When designing, remodeling or updating your kitchen, many homeowners are focused on important decisions like deciding between granite and quartz countertops and choosing paint colors. A home safety plan is often times an afterthought. We’re sharing some great ideas on how to be ready for an emergency in your kitchen–with style.

I realized that we didn’t have a set safety plan when we had a “situation” in the kitchen recently. I had a fire extinguisher—but where was it? Under the sink? Or did I store it in the pantry? Or was it the hall closet?

Thankfully, we didn’t have to resort to using it, but it got me thinking. How many of us have a plan of action in the event of an emergency in our home? Simply owning a fire extinguisher is not a plan! It was this experience, along with my latest online shopping discoveries that have inspired this week’s blog, Kitchen 911: Home Safety With STYLE.

Having a fire extinguisher on-hand in the kitchen (and knowing where it is) is a must. So why wasn’t mine available? Because I tucked it away in a drawer, rarely to be seen and eventually forgotten. Fire extinguishers are big, red, eyesores! They are a blemish on the wall distracting from the beauty of your space. Until now!

Designed to be on display (and NOT forgotten in a drawer), these fun fire extinguishers by Fire Design are super cute and come in a rainbow of colors and styles. From Hello Kitty and The Rolling Stones to travel, food and pop culture themes, you are sure to find one that fits your style. Did I mention they make great gifts?

Solid colors and metallic finishes are available, too! My favorite find is their fun take on a wine bottle, complete with wooden wine box. How cool is that!?

If you have an oven hood, Stovetop Firestop is a lifesaving kitchen accessory. Two canisters are all you need to protect your four burner stove from grease and other cooking fires.

When the flames from a cooking fire make contact with the exposed fuse on the underside of the canister, the fire is extinguished in the blink of an eye. At less than $25.00 each, this little can that’s hidden from sight under your range hood is an inexpensive kitchen MUST. See the Stovetop Firestop in action below in the 15 second video:

<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/6amohZZaYTo” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>   from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6amohZZaYTo

One kitchen accessory that is as awesome as it sounds is Cut Resistant Gloves. I’m not exactly graceful when I’m moving about the kitchen; I wouldn’t say I am a total klutz, either, but it seems that every time I grate cheese I inevitably grate a fingertip. Ouch! With varying levels of cut resistance, and with prices ranging from under $5 to over $150, everyone’s kitchen can be a safe place to grate, cut, and slice. BedsandHomes.com shared a very informative blog with reviews and ratings that will help you find the best cut resistant gloves to meet your needs and budget. Click on the pick below or click here to read it:

Another must-have kitchen safety accessory is oven mitts. Here is where style and preference go hand-in-hand with kitchen safety. I used to have the cutest pair of oven mitts. They looked great in my kitchen; they even matched my dish towels! But every time I used them it was a mad dash to pull the hot dish from the oven and heave it onto the counter before the heat traveled through. For years I would don those cute potholders and use the matching dish towels as extra padding when handling hot, heavy dishes because my super-cute oven mitts were not super heat resistant.

When I found these silicone oven gloves, I knew I hit the must-have kitchen accessory jackpot. These pinch pot holders are the perfect replacement for those old oven mitts. Not only do they take up much less space in the drawer, they work great and come in a variety of styles from plain to fun animal shapes like these cute black kitties!

Another reason silicone mitts are great for kitchen safety is they are easily washable. My design team weighed in on this one: when you’re in the heat of the moment in the kitchen with four burners going, shoving your freshly washed and still wet hand (or a hand that should have been freshly washed) into your oven mitt is more common than I realized. When was the last time you washed your oven mitt? Save yourself from cross-contamination and all of the other goodies lurking in and on your oven mitt and get yourself a set of these babies. I found these silicone pinch mitts on Amazon for less than ten bucks!

Since I’m on the subject of Silicone, check out these awesome trivets! Hear me out: I love a traditionally set table. Silicone is not what comes to mind when I envision a traditional family dinner. I have some beautiful wrought iron trivets that have been in my family for ages, and I love to use them, but these silicone pot plates are so practical for everyday life. They also work great as an easy-clean place mat for babies and little kids. Non-slip! No more plates and bowls whooshing off the table with the flick of a small wrist, no more spilled milk getting past the mat! For under $3 each, how can you not?!

Now that you and your kitchen are safe from fires, cuts, and burns (and spilled milk), there is one last absolute must-have kitchen accessory. It’s a simple $40.00 purchase that has saved countless lives. The Nighthawk Plug-In CO and Explosive Gas Alarm will make a great addition to any kitchen. The digital display shows the level of carbon monoxide the unit is sensing as well as any natural gases detected (natural gas and propane).

While you’re in your kitchen imagining how it would look with all of these super cool kitchen safety accessories I’ve shown you today, envision what your kitchen would look like if my Design Team and I were to change a few things? Here’s a sneak peek at my latest kitchen transformation. This could be your kitchen! Think about it. And see more pictures from this project here:

Don’t miss out on the exciting new interior design projects and before and after transformations from Design Connection—Sign up for our newsletter here!