Visiting delights

How to make guest bedrooms pop

By Michaela Pointon

Whether you want to experiment with a pop of colour or a decorative feature wall, the guest bedroom is where you can create the room of your imagination.

A guest bedroom can be a common storage room, or feel unused at times. Taking risks in the guest bedroom and using the space to your advantage, is something every homeowner should take into consideration.

Interior designer, Debbie Abercrombie, owns her selftitled design company Debbie Abercrombie Interiors.

She says simply changing out the cushions for fun colours in a space is one way to elevate a guest bedroom. “There are many beautiful cushions available in all different colours and patterns. Plus, they are easy to change out if needed.” Debbie says the focus in a room is the bed, especially in the guest bedroom. “Cushions can help to anchor the bed and draw eyes to the centre of the room.”

Placing furniture in the eyeline before entering the room creates curiosity and is ‘magnet’ like, Debbie says. “Depending on where the bed is situated, you can sometimes visually see a chair, or piece of furniture before you walk into the room. This creates an inviting lead to walk into the space.” She says in her own bedroom, she has a chair which she’s named her ‘lippy chair’. “It’s a comfortable place to put my shoes on before walking out the door.” This chair sits at one end of the bed to balance the room. Between cushions and colour from the chair, it helps create a story inside the room.

You want your guest to feel luxurious and comfortable in your guest room without being surrounded by clutter. Utilising space with a set of drawers means you can store away extra things from around the house.

Depending on the length of time your guest is staying, they probably won’t need much room to unpack their belongings. A drawer inside a chest of drawers, or one side to the wardrobe for hanging space is perfectly fine. “Inside the guest room it’s also nice to have a footstool, or a surface, where you can put a bag on. I’ve often had some form of shelf dedicated for a suitcase or travel bag,” she says. When considering what type of decor or theme you should create in the guestroom, Debbie says wallpapers, bed heads and beautiful high-quality linen can create a relaxing space for your guests. “Normally, when we do our guest rooms, we are drawn to non-generic, less emotion and personality in this space.” Creating an exciting guest room however, allows you to experiment. “You probably will be drawn to colours and textures you enjoy because it is your home. “If you don’t want to use strong patterns and colours in the guest room, different textures through the room such as multiple layered fabrics can create a journey for the guest for them to walk into.” You can find out more about Debbie Abercrombie Interiors here: debbieabercrombie.co.nz.

Kitchen kit

Tools to suit any chef

By Natasha Parrant

Here are tools for the modern kitchen that will elevate people’s chef skills, simply, yet efficiently.

The top New Zealand culinary masters have revealed their kitchen tools and which tools are the best to use when cooking at home in a new cookbook - Lodge Cast Iron New Zealand’s favourite recipes book. Tools include a Lodge cast iron. According to Lodge Cast Iron New Zealand, Lodge Cast Iron has been making prime cookware and accessories since it was established in Tennessee, the US, in 1896, which has also been very popular in New Zealand. The cookbook was written by Kiwis for Kiwis. It features the country’s most notable chefs and home cooks to show all the awesome recipes people can cook easily in their homes using the product. A featured New Zealand chef, Sam Mannering, thinks people need only a few tools and the more adaptable it is, the better, so people can get a lot of use out of the product when they’re cooking. Another featured New Zealand chef and Cazador and Cazador delicatessen co-restaurateur, Dariush Lolaiy, also believes people only need a few kitchen tools to master their chef skills and create a wonderful dish.

“I don’t think a whole lot of cooking tools are necessary. If you’ve got good quality basics - a cast iron pan, a quality chef’s knife, and the digital probe thermometer, that’s pretty much all you need to master a good meal. Sometimes less is more if you’re using things properly.” A modern kitchen tool Dariush recommends people use at home is a digital probe thermometer because it helps people cook meat to their liking, so they can “nail it every time”. He says, “While actually a classic kitchen tool, a cast iron 30cm skillet is a must for any modern kitchen. It’s versatile for every heat source and can be used for intense cooking at high temperatures, or for low gentle cookery - in either context, the heat is always even. “I use my grandmother’s cast iron that was passed down to my mother who then passed it on to me and it’s still good as new, so that’s a sign of durability and reliability.” confident in the kitchen because it’s simple to use and makes cooking feel like it can’t go wrong. A cast iron works for hot and fast cooking and can work well with cooking slow dishes that people can leave in the oven for a while, “so it’s hard to really stuff it up!” A tip Dariush recommends people do to make a great dish simple yet efficient is to cook a slowcooked dish.

“Something that you can prep in the morning like a braised lamb shank dish. Brown everything off and put all your ingredients in the cast iron and leave it in a low oven while you concentrate on other things. It’s a fail-proof and delicious dish.”

The Lodge Favourite Recipes cookbook is available for free with Lodge Cast Iron that can be bought pre-seasoned at www. lodgecastiron.co.nz, and at participating stores during September and October this year. Why not give these tools in the kitchen a go? And remember less is better if it’s done right.

Lodge Cast Iron Skillet 30cm, RRP$129.99. Photo supplied by Lodge Cast Iron.

I use my grandmother’s cast iron that was passed down to my mother who then passed it on to me and it’s still good as new, so that’s a sign of durability and reliability.

Digital probe thermometers can be bought at most decent homeware stores, he says. “Look for an instant-read variety with a fine tip.” He also believes these kitchen tools help people feel more

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