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It’s good to invest in your kitchen, say TV hosts The Cousins

SINGAPORE — Peeling counter tops. Cabinet doors falling off. Chipped tiles. Appliances that don’t work. These are just some of the appalling things that John Colaneri and his cousin Anthony Carrino (aka The Cousins) have to face as hosts of America’s Most Desperate Kitchens. The pair were recently in town to promote the series, which starts tonight on HGTV.

Hosts of America's Most Desperate Kitchens, John Colaneri (left) and Anthony Carrino. Photo: HGTV/Scripps Networks Interactive

Hosts of America's Most Desperate Kitchens, John Colaneri (left) and Anthony Carrino. Photo: HGTV/Scripps Networks Interactive

SINGAPORE — Peeling counter tops. Cabinet doors falling off. Chipped tiles. Appliances that don’t work. These are just some of the appalling things that John Colaneri and his cousin Anthony Carrino (aka The Cousins) have to face as hosts of America’s Most Desperate Kitchens. The pair were recently in town to promote the series, which starts tonight on HGTV.

As with other makeover series, America’s Most Desperate Kitchens sees The Cousins working with home owners to come up with a solution for their kitchen of horrors. According to Carrino, “pretty much every kitchen is an absolute disaster (and) each kitchen we find is worse than the one before it”.

The biggest challenge, said Colaneri, is having to fix it in three days. For the cousins, the fact that such kitchens exist is a pity: They say that more focus should be given when designing the kitchen and that it shouldn’t just be an afterthought.

“The kitchen is the centre of the home and the most expensive room, (but it) winds up being the most complicated room in the house to renovate, which is why a lot of people don’t take it upon themselves and leave it as the last room in the house to renovate,” said Carrino.

These days, said Colaneri, people also don’t want the kitchen to look like a kitchen. “They want it to be designed properly, along with the rest of the house, and be high-design,” he said.

As for kitchens in Singapore, the pair had a couple of tips for home owners. “We know that people fry a lot at home here,” said Carrino. “That will cause a lot of smells and splattering, so from a function standpoint, one thing would be to minimise the amount of grout joints on your back splash. If you can use a solid slab of stone, glass or stainless steel, it’s going to be really easy to wipe down and make life a lot easier.

“The other thing would be to spend money on a good ventilation system to get all the grease and smoke out,” he continued. “I know you live in apartments ... but if you can vent to the outside, that’s going to alleviate smells and smoke better than a recirculation fan.”

But do Colaneri and Carrino see a time when they don’t have to resuscitate a run-down kitchen? “That’s a good one,” the pair said, laughing.

Added Carrino: “There is no shortage of desperate kitchens — and we’re not talking about America, we mean all over the world. When we’re done with America, we’re coming back here (to Asia).” Christopher Toh

America’s Most Desperate Kitchen airs tonight at 9pm on HGTV (Starhub Channel 437).

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