I’m not sure quite what happened when I hit my twenties, but the squishy bit in my brain that determined shopping choices made a serious switch from clothes to furnishings. Every penny that was previously spent on trendy threads began funding my homeware habit – and hosting dinner parties became ‘a thing’. Gone were the days of slinging a pizza in the oven; playing hostess became about lighting 77 tiny candles, cooking three courses, and presenting everything in kitsch bowls, platters and glassware. This only intensified as time went on, with kitchenware being the crème de la crème of my furnishings collection. For my other half (the chef), it was all about the kitchen gizmos, whereas I would get off on colourful salad bowls and swish napkins.
So you can imagine my horror upon arriving in Singapore and realising that the kitchenware store offerings were either too cheap (and flimsy), or too expensive (and blah). I went for two months without buying a single olive dish. Sniff.
Until one glorious day, after meeting new friends in Holland Village, I walked past (doubletook, and then legged it into) Lemonzest. I’m not talking about just any kitchen store here, but the best kitchen store in Singapore. An exciting organized explosion of high-quality, beautifully designed and oh-so-colourful pots, pans, utensils, crockery, baking accessories, table linen, cutlery, glassware, gizmos, gadgets and more! The price tags? Affordable, my friends!
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It’s safe to say that Lemonzest has since become my staple when it comes to weekend browsing – for gifts, parties and office tidbits – and I’m such a frequent visitor that they’ve even placed a dog bowl outside for when my pooch Peggy comes along. I love whipping up desserts in my quirky cake-making moulds, I’m known for forcing all guests into drinking from patterned straws (even men with beer), and my hot pink ice bucket tends to steal the show.
To share my culinary haven, and to give back to delightful owner Beth, who is often left hanging out with Peggy on the pavement (she loves it), I took my camera along to snap my favourite summer party pieces as I shopped for my latest BBQ bash. I can’t reveal how much I ended up taking home from Lemonzest that day, because my other half is likely to disown me if I cram more kitchen furnishings into the cabinet. Click through the picture gallery above to discover my top party buys, and to have a nose at the prices. Happy shopping!