文章基本信息

标题：The really useful column
作者：ALISON COOK
期刊名称：London Evening Standard
印刷版ISSN：2041-4404
出版年度：2005
卷号：Aug 31, 2005
出版社：Associated Newspaper Ltd.

The really useful column

ALISON COOK

Crisis management

I just love this product - it's practical and also a great present (dare I say stocking filler?). Krisis Kit sells compact packs with items you might need in a crisis. So, its Girl Crisis Kit contains everything you might need for a blister, bad breath, fallen hem, burst button or broken nail, and hot on its heels is the Wedding Krisis Kit and the Techy Krisis Kit.

Costing Pounds 4.99, it's a relatively cheap solution to life's mini crises as well as a fun and unusual gift. Available exclusively at www.krisiskit.com.

Find a home

Looking for a new home? Take a look at property search engine OnOneMap (www.ononemap.com), the UK's first property search engine. Displaying on a map all the properties for sale that it can find in the user's selected location, it provides a summary of home details and then web links to allow the user access to further information on their choice. The service is free and totally independent, letting potential buyers get an instant idea of what is available in their desired location. Visit www.ononemap.com.

Wired for sound

Now you can network two rooms and share an internet connection without any wires or interference thanks to the MicroLink dLAN kit from Maplin.

Perfect for connecting games consoles to the internet and providing an instant broadband extension into any room on any floor, you just need a power socket - no new cables and no drilling required - to access the internet or home network throughout the whole house.

Available at Maplin stores, for Pounds 99.99.

Call 0870 429 6000, or visit www.maplin.co.uk.

Opportunity knocks

Established for 22 years and still going strong, www.snobsknobs.co.uk is the designers' secret source of antique and period door furniture.

While some of the items are sourced from a variety of suppliers, many of them are produced solely for Snobs Knobs from its own source of originals, and range from door knobs for sports enthusiasts to standard brass letterplates. The choice is vast and everything is good quality. Contact Snobs Knobs and Posh Knockers on 0191 281 6474, or visit www.snobsknobs.co.uk.

Sleeping arrangements Finding beds for unexpected guests is always a problem, for which Silentnight has come up with a solution. The Duo Pine Guest Bed is a solid pine single bed with high head and foot ends, and the handy " slideaway guest bed" means you can double up on sleeping space in an instant.

Available from all good retailers nationwide and priced from Pounds 649.

Call 0800 849 2222 or visit www.silentnight.co.uk.

Classic cutlery

If you are desperately seeking good cutlery at sensible prices, take a look at the mail-order selection from Glazebrook Co. Made from topquality stainless steel, this small but elegant range is hand-finished, well balanced and dishwasher safe. A sixperson set in the Rattail range is Pounds 295, including delivery. All patterns are available in either a mirror or matt finish. Call 020 7731 7135, or visit www.glazebrook.com.

Big ideas

I thought I pretty much knew the furniture stores of London, and then Wharfside comes onto my radar. It's been quietly working away in north London since 1962, and sells goodvalue Scandinavian furniture that would blend into most surroundings.

What really caught my eye was its stylish long table. Seating eight people when closed, it can accommodate a whopping 14 for dinner when fully extended, and can be made even longer to seat 22. Available in teak, light oak, cherry, wenge or beech, it costs Pounds 1,390 for the eight-to-14 person version, and Pounds 1,690 if you want to invite both the Arsenal and Chelsea teams for dinner. A trophy table if ever there was one.

Or how about this for a neat spacesaver? The clever petal dining table starts with a compact 120cm diameter top, to seat four or five and then whirls open, with various bits folding out, to become 146cm in diameter - big enough to seat eight at a pinch. It comes in oak, beech, maple, cherry, wenge and rosewood and costs from Pounds 1,070. Wharfside is full of surprises like that. Wharfside, 66 Buttesland Street, N1 (020 7253 3206; www.wharfside.co.uk).

Now you recommend

Here are some of the tradespeople you have recommended this week: . GB Contracts UK Ltd, specialist interior refurbisher covering all of London (07956 854734).

. Creative Urban Tree Surgery, tree surgeons working across the capital (07887 721301).

. Jupiter Heating Systems, underfloor heating specialists covering all of London (01932 . Paul Cockerton, cabinet maker, interior design, project manager, covering most of the capital (07968 797570).

. Ruislip Property Maintenance, painting, tiling, decorating and garden maintenance, north and south-west London (07956 428727).

If you can recommend a tradesperson, email alison@alisoncork.com.

858838).

In the mood for a sea change

OCEAN home furnishings prides itself on combining form, function and fun in its classic and contemporary furniture. For the summer, add fantastic savings, with its seasonal sale seeing the price of many items slashed in half at its London stores. Bargains include a simple occasional table made from a single length of grained oak veneer plywood curved at each end, down from Pounds 195 to Pounds 72.50, a set of six stainless-steel curtain rings reduced to Pounds 7.48 from Pounds 14.95, the Madrid Medium shelf cabinet down from Pounds 295 to Pounds 147.50 and the Lotus kingsize bed, with its gently curving headboard in oak veneer, down from Pounds 395 to Pounds 197.50.