East Londoners are spoilt for choice when it comes to making the kitchen the most stylish room in the house. Aside from fabulous vintage china and tablecloths to be found on Columbia Road, and contemporary wares at SCP, two stores are particular treats;

Firstly is Labour and Wait on Cheshire Street, just off Brick Lane and nestled in a row of shops that make this a retail destination. Labour and Wait specialises in what the French refer to as ‘utile et beau; simple, well-made and good-looking items that you actually enjoy using.

The shop has a similarly functional look and feel, bare floorboards, walls lined with no-nonsense displays including a selection of Breton tops, navy blue artists’ smocks and Savon de Marseilles soaps that cement the Frenchy feel but it’s the household products that make the store. You can pick up dinky enamel milk pans and pie tins, bistro-style tumblers, balls of string and assorted brushes for scrubbing and sweeping.

There are also a few not-so-essential bits and pieces (I never knew I needed miniature wooden clothes pegs!) Suffice to say it’s virtually impossible to leave empty-handed. If you can’t make it to East London, there is a Labour & Wait ‘stall’ in Dover Street Market.

Not too far away is the exquisite shop at Jasper Morrison.Ring the bell next to this unprepossessing door on Kingsland Road and, once through, follow the pathway to the reach the shop and you’ll see where the phrase ‘small but perfectly formed’ comes from. Morrison has a great eye, selecting only what you really should have to make your kitchen work; simple glass carafes, jugs and pitchers of various materials, colours and sizes, smart crockery, high performance pans and the best knives. It is brilliantly edited and orderly with a calm interior, a paean to Scandinavian design with sweet, chatty staff.

All in all stress-free because the choices have already been made for you, and it’s not too hard on your wallet either!

Labour and Wait at; http://www.labourandwait.co.uk

Dover Street Market at; http://www.doverstreetmarket.com

Shop at Jasper Morrison at; http://www.jaspermorrison.com/Shop