One Appliance, Multi-Use: The Multitasking Kitchen Heroes That Save Space, Time and Money

If your home feels more like an ‘appliance showroom’ than your personal sanctuary, you’re not alone. Between the air fryer, slow cooker, microwave, benchtop oven, coffee machine and that stand mixer you swear you’ll use more, the bench and cupboard space disappear fast. Kitchen real estate becomes precious, and your appliances and wires are fighting for dear life.

The good news is you don’t really need ALL of the appliances. Modern appliances and gadgets are getting really good at multitasking, pulling double (or triple) duty. When you opt for versatile, multi-functional pieces, you can easily declutter, cut down on energy use and simplify your kitchen benchtop. Bonus? You also save money!

How versatile appliances save money, time and energy

Choosing multi‑taskers is not just about space. Over the life of an appliance, they can also reduce duplication, lower running costs, simplify your daily routines, and make small spaces feel a lot bigger.

• Reduce duplication: A combo washer-dryer or multi‑function oven often costs less than buying two or three separate appliances of similar quality.
• Lower running costs: Functions like convection, steam‑assist and air‑fry can cook faster and more efficiently, while heat‑pump dryers and condenser combos help cut energy use in the laundry.
• Simplify routines: Set‑and‑forget cycles (think wash‑to‑dry programs, keep‑warm modes, programmable multi‑cooker recipes) mean fewer “babysitting” tasks in your day.
• Make small spaces live larger: In compact kitchens and laundries, one clever appliance can free enough room for extra storage, a bigger fridge, or simply clearer, calmer benchtops.

Electrolux 60cm Pyrolytic Steam Oven (EVEP6515DF)

Best for: Home cooks who like to experiment but don’t want a cupboard full of single‑use gadgets

Once upon a time, your choices were “standard oven” or “microwave”. Now, multi‑functional ovens and benchtop all‑in‑one units can roast, steam, grill, air-fry, dehydrate and more, all from the same appliance. That’s exactly what the Electrolux 60cm Pyrolytic Steam Oven promises to be. A stylish black oven with quadruple-glazed doors, this oven transforms your kitchen into a culinary landscape without taking up much space. Look closer, and it’s quietly replacing a benchtop air fryer, steam‑assist oven and a lot of elbow grease.

Why you’ll love it:

• SteamBake function, which introduces gentle steam at the start of cooking for crisp pizza bases, bakery‑style bread and juicier roasts without a separate steam oven.
• Built‑in AirFry mode, so you can get crisp chips, wings and veg using the dedicated AirFry setting and tray, no extra air fryer taking up bench space.
• Pyrolytic self‑cleaning, which heats the cavity to a high temperature to turn baked‑on grease into ash you wipe away, removing the need for harsh oven cleaners and marathon scrubbing sessions.

Space and money saver: If you’re planning a kitchen or replacing an old oven, choosing a model like the Electrolux 60cm Pyrolytic Steam Oven can make separate benchtop air fryers, mini ovens and even some specialty baking gadgets feel redundant, more room for prep and serving instead.

Fisher & Paykel 8.5kg Washer/5kg Dryer Combo (WD8560F1)

Best for: Apartments, compact laundries and anyone who wants to start a load and come back when it’s cupboard‑ready

Washer-dryer combos get a mixed reputation, but for apartments and smaller homes, they can be a clever way to save floor space and simplify laundry flow. At their core, they combine a front‑load washer and a condenser dryer in a single cabinet that’s about the size of a standard washer. The Fisher & Paykel 8.5kg/5kg Washer‑Dryer Combo is the definition of doing more with less. It takes the footprint of a single front‑loader and quietly bakes in a full dryer, and offers you a complete laundry solution in one machine.

Its hidden advantages go well beyond the obvious “two‑in‑one”:

• Wash and dry an average load in under three hours, so you can put on a mixed load before work and come home to dry, ready‑to‑fold clothes, no line, no extra steps.
• No venting required, which means you can install it in cupboards or tight spaces where a traditional vented dryer wouldn’t work.
• 8.5kg wash / 5kg dry capacity, letting you do full family loads in the wash cycle, then automatically dry a sensible everyday amount without swapping machines.

Space and money saver: Instead of buying and plumbing two separate appliances (and finding floor space for both), this single unit halves your footprint. It simplifies laundry planning, especially handy in townhouses, rentals and smaller homes.

Hisense 640L PureFlex French Door Fridge (HRCD640TBW)

Best for: Entertainers and busy families who want their fridge to adapt to school weeks, long weekends and party seasons.

Fridges are no longer just big cold boxes. Smart fridges with responsive features and special zones help organise food effectively and even reduce food wastage. The Hisense 640L PureFlex French Door HRCD640TBW hides flexible zones and a smarter ice and water system that can help you avoid a separate drinks fridge or bar freezer.

