Here are some more tips to make cooking an even more enjoyable experience.

Many of us spend most of our home decoration budget on our living rooms, and we totally neglect our kitchens. Of course if you have a perfectly great cook and never ever enter the kitchen except maybe to grab a quick glass of water once in a while, you may not see the need to spend your hard earned money on doing up a room so out of your view. But on the other hand if you spend a large portion of your time in the kitchen, consider decorating it.

When Lalitha moved into her new home, the first thing she decorated with her available funds, was the kitchen. Then, gradually, over the years, she did up the rest of the house. "I spend a lot of time in the kitchen, and so I decided to first do everything in my power to make cooking less of a chore for me," says Lalitha.

Paint

Paint your kitchen a bright, cheery colour. Lalitha painted her kitchen yellow, her favourite colour.

Pictures

Decorate your kitchen with pictures and paintings. You don't need to hang masterpieces in your kitchen, just simple, small paintings of fruits and vegetables will do. Lalitha purchased tiles which had pictures of tomatoes, apples, mangoes, chillies etc, and interspersed these tiles with plain tiles.

Tiles

Tiles are another great way by which you can brighten up your kitchen. You don't need fancy, decorative tiles. Simple, non-pattered tiles, in bright colours, can work as well. You don't need to tile all the walls, just a small portion between the top and bottom row of shelves will do.

Gadgets

Slowly, over the years, buy all the gadgets you can to make your work in the kitchen easier. These days there are so all-in-one's available, that will whip your eggs, chop your vegetables, and juice your fruits. Purchase one of them, and make the most use of your investment.

Kids

So also, cooking can be a great way of getting your children involved. Let your child pick a dish once in a while, and then let him or her help with the preparation. Make sure you read the recipe at least 24 hours in advance, because some things may need to be soaked overnight, or some ingredients may be missing.

Give your children responsibilities - not commands. Instead of saying, "Run to the store and get me a bottle of Mayonnaise now," say, "Do you want to eat Russian salad tomorrow? You do? Good. I need Mayonnaise for that, so please get me a bottle. You can go now, or if you want to go later, make sure you have it by 6:30 tomorrow, okay? Will you go now? No? Ok fine then will you go later? Ok, great. Are you sure you will remember or do I have to remind you?"

Once your child has been given a responsibility and adequate notice, he is more likely to be willing to do it. Even if he does forget, he will be willing to run out immediately when you remind him at 6:00!