Air Uno Cooker Hoods at the Show

Following on from Part 1, last week, I’m going to continue telling you about the new cooker hoods I saw at the KBB trade show.  Air Uno supplies cooker hoods under the brand names of Faber and Airone. The model on the left,  in the top picture, is “Moon” in black glass, by Airone, whilst the hoods pictured centre and right are “Drop” and “Pearl”, both by Faber.

I’ve taken some of my pictures from the side, because that’s a view you don’t often get in the brochures and one way of making your cooker hood a very special feature in the kitchen, is to allow plenty of space either side. If you’re going to make a statement, don’t crowd it in too closely on both sides with wall units.

I’ve admired the “Drop” design before and had heard that it was now available in red … but in my imagination I saw a glowing pillar box red … a real statement!  The actual colour is more of a burgundy and looks very classy.

All of the cooker hoods I’ve mentioned so far have been stunning in their own way and you may already be spoilt for choice, but … if you haven’t seen anything you like and want a really special design … the company to go to (or to get your kitchen company to go to) is Westin. They have quite a few novel ideas for cooker hoods themselves … but they will also custom make you a hood, to your own (or your designer’s) specification … you’d only be limited by your imagination!  Westin had a stunning stand at the KBB show with several new concept hoods:

Some cooker hood ideas from Westin

On the left is the Piano Concept hood, in the centre is “Decorata” another wall mounted hood and on the left is the “Mirror” island hood. The mirror finish is a brilliant idea. Instead of being a big prominent feature in the centre of the room, the mirror hood will reflect back the four sides of your kitchen.

Another great idea which is, apparently, becoming more popular … is to fit a powerful extractor in the ceiling, to keep the air in the room fresh. It’s less efficient than a standard cooker hood at removing cooking smells but good at keeping the room as a whole fresh and it doesn’t demand centre stage in your kitchen …  it keeps your “statement” a bit more subtle. Standard sizes are available (designed to fit between your ceiling  joists) but again, the design can be bespoke. Have a look at the two below, from the show. I love the one on the right called “Cloud”:

Westin Ceiling Hoods

Of course, many of the cooker hoods mentioned so far, are likely to stretch the budget a bit. Well worth it, if you can afford it but, if your budget is already at breaking point, then there are a couple of other brands to consider.

CDA make good value cooker hoods, with reasonable performance. They were showing their new “Lantern” suspended hood at the show. Another make to consider is Luxair. Their stand looked very blue:

Luxair cooker hoods

The island cooker hoods, left and centre, look very stylish and the glass surrounds make them reasonably unobtrusive in the centre of the kitchen. The round hood (left) comes in chrome or black finish, whereas the oval hood is stainless steel and frosted glass.

The curved glass wall hoods (on the right in the picture) look fairly tame, in comparison with some of the other hoods I’ve been talking about, but they have two features of note. You can get matching glass splashbacks in blue, silver or white … which would certainly make a smart show behind your hob …  and they have a new hood colour, a brilliant pillar box red (which I think will soon be available in the splashbacks too). So, I could have my bright red cooker hood after all … if I was brave enough.

Tags: kitchen design, Kitchen Equipment, Kitchen Gadgets and Appliances, Kitchen Planning & Installation, new kitchen