Is your brand a market leader? Does it represent world-class innovation, design and quality? If so, discover the Real Home Awards 2022.
Earlier in the year, we invited companies to enter their products in our Product Awards. We test a lot of products for the home, so we wanted to hear about the latest innovations and firm family favourites. The purpose? To choose winners in a number of categories showing how much a good purchase can change the day-to-day lives of our readers.
Well, after sifting through hundreds of entries, and judging them against a number of merits including design, sustainability, and value for money, we have chosen our winners.
The judging
We marked these products out of 10 to the following criteria:
- Value for money
- Design and aesthetics
- Ease of use
- Sustainability
- Technical spec
- Maintenance and aftercare
We then added up the scores, making adjustments where we had done full product reviews on our site and came to final scores. The highest scoring products won in their category. If we felt a brand was a better fit in another category, we moved them accordingly.
The judges:
What Annie doesn't know about buying products for your home, isn't worth knowing. As well as testing a wide range of appliances, barbecues and bedding for our site, Annie is our fragrance expert and a real pro at spotting well-made and sustainable home decor.
With a decade of experience in homes journalism, Lindsey has covered everything from caulking skirting boards to choosing a lawnmower. She has reviewed appliances, garden tools and more, but has also remodelled her kitchen, renovated her bathroom, converted her loft and installed central heating in her home – so her product knowledge extends beyond high street buys.
Real Homes Product Awards 2022 Winners
There were 15 categories in our awards to represent the things that really matter to our readers. From kitchen must-haves that make food prep and cooking fun, to the DIYer's best friend for all things home makeover, we have selected winners for each category and also highly commended entries, too.
See who the winners of each category were below.
Kitchen must-have
Overall winner: Haier Cube 90 Series 7 fridge freezer
This four-door fridge freezer is the perfect design for a family. It not only has humidity control tech to keep your groceries fresh for two times longer, but also has a zone that can be switched from fridge to freezer, as needed, to adapt to your food storage needs. It looks pretty flash too, with anti fingerprint finish and digital touch display controls on the outside. We love all the flexible space inside – especially the six-bottle wine rack.
Highly commended: Franke All-In Food Prep Station
Whether you love or hate cooking, food prep can be messy. This food prep station is a great way to turn your sink into a multifunctional space for washing veg, chopping, sorting compostable bits and storing ingredients. The parts are durable and made from a combo of bamboo, recyclable polymers, stainless steel and heat-resistant silicone. So it ticks our boxes of being sustainable and reducing our need for loads of different boards and accessories.
Bathroom goals
Overall winner: Elisa Emilie Customisable Mixer Shower
Made in Britain and built with solid brass to last, this scores highly from the point of view of air miles and longevity for sustainability. It looks great and easy to use too, satisyfing all we look for in a bathroom product.
Highly commended: Duravit D-Neo range
This stylish range will work in so many spaces and we were impressed by Duravit's lifetime warranty. This timeless range is therefore durable in more than looks.
Dreamy bedrooms
Overall winner: Dreamland Snowed in Organic Cotton Mattress Cover
We are all looking for energy-saving buys this year and unlike the alternative – an electric blanket – this heated mattress cover can be used year-round with material properties to aid cooling in summer. It is organic cotton and will cost as little as 1p a night to run.
Highly commended: Dusk Portofino range
If you want the luxury look without the price tag, Dusk is the place to go. This set washes so well and works in pretty much any bedroom design, making it a great core set.
Small space hero
Overall winner: Wren Kitchens Shaker Chelsea
If your budget and space are small, you can still have a beautiful and functional kitchen as this range from Wren shows. There is a wide range of unit types to choose from so if you think you don't have room for a mini bar, island or all the drawers you could ever need, think again. The range offers slimline worktops should you prefer to enhance the space, and comes in loads of timeless colours.
Highly commended: RAK Ceramics RAK Petit
Small spaces deserve to be stylish too and the Italian designed RAK Petit range would be a striking addition to even the teeniest bathroom. Thought has also been put into maintenance with clean lines that create a fuss-free look for easy aftercare.
Smarter living
Overall winner: Franke AQ Sense Monitor Cooker Hood
Launched this year, this innovative product combines the need for extraction with some smart tech for making it easier to stay connected in the kitchen. Watch recipe videos or simply put on your fave hits to cook to. Video aside, it also constantly monitors air quality, turning itself on to rid the room of VOCs, humidity and more to restore fresh air.
Highly commended: Wiser Smart Heating
With complete control and visibility of the temperature in every room, the Wiser Smart Heating system is a great way to make the most of your underfloor heating and electrical heating devices. Compatible with IFTTT and voice operated on Alexa or Google Assistant, you can have as much control, or as little involvement with you heating as preferred. It can easily be added to your heating system by a qualified heating engineer, too.
Highly commended: Wunda Home Heating system
We all need to be smarter with our energy usage and Wunda has created this award winning underfloor heating combined with smart zoning technologies to keep your bills low, but your house warm. Not just that, the sensors and thermostats do more than control heating – they can measure humidity too, to offer better air quality overall and prevent mould.
Eco brand of the year
Overall winner: Simba Sleep
From material provenance to deliveries, Simba Sleep is well aware of their impact on the environment. They aim to be NetZero by 2030, offer carbon neutral deliveries (and are made in the UK limiting air miles) and all of their mattresses are 100 per cent recyclable. Returned items are sold as refurbs on eBay and their textiles are OEKO-TEX certified, too. On top of these sustainability measures, they work towards a better community fueling British industry – their springs and wool are from Yorkshire and mattresses crafted over the Lancashire border in Manchester – and they are proud of their NHS discounts and mattress supply for End Youth Homelessness.
