Some easy adds available online can make holiday entertaining easier and healthier.
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You’re probably not going to buy new countertops or floor coverings online to improve the wellness potential of your home, but there are plenty of purchases worth considering this Cyber Monday. Here are eight ideas to enhance the wellness potential of your kitchen, bathrooms and bedrooms — all easily purchased through your favorite websites:
Kitchen Ideas
Portable induction burner increases cooking capacity without off-gassing into your kitchen.
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1. Portable Induction Cooktop
You’ve probably read by now that gas cooktop burners emit toxic gases into your home. Maybe you’re not ready to switch this major appliance, or you’re not sure you’ll enjoy cooking on induction, a high performance alternative. One way to try this technology – and increase your holiday cooking efficiency – is with a portable induction burner. These don’t take a ton of room on your countertop, and can handle an entrée or side dish. They also won’t harm your indoor air quality. If you find yourself enjoying the efficiency and low maintenance of these units, consider replacing your gas cooktop with a built-in induction cooktop in 2023.
2. Countertop Combi-steam Oven
These combined convection-steam ovens come in built-in and countertop models. A countertop version can be another way to cook healthy entrees, sides and desserts when your oven is full. This increases your cooking convenience, and the steam setting means foods cooked with less fat and more nutrient preservation.
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3. Multi-cooker
Look for a model with the cooking modes that help you create healthy meals for yourself, your family and guests. A slow cooker with a keep warm setting is ideal for cooking winter stews and soups while you’re at work. Other modes include sous vide, air fry, dehydrate and pressure cooking.
4. Kitchen Organizers
It’s amazing how much you can improve your kitchen without a remodel. Storage organizers are one DIY-friendly way to achieve improvements. Swing outs in blind corner cabinets make hard to reach corners reachable. Roll-out trays make it easier to see and reach items stored in the back of base or pantry cabinets. Drawer organizers make finding items in your utensil drawers simpler to spot. Pull-downs in wall cabinets make high shelves accessible to someone petit or confined to a wheelchair. Backsplash organizers turn wall space into storage space.
Bedroom & Bathroom Ideas
Organic bedding adds comfort and wellness potential to a bedroom.
M Monroe Design (Interior Design); Photography by Dylan Chandler // Wellness by Design (Tiller Press/September 2020) (c) J. Gold
5. Organic Sheets and Towels
Make holiday hosting a more comfortable experience for yourself and your guests with new, organic sheets and towels. Knowing that they’re not manufactured with pesticide-treated fabrics or manufactured with toxic dyes brings peace of mind and reduces the risk of allergic-type reactions.
6. Towel Warmer
This is both a luxury and a wellness amenity. Wrapping your body in a warm towel after a shower or bath is definitely a comfort feature. But towel warmers can also keep your towels cleaner and fresher than merely hanging them on hooks. For an easy add, consider a model that plugs into a wall outlet, rather than one that has to be hardwired.
7. Handheld Shower-head
The shower-head that came with your home probably doesn’t offer the wellness features available today. The best new models offer hand-held ease, a massage setting and other comfort modes like drenching or light sprays. These tend to be very DIY friendly and can even be temporarily installed in rental units and taken with you when you move. The easiest to use let you change settings with a push button, rather than trying to rotate a head with wet, soap-slicked hands.
8. Bathroom Organizers
Bathrooms often have even more storage challenges than kitchens, especially shared bathrooms. There are organizers that expand their capacity too. Consider u-drawers for vanities with a drawer deficit. Pull-outs can hold hair dryers and curling irons. Back-of-door organizers can hold cleaning supplies. Wall cabinets can hold items you need to keep handy, but can’t fit in the vanity. They can be recessed into a side wall or be installed onto a wall above a toilet. There are also towel holders designed to be installed in shower walls outside of the spray radius. You can also add a shelf of baskets on the wall above the bathroom door for surplus toilet paper, guest towels and other less-frequently needed items.