Consider which accessories might be beneficial. Many models can be supplied with a draining basket, chopping board and strainer bowls. A drainer extension can be useful for sinks without a drainer where worktop space is limited in a small kitchen.

When shopping for a new washer, look for a front loading (horizontal-axis) machine. This machine may cost more to buy but uses about a third of the energy and less water than a top-loading machine. With a front loader, you'll also save more on clothes drying, because they remove more water from your clothes during the spin cycle. Look for the Energy Star label.

Few summer pleasures are as much fun as a cookout. The smell of grilling food is mouth-watering, everything tastes great and it's hard not to have a good time - that is, unless you're the harried host running back and forth between the grill and the kitchen for the chicken and steak, forks and knives, beer and wine, and ketchup and mustard. And when everybody's done, all the leftovers must be lugged back inside.