This multi-tasking fridge includes:

• My Fresh Choice / PureFlex convertible compartment, which lets you switch a section between fridge and freezer temperatures, so it’s a snack drawer one week and extra freezer space for bulk buys the next.
• Non‑plumbed dual ice maker and water dispenser, giving you cubed and nugget ice plus chilled water without plumbing, ideal for renters or existing kitchens without a water line.
• UV sterilisation within the water/ice system is designed to help reduce bacteria in the dispenser area for fresher‑tasting drinks.

Space and money saver: Instead of adding a separate bar fridge or chest freezer, you can flex this one appliance to create extra drinks, snacks, or freezer zones as your lifestyle changes, especially useful around holidays and school breaks.

Samsung 75” The Frame Pro (QA75LS03HWWXXY) 

Best for: Design‑conscious households and open‑plan spaces where the TV wall is always on show

A TV might not be the first appliance that comes to mind in a “hidden functions” list, but Samsung’s 75″ The Frame is purposely built to be more than a screen. When it’s not streaming, it behaves like framed artwork, turning your living space into a gallery rather than a wall of black glass.

Why you’ll love it:

• Art Mode with access to Samsung’s Art Store, letting you display curated artwork or your own photos when the TV is idle, reducing the visual clutter of a big blank screen.
• Slim Fit Wall Mount and picture‑frame bezels, helping it sit almost flush to the wall, so it genuinely reads as art, freeing you from needing extra décor to “hide” the TV area.
• Wireless One Connect box, which lets you run a single near‑invisible cable to the screen while hiding the rest of the ports and components elsewhere, reducing media units and cable mess.

Space and money saver: By letting your TV double as art, you can skip separate large‑scale prints and reduce how much furniture or styling you need to visually balance a big screen, particularly handy in apartments and small living rooms.

The right versatile appliances let your home work smarter, not harder. By leaning into washer-dryer combos, multi‑functional ovens and clever space‑saving kitchen heroes, you can reduce clutter, dodge duplicate purchases and shave minutes off everyday chores. That adds up to more room on the bench, more money left in your budget and more time for anything but juggling appliances.

Space‑saving kitchen appliances that quietly multitask

It’s not just the washer-dryer or the multi-functional ovens that are multitasking. Having a few multi-tasking appliances that are high-value and maximise your kitchen space can declutter your benchtop and help your energy usage.

Multi‑cookers and all‑in‑one kitchen machines

Multi‑cookers combine slow cooking, pressure cooking and rice cooking in one pot, with many models also offering sauté, yoghurt and even air‑fry functions. That means one appliance can replace:

• Slow cooker
• Pressure cooker
• Rice cooker
• Electric frypan
• Yoghurt maker
• Steamer (in many models)

Tip: Having an all‑in‑one kitchen machine goes a step further, adding chopping, mixing, steaming and kneading, making it a stand‑in for both food processor and stand mixer in many homes.

Smart taps and combo water systems

Under‑bench systems that combine boiling, chilled and sparkling water into a single tap can replace separate kettles, jugs and benchtop soda appliances, freeing space and reducing bench clutter. Some multifunction mixer taps also integrate filtered drinking water with standard hot and cold in one fitting, streamlining the sink area.

Tip: While some smart taps do require special installation, having one pays off in the long run as it replaces kettles, jugs, and benchtop soda gadgets. 

Choosing the right multitaskers for your home

When you’re weighing up a new appliance, it’s worth asking: “What can this replace?” 

A few guidelines to pick the right multitasker for your home:

• Look for built‑in secondary modes like air fry, steam assist, or convertible fridge compartments that directly stand in for standalone gadgets.
• Check installation requirements– Washer‑dryer combos with cold‑only inlets and no venting, or non‑plumbed fridges and One Connect TVs, can be far more flexible in smaller homes.
• Think long‑term usage, not just launch features– An oven you’ll use daily and an art‑display TV you see every time you walk into the room will often deliver more value than niche gadgets that come out twice a year. If you love cooking but hate clutter, a multi‑functional oven plus a good multi‑cooker might cover 90% of your meals.

• Consider space and storage-If laundry space is tight, but you do frequent small loads, a washer-dryer combo can simplify life and reclaim space. If your kitchen is truly compact, prioritise a convection microwave or slim multi‑function oven and a couple of smart under‑bench or tap solutions.

The right versatile appliances let your home work smarter, not harder. By leaning into washer-dryer combos, multi‑functional ovens and clever space‑saving kitchen heroes, you can reduce clutter, dodge duplicate purchases and shave minutes off everyday chores. That adds up to more room on the bench, more money left in your budget and more time for anything but juggling appliances.

EXPLORE TOP MULTITASKING APPLIANCES FOR YOUR HOME