiration from a day out at Kent Life

Having recently spent a day out at Kent Life Museum near Maidstone, I couldn't help grabbing a few pics of the vintage kitchens in some of the period houses on the site...