The kitchen shouldn't be austere. It shouldn't just be functional. It shouldn't be the home solely of the microwave and the coffee pot. It should be joyous and beautiful: the heart of a home.

My last flat had a tiny galley kitchen. There wasn't room to swing a cat. But I still painted it Moroccan lapis blue and put stars on the ceiling: it felt like I was cooking beneath a desert sky!

So let's jolly things up a bit. Let's use beautiful things. What's the point of owning stuff if it just lives in a cupboard? If it breaks, it breaks. At least you enjoyed it for a while. And let's face it: it was made to be used.

Every now and then, I'm going to introduce you to some of my favourite kitchen pieces, gadgets, design: stuff that was made to be functional and beautiful.