So when I saw these former luggage racks from decommissioned 1960s Metropolitan line tube trains that have been made into shelves by the London Transport Museum, I had to share them with you.

Limited edition shelving from LTM

The racks have been cleaned and customised so you can have a little bit of London history in your kitchen. Plus, as they’re made from light but strong aluminium, and used to carrying heavy briefcases, bags and suitcases, they’re perfect for storing pans, jars and bottles.

These shelves are the ideal addition to a teapoint

The shelves will be available from the beginning of February on the London Transport Museum website.

Prices start at £150 for the small rack measuring 45 x 26 x 32cm and £250 for the largest measuring 101 x 23.5 x 33.5cm.

Find more ideas for smart storage in every issue of Beautiful Kitchens as well as on our Facebook and Twitter feeds.

Rachel

Our favourite design from the new Turtle Mat collection

The non slip mat has a super absorbent pile, so it’s perfect by the back door to trap dirt before it’s trampled all over your kitchen floor, or by the hob or sink to catch spills and splashes.

Best of all, the mat can be thrown in with your weekly wash, as it’s machine washable at 40 degrees and can be tumble dried. The new mats are available from March.

Sally

Well, it has come to my attention that my beloved has been hoovering the areas (when nagged) rather than sweeping and cleaning, which has resulted in many scratch marks, scrapes and dents. Not ideal.

With that in mind, I’m loving the idea of a Floor Polisher from Hoover. Specially designed for wood flooring, this lightweight chrome appliance does everything you need, without you having to spend hours on your hands and knees. It vacuums, polishes and you can even apply a conditioning wax. Genius!

You can use it on a range of hard floors, from clay, marble and granite tiles to PVC flooring – ideal for the looming spring clean. From £179.99, available at Hoover, Amazon, Currys and Co-Op.

See more on kitchen flooring by visiting Housetohome

Laurie

Generally, that means sandwich toasters, juicers, breadmakers and the like get stuck at the back of cupboards, whereas toasters, kettles and dinky coffee machines get to stay on view.

One appliance that I think will earn its place is the new Kitchen Machine from Tefal. Not only is it a stylish stand mixer, it also has some of the grating, shredding and slicing functions of a food processor. It even has a 1.5-litre blender attachment!

Tefal's multi-tasking Kitchen Machine, approx £199

As a stand mixer, it boasts a four-litre stainless-steel bowl with handles and a splash guard, dough hook, beater that reaches to the bottom of the bowl for even mixing and a whisk, as well as a quiet 900w motor.

Perfect if you’ve caught the baking bug, it also comes with a recipe book.

Rachel

The new built-in SFP378X Pyrolitic Self Cleaning Oven

All your mum has to do, is remove the shelving, select the Pyrolitic Cleaning programme and the oven will heat up to 500°C, at which point stubborn food residues will start to burn off.

The door locks automatically at 300°C and cannot be opened again until the oven is sufficiently cool. So your mum will have plenty of time to make you a nice cup of tea.

Then she just has to use a damp cloth to wipe up the small amount of powdery ash on the oven floor, replace the shelves and once again she’ll have a sparkling clean oven.

She’ll thank you in the long run.

Sally

The watertight, pre-cast cylindrical system can be sunk into your existing kitchen floor and can keep up to 1,900 bottles in perfect storage conditions. It relies on the surrounding earth for its insulation, plus a clever air-flow system, so it doesn’t require any power to maintain its constant temperature.

Original Spiral Cellar with rectangular glass door

Original Spiral Cellar with recessed trap door

A bird's eye view: You'll easily find the bottle you're looking for

So perhaps I won’t drink that bottle of red. In fact, I’ll start my wine collection right now, then one day I might need a Spiral Wine Cellar of my own.

Sally

Over on our corner of the House to Home website (find us at housetohome.co.uk/beautifulkitchens), we’ve recently been asking what style of kitchen you like the most on our poll. And here are the results… drumroll please!

In first place, with more than a third of the vote, was modern cabinetry (34%) with most of you opting for perennial favouritre, white, over coloured units.

Saraya White kitchen by Caple

Not far behind was painted Shaker-style furniture with 27% of you picking it as your dream scheme.

Classic Shaker kitchen

Finally, wooden kitchens remain a favourite, with 16% leaning towards country-style cabinets and 12% opting for modern timber.

Lush lighting makes this Chiselwood kitchen

Last but not least, it seems that some of you, 11%, are still mixing and matching your cabinetry for a personalised look.

Love this? Share your thoughts on our new poll – how much you plan to spend on a new kitchen – now! Just scroll down the page to find it.

Rachel

Brew the perfect cuppa in the Pig teapot.

Gloucester Old Spot Pig Teapot

Eat your toast off this moo-vellous plate!

Classic Dairy Cow Plate

And when one egg is just not enough.

Double Cockerel Egg Cup

There are 15 farmyard designs to choose from, all made from dishwasher and microwave proof bone china. So now there’s no excuses not to tuck in.

Sally

The paints have hardly any odour and are ideal if you want to give your kitchen a fresh new look.

A selection of colours in the Eicó Zero VOC paint range

So what colour will you choose for your kitchen? Dare you go for the intriguingly named Gypsy’s Luck (purple), Moscow (red) or Jelly (bright green).

There are 168 co-ordinated colours in the Eicó Zero VOC range

Sally

There’s china and bedlinen to match this vibrant blue wallpaper.

Pip Studio Birds in Paradise Blue wallpaper

This striking yellow wallpaper will certainly stand out.

Pip Studio Flowers in the mix yellow wallpaper

As well as their colourful range of vintage floral and bird design wallpapers, Pip Studio also do a range of equally eye-catching vintage style crockery, so at least you can brighten up your breakfast table.

Pip Studio Chinese Rose Mug

Pip Studio Rose Bowl

Too bold? Too bright? Tell us what you think.

Sally