Amanda Litster, (founder of the lifestyle culinary blog, Mrs Bakemixture), is the only client of mine, to date, who has begun a building project, with absolutely no preference for branded kitchen utilities. But this lack of preference was short lived, once the actual build began.
Knowing how customer focused Miele are, I thought it would be fun to ask Amanda five questions about her experience with Miele. Amanda thought it would be fun to answer them...
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| Amanda, baking up a storm... |
Q. LeCorbusier, the Swiss German architect from the Modernist era, talked about the house as a 'machine for living'. With you being a semi professional chef as well as facilitating a very busy household, you may recall this phrase coming up, pretty regularly, whilst we were designing your kitchen. Now that you're living in it, what do you love most about your kitchen?
A. My kitchen is the heartbeat of the house and unlike my old one, the energy flows, seamlessly. I know that this doesn't just happen and I remember, discussing with you, at the design stage, that this was my room and I wanted to get it spot on. One of the key things we did, in the beginning, was write down how I used the old kitchen, along with all the things that irritated me, and we sketched out how I would like to use the space.
As you know, the word 'ergonomics' was never part of my conversational language but it is now! Just yesterday, a friend asked me "how do you keep your kitchen so tidy, I don't even cook like you and mine's a mess?"
"Ergonomics" I replied.
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| Project KENT - kitchen progress shots |
Back onto what I love: emptying the dishwasher, straight into the draws opposite; having my pans near my cooking space, ready to leap into action; a hob that instantly heats up my old fashioned whistle kettle; a pull out bin to scrap the surface mess into.
My piece de resistance: the spice drawer you designed, allowing me to see what I have, without opening cupboards. In fact I have probably gone one stage too far, with the spices, by putting them in alphabetical order, but why not! I could go on, but I think you get the gist - it just works.
Q. I remember you had a list of kitchen appliance companies that you carefully researched before making your decision. You were very serious about choosing the best products for the new kitchen. What was your experience of Miele and how did you come to choose their products?
A. I went into the appliance decision making with a completely open mind. I knew making purchases in the past were made for the wrong reasons; availability, price and look and, I didn't want history to repeat itself. The fact that I replaced my ranges every 4 years showed me that I wasn't getting it right. I noticed at my sister's house, her Miele dishwasher, fridge and vacuum cleaner hadn't changed for years. I asked her about them and she said they are built to last so I added them to my list of companies to check out.
Once I had a short list of companies I spent a few days going up to London to investigate. What immediately struck me about Miele was the breadth and quality of their showroom along with a warm welcome from their staff and the offer of a nice cup of coffee. I had a rough budget and clear idea of what appliances I needed; a range and a fridge. I asked a lot of questions, was given clear answers and shown various options with no hard selling. I made an appointment to come back to the store once I had my short list, and purchased the larder fridge, 3 ring induction hob, American sized oven, hod, steam cooker and warming draw. I couldn't quiet stretch to the dishwasher but it's on my wish list!
To round up on my Miele purchasing experience I booked myself into one of the demonstration sessions which meant that I could increase my warranty years cover but, even better, I had a most enjoyable day having a chance to see the products in action and met a friendly group of customers all loving the experience.
Q. A well designed kitchen appliance should work super efficiently (so you don't have to) whilst at the same time 'give good face'. Which of the Miele products do you enjoy using the most - and why?
A. Hard question! It's a toss up between my steam cooker and the American oven. They really do compliment each other, the steamer is such a clever thing. Obviously, it's super healthy as just a steamer but also, as it's a grill, conventional oven, defroster and re-heater, I use all of these functions, regularly.
The American oven is superb for all my baking and cooking needs, I still get a thrill using the roasting probe, rotisserie and can keep it clean with very little effort using the Pyrolytic setting. The best thing I did was to throw out the microwave, these two are my working horses.
The American oven is superb for all my baking and cooking needs, I still get a thrill using the roasting probe, rotisserie and can keep it clean with very little effort using the Pyrolytic setting. The best thing I did was to throw out the microwave, these two are my working horses.
Q. Whilst I was on BlogTour, Miele treated us to a wonderful evening event where I enjoyed a memorable chat with the effervescent Sherry, who told me that the very first product that Miele ever produced, back in 1901, was the butter churner. Followed shortly, by the washing machine in 1903 - they have very similar mechanisms. What was the first Miele product you ever bought?
A. Until the revamp of the house I didn't own a single Miele appliance but going forward it will be the first place to look. Ask me again in a years time and I should have the dishwasher closely followed by the washing machine.
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| Miele know how to show a girl a good night out... |
Q. Finally, Amanda, have you seen the latest White range by Miele? (Isn't it gorgeous?!) If you got to do it all, again, are there other products from Miele that you would have bought?
I like it! Well, you know my plans for the dishwasher, I'm not joking when I say my current one is driving me up the wall. It seems to have a mind of it's own - maybe it knows the plan so it's rebelling by un-clipping the plate racks and side runners to leave me with a a vast space that I don't know how to put back together! My kitchen has it's own personality, we work as a team and quite frankly this appliance is not in the same league as Miele.
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Thank you so much for your time, Amanda - I think I speak for us both, when I say the Miele experience, has been a truly life enhancing one. Thank you Modenus for coming up with the brilliant concept that is BlogTour; it was such a delight to meet the people behind the brands. Above all, thank you Miele for making such wonderful products; you really do set the standard.
How about you, what kitchen appliances do you swear by? And, if you could buy them in a variety of colours, would you? (I would!)
#BlogTourNYC #BlogTour #MieleUSA
