Finally! Ninja just dropped two new colour ways of its sell-out coffee machine – and they’re selling fast

by Furnishly | Sep 12, 2025 | Design Inspiration

Ninja‘s sell-out coffee machine, the Luxe Café, has a new look, with two new colour-ways now available. All available for £549.99 via the Ninja website, the espresso machine is now available in Navy and Black, to go alongside the original stainless steel Silver.

I awarded the Luxe Café five stars last year in my review and think it’s one of the best bean-to-cup coffee machines out there. It’s even suitable for total newbies to at-home coffee machines, with features that make extracting a quality coffee so easy.

For over a year now, you’ve only been able to buy this machine with the stainless steel Silver finish, which I’ve learnt is quite the finger-print magnet. Now, there are two new colours to choose from – here’s how they compare.

Ninja’s expansion into the world of colour has already proved a huge hit this year, just look at the very popular new Slushi and air fryer colours for starters, so it’s no surprise they’ve applied the same treatment to this fan-favourite coffee machine.

While it’s just Navy and Black on the table for now, I’d expect there’s more colours in the pipeline if you’re holding out for a particular shade to match your current kitchen colour scheme.

While the Navy offering only has colour applied to the body of the machine, the all-black machine also has a matte, matching milk jug which I’m betting is a lot easier to keep clean than the stainless steel version that I own.

Tastefully coloured coffee machines are actually more common than you might think if you’re on the market for a home café set-up that will complement your decor. I think the most stylish automatic machine out there is the De’Longhi Rivelia which is available in a stunning Jade Green colour via the De’Longhi wbesite (£749.99) while Sage’s colour range for the Barista Express Impress is quite extensive – my favourite is the Almond Nougat (£729.95).

Investing in a coffee machine that’s this expensive is a huge decision, but added colour options should at least make matching it to your interiors a little easier. Do you prefer these new colours over the original?

Lavazza just launched its first-ever at-home bean-to-cup coffee machine, but don’t worry, it’s still as easy to use as its pod machines

by Furnishly | Sep 10, 2025 | Design Inspiration

The Italian coffee brand Lavazza has launched a brand new bean-to-cup machine: the Assoluta, which will set you back £699.95 via the Lavazza website.

If you’re a fan of Lavazza coffee, then this machine has features to get the most out of the beans that you buy from the brand, including an app to help you fine-tune the grind settings.

While Lavazza already has plenty of bestselling coffee machines on its roster, this is the first product it’s launched in the best bean-to-cup coffee machine category, which explains the vastly increased RRP. Here’s how it might be able to upgrade your morning coffee at home.

Machines from Lavazza that we’ve previously tested here at Ideal Home have put user-friendly features at the forefront of their designs. One example is the Lavazza Desea (as per our review), which is an exceedingly popular pod machine that features an integrated milk frother, providing people with an affordable one-touch latte at home.

Ease of use is clearly a priority with the Assoluta, too. The headline feature is the ‘Perfect Bean Match Technology’ which is a program that can be accessed via the Lavazza app to help users match their coffee beans with the ideal grind settings on their new coffee machine. The kicker is you can only use this feature with Lavazza beans, which ties you into buying those particular beans if you want the added tech hand-holding.

The touch control panel on this automatic machine appears straightforward with eight presets to choose from: Espresso, Lungo, Lungo XL, Free Dose, Cappucino, Cappucino XL, Latte Macchiato and Frothed Milk.

So rather than grinding and tamping your shot of espresso as you do with something like the Ninja Luxe Cafe, this machine is a lot more hands-off. Perfect for those who want to roll out of bed and press one button while still enjoying the freshness of coffee beans, but less ideal for those who really want to get into the specifics of a manual bean-to-cup machine.

This machine might suit you if you currently spend more than you’d like on takeaway lattes or cappuccinos, with an automatic milk frother which Lavazza says ‘creates sumptuous foam with ease’, so that you can recreate your favourite frothy drinks at home.

If you’re a fan of your current Lavazza pod coffee machine and want to upgrade to a bean-to-cup version, or if you’re simply in the market for something easy to use, this machine is certainly going all out to market itself as simple to master.

