Magnetic Attraction

Over the years, I've often joked here about integrity or, indeed, my gleeful lack of it. My usual stance is to say that my place on the moral highground was sold off years ago to build flats with a lovely view of the moral lowground... It is though meant as a joke. While I'll happily take all accusations of smugness on the chin (or, yes, chins), in my defence I would say: a) I kind of travel the world, eat and meet famous people for a living, who wouldn't be smug? and b) actually, I turn down a lot more than I accept. I also wouldn't do anything here on the blog that I didn't believe in as, to some extent, it's "my" publication. 

Anyway, that's a rambling bit of background as to why I'm now about to write about kitchens, rather than food. 

I was recently approached about doing a post on Magnet Kitchens. Ordinarily, I probably wouldn't but their timing was pretty damn spooky as their e mail appeared in my inbox a few minutes after discussing "should we get a new kitchen, or add a stand alone cupboard and get new doors?" with Mrs L. I read out the e mail with some amusement and the odd "I think we're being bugged" comment which is when Angela pointed out it was even more of a coincidence as our current kitchen - installed in 1994 before we'd even met - is a Magnet one. And, for the most part, it's still going strong. Sure, a couple of draw runners have had to be repaired but hell, that's hardly grounds for a compensation claim after two decades of insanely heavy use. No, our need is a combination of the cosmetic - after 20 years, the doors are looking a bit dull - and storage necessity brought about by all the kitchen gadgetry you get sent as a food writer. Ahem. As Kavey has just pointed out in her excellent post, Sous Vide machines (for example) are a lovely bit of kit but blimey they take up some space...

The Magnet Showroom. Our kitchen doesn't look quite as neat as this one.

Which is even more rambling to explain why earlier this week I spent a very interesting hour or so at Magnet's showrooms on - inevitably - Wigmore Street (seriously why is that the kitchen showroom capital of London?). To say that kitchen design has moved on since 1994 is a little bit of an understatement... 

The grey stripe in the cabinets? That's the Sound Bar - and surprisingly loud it is too. 

The purpose of the visit was to look at a couple of Magnet's latest innovations, the Sound Bar and the Illusion Sink. The net outcome was a serious case of kitchen lust, an exchange of business cards, promises to get Mrs L in for a chat asap and wandering back out onto Wigmore Street internally debating the merits of the Integra Astral Grey kitchen vs the Leighton Grey. I mean, the former is sleek, handle-free and uncluttered but the latter's probably more suited to a flat in a 1930s block plus it sounds like a 1930s matinee idol.

The Illusion Sink. Now you see it... 

... and now you don't

The Sound Bar is a great piece of kit, a Bluetooth speaker that sits between cabinets - so often a bit of dead space - and means you can play music / radio off your phone. The "Illusion Sink" isn't that magical but it's a clever way of pulling back worktop space: the tap collapses and there's a lid that slides into place to cover the sink. To be honest I'm not sure we'd use either but then I was distracted by lateral opening larders and - be still my beating heart - pan drawers. Hmm. I guess you know you're finally a grown up when pan drawers get you all flustered... 

You may have noticed that there's no photo of either our kitchen or, indeed, the EU gadget mountain that needs storage. There's a reason for that. Give us a few months though and a couple more visits to Magnet and you never know. 

Magnet provides a flexible full circle service that includes a smart design service, a 15 year cabinet guarantee, free home survey and the unique Smart Care service. The Sound Bar system is a system that can not only be incorporated into the Integra Astral Grey kitchen, it can also be fitted with many other Magnet kitchens.

To find out more about Magnet’s range of kitchens or to locate your nearest store, visit www.magnet.co.uk






Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Magnet via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Magnet.