Highly commended: Howdens
Their affordable Greenwich kitchen range won't cost you or the Earth either. It is made with high levels of recycled materials, and is 90 per cent recyclable at end of life. With a 25-year guarantee, you won't have to worry about that for a while, but rest assured it comes with plenty of benefits in use too. There are lots of colours to choose from, and the materials have antibacterial qualities, perfect for food prep. A wide range of sizes and adjustable legs, drawers and shelves mean you can easily get a design that suits you, plus they have worked hard to ensure their delivery meets high standards of sustainability with a fleet of vehicles fueled by hydrotreated vegetable oil. We also applauded the other products they entered such as their flooring with sustainable cork underlay and the range of energy efficient Lamona appliances.
Keeping it clean – laundry
Overall winner: Samsung Bespoke AI Laundry 11kg SpaceMax Washing Machines
Firstly, these machines are A rated for energy efficiency, but they feature further technologies to ensure they limit water usage and allow washing at cooler temperatures. We also feel confident in Samsung's 20-year guarantee and appreciate the ease of use these machines have with StayClean detergent drawers and AI washing to measure the load and determine how much detergent, water and fabric softener are needed.
Highly commended: Candy Rapido Washing Machine
This nifty little machine has nine rapid programmes to save time (and energy) on your laundry. There is also a Daily Hygiene cycle which takes just 59 minutes to sanitise your clothes. There is app connectivity too, meaning you can get washing tips and set reminders on your phone for wash day. It also has an A energy rating.
Keeping it clean – floorcare
Overall winner: Miele Triflex HX2
Well known for cylinder vacuums, we were happy to see this upgrade to Miele's market-leading cordless on our list. It has 60 per cent more power than its predecessor and an extra wide floor head for speedy cleaning. On top of this it can detect different floor types to adjust its power accordingly, thus saving energy. We like the LED headlight too for spotting dust as we clean. Finally, the 120 minutes total run time is because it comes with a spare battery and second charger so you never run out of juice. In theory, that 120 minutes could be much longer if you buy more batteries!
Highly commended: Dyson V12 Detect Slim
Dyson always deliver on supreme suction and tech that makes cleaning easy (note the anti-tangle hair screw on this model) but we were happy to see them packing the functionality of their higher spec vacs onto such a compact model. If you lack space, this is perfect. It also has automatic power adjustment across surfaces and a fancy Piezo sensor that basically counts dust particles showing how deep your clean is.
A lick of paint
Overall winner: YesColours Emulsion Paint
A fun range of colours with emphasis on sustainability – YesColours is so on brand that we couldn't not give them the lick of paint award.
Best cover up
Overall winner: Graham & Brown wallpaper
Designer looks at a reasonable price tag. A beautiful range we always find faves in and good eco initiatives.
Highly commended: Feathr Vera's Garden
This beautiful design may be an investment but imagine the impact in a bedroom, living space or home office.
Hard surfaces
Overall winner: Cosentino –Silestone HybriQ+
Cosentino is known for their focus on sustainability and their updated Silestone range is no different. It is blended from mineral raw minerals with equal (or better) performance than quartz and is made with a minimum of 20 per cent recycled materials. The collection is stunning and carries a 25-year warranty.
Highly commended: Showerwall
Forego the faff (and grout to clean) of tiles with these wall panels. They are lightweight, waterproof and hardwearing and come in a range of styles and sizes for maximum design flexibility. Carrying a 30-year guarantee they are easy to maintain and fit – they can even go over tiles if you are looking for a quick transformation.
DIYer's best friend
Overall winner: Blinds2Go Click2Fit
We love anything that is really easy to fit and change up when we want. This option is perfect for renters too. A big tick from us. There are loads of materials to choose from, plenty of designs and you can get blackout or thermal options so you could have a summer and winter set if needed. It really is so easy to change your space.
Highly commended: Tile Giant tiles
For a wide range of affordable tiles for every wall, floor and more, we love Tile Giant. There are 83 stores in the UK, but their regular promotions can be picked up online, too. Ultimately very affordable, you don't miss out on style and you can easily find a look to suit your home be it modest or grand, old or new, colourful or classic.
Outdoor transformation
Overall winner: Tile Giant Beyond range
One of the most enduring changes you can make to your outdoor space is updating your patio or terrace. We loved the versatility of this stylish range from Tile Giant which features not only natural wood and stone effects, but also fancy terrazzo and chic white. They are frost proof, algae resistant and easy to keep clean and very affordable too.
Highly commended: JYSK garden collection
If you don't have scope to re-landscape your garden it is amazing how much you can do with furniture and accessories. JYSK exhibits cool Scandinavian design across their furniture, parasols, garden storage and lighting in sizes for every space and at price points for every wallet.
Make it your own
Overall winner: JYSK
This category recognises brands that make it easy for everyone to make a house their home. In this case, we wanted to find renter friendly products that are affordable and versatile and JYSK does just that. From quality furniture to plentiful home decor accessories, you can shop JYSK whatever your style.
Glow up
Overall winner: ESPA
ESPA has a range of bedding and fragrance products to transform a space, but we wanted to applaud their range for letting you 'glow up' in every sense of the word. Wellness has become so central to the modern home, that we think any brand that allows you to create zen spaces both visually and in terms of scent and self-care is one to be celebrated. From weighted blankets to beautiful candles, you can definitely invest in yourself at ESPA.
What is the Real Homes Awards?
Not to be confused with The Real Homes Homes & Garden Awards (which finds the best home transformations), the Product Awards celebrate the finishing touches. We are talking about the furniture that makes our house a comfy home, the appliances that make life easier, and the final touches to add personality to your space. We call on everyone from mattress manufacturers to wallpaper makers to enter, giving us chance to highlight the brands doing big things to help our readers improve their homes, whatever their budget.