Can you see the appeal of investing in a luxury machine like this for your kitchen?

Smeg’s new Mini Milk Frother is the cheapest way to get the brand’s look in your home – it’s a perfect fit for small kitchens

by Furnishly | Aug 6, 2025 | Design Inspiration

Italian appliance brand Smeg has unvelied a new ‘mini’ milk frother, designed to bring its much-coveted look and emphasis on quality into your kitchen for less.

Designed to pair perfectly with one of the best coffee machines, this new compact offering is significantly cheaper, at £99.95 from Smeg, than the brand’s original Multi Milk Frother (£179.99 from Smeg).

So what can this small but stylish milk frother do? I tried it to find out.

This milk frother has the standard functions you’d expect. It can produce hot milk, hot milk foam and cold milk foam only. Unlike smarter milk frothers, like my favourite Dreo All-in-One Milk Frother, it doesn’t have modes for plant milk or for specific drink types.

Instead, it has a sleek design that fits right in with the rest of the retro pastel Smeg kitchen items – from the brand’s timeless kettle and toaster range to the newer oven air fryer (which we reviewed last year).

I think its biggest draw alongside the look of it is its compact size. Milk frothers are usually either unsightly or oversized – this 20cm high product is neither. Instead there’s just one button, which you use to cycle through the modes, plus the simple Smeg lettering on the outside.

Within the frother, you’ll find a removable whisk attachment (which I think is much better than a built-in one for cleaning) which clicks into place magnetically.

I used the frother to make a milky coffee and you might be unsurprised to hear it works exactly as intended, producing a nice foam that I poured on top of my espresso.

It’s one size fits all when it comes to the exact level of froth this product produces – you couldn’t produce the extra foam needed for a cappucino, say. Still, if you just want a standard coffee with foamed milk, it works just fine.

In terms of spending, if you’ve wanted to add the Smeg look into your kitchen for a long time, this new launch is now the cheapest place to start, with the brand’s personal blender being the second most affordable option at £109.95 via Smeg.

And with such a vast colour range of pastels to choose from, it’s got to be one of the prettiest milk frothers, if not the prettiest, of its kind of the market at the minute. Can you see yourself being persuaded to give it a go?

I’ve been debating buying a frank green iced coffee cup for weeks – I’ve just saved myself £25 by picking up this gorgeous alternative instead

by Furnishly | Jul 11, 2025 | Design Inspiration

I’ve been on the hunt to find the perfect iced coffee cup this summer, because there’s no way you’ll catch me having my morning latte hot in this heat. In this search, I’ve pinned down a couple of personal non negotiable criteria.

The first is my pick of the best coffee machines on hand to make the coffee (obviously), but the second is a cup that’s insulated properly, so that I don’t end with a watery mess. A straw is also a feature I’m looking for, so I can sip along as I sit at my desk.

That’s why this bottlebottle iced coffee cup (currently on sale on Amazon for £7.59 down from £9.99) is ticking all of my boxes. Plus, it’s a dead ringer for a frank green cup (£34.99 on Amazon) that I’ve been hovering over clicking ‘checkout’ on for weeks now. Here’s how the two measure up.

You can pick up the bottle bottle cup in two different sizes: 500 and 800ml, while the frank green version is smaller at 425ml. Both feature metal straws, which you can use time and time again, but the Amazon alternative here can also be used as a water bottle thanks to its size.

One of the iced coffee mistakes I’ve been trying to avoid is investing in cups without dual-wall insulation. As much as I love my on-trend pistachio cooler from Nespresso, the plastic does sweat a fair bit in the heat.

Both of these cups have double walls, so the iced cubes inside won’t be melting in a hurry. The frank green version is also ceramic lined, which should help with heat distribution too.

I haven’t made any Amazon Prime Day purchases yet, but this coffee cup is the thing I’m going to invest in before deals end at midnight. Given how many iced coffees I’m getting through a day in this heatwave, it seems like an investment that will quickly pay for itself. Are you looking to shop any deals to improve your coffee set-up?