Spring/summer is soon here, temperatures will rocket - and your fridge may curl up its toes. So what is there to know before you buy a new one?

The 3 basic types of fridge/freezers are:

Top mount You know this type of fridge well - cheap to buy, economical to run, feature-poor and they dominate the market. The freezer compartment takes up top third of the unit, and it can be hard for kids/short adults to reach items at the back.

Bottom mount Designed like the top mount except everyday fresh foods are at eye level. Less bending required and more models available as popularity increases. Cost more than top mount, less efficient to run, and the freezer can make the base of your fridge (usually the crisper) too cold for delicate veg like lettuce.           

Side-by-side Freezer and fresh food compartment get equal real estate. Large in capacity, even larger in footprint, they rob some benchtop space. However, great for galley kitchens where a large-opening door is not OK. Both compartments are tall and narrow, so wide containers like pizza boxes may not fit, plus temperature top to bottom will vary. Popular as many offer cold water in-door dispensers/ice cube makers, even TV screens - however these features take up internal cabinet space.   

Additionally, these further 3 types of fridge/freezer models are becoming increasingly popular.

French door  Brings together popular side-by-side with a bottom mount freezer. Fresh food  is on top, freezer drawer - sometimes double-decker drawers - is on the bottom. Energy use is good as you only open a small door to grab milk. Build-in options (front matches cabinets) are the norm.

Pigeon pair  Only a few manufacturers make these. Matched set of fridge and freezer with identical dimensions, designed to go next to each other. Really a side-by-side combo, but with full size separate units, generally over one metre wide. A joining kit makes a PP combo look like one single unit. Expensive option that gives massive storage for both fresh and frozen food on a large footprint.

Semi-commercial Cooking shows like MasterChef  promote the commercial kitchen look. Expensive option, and really `style over substance’ for the average family. Advantages are glass fronts to show food and professional-grade features like a meat cabinet.

Things to consider when you’re buying a fridge/freezer:

Just launched - fashionable, on-trend clothes for bigger figures from Myer Mystyle!

Along with all Myer’s fresh new looks for their spring collections, they’ve also teamed up with one of  Australia’s most prominent fashion designers, Leona Edmiston, to exclusively launch Leona+, a collection of Leona’s trademark clothes for the confident, urban woman - with a fuller figure!

Fashion for women sizes 16-24 is now becoming much more exciting, with labels like Basque, Piper, Mline, La Vie Woman and Yarra Trail Woman all showing new Plus Size ranges at Myer. Take a look in store at the first spring fashions for fuller figures! 

Browse Myer Mystyle Look Book  on Lasoo.

As winter turns into spring, our taste buds yearn for fresh juices and light salads again. So get ready for warmer days, and read on for which juicer to buy.

Juice every day is the perfect way to get fresh fruit and vegetables into your diet. They give you essential vitamins, minerals and fibre - people who only eat small amounts have a higher risk of strokes and other cardiovascular diseases, and some cancers. So a juicer is a great investment in your health! Take action and juice up some colours because eating a wide colour-variety gives your body the best range of all the nutrients you need like potassium, and vitamins A and C.

So, which juicer is best to buy? Most common and affordable are centrifugal juicers - a sharp blade cuts the fruit and veg which is then pushed against a strainer at very high speed to extract the juice. We’ve listed the 4 best centrifugal juicers. But before you buy, check out that your juicer only has a few parts and they fit together easily. Make sure it cleans in the dishwasher (if you have to hand wash, you won’t use it). Make sure the pulp collector is big enough for family-size juices, or you’ll have to continually stop and empty it. A juice jug is pretty useful but not all models come with one. Multiple speed settings is a good idea for hard and soft fruits.

Breville Professional 800 ($449.95) Professionally inspired, this all-metal juicer can take whole fruit. Purees bananas, mangoes and berries for smoothies. Extracts maximum juice and nutrients from fruits and vegetables.

Breville Ikon Froojie Juice Fountain ($299) Purees soft fruits like bananas, mangoes and berries to mix with fresh juices. Big feed tube means fast juicing; patented juicing system extracts more juice/nutrients from fruits/vegetables.

Sunbeam Juice Drop ($99) Compact for easy storage, easy to use, juices over 1Kg fruit and vegies easily.

Sunbeam Cafe Series Juice Extractor ($269) Powerful motor, extra large feed chute - juices whole fruit and vegetables, 2-speed control for soft or hard fruit & vegies, maximum juice extraction and 1 litre jug.

Pictured at the top is the Oscar VitalMAX  - a single gear, cold press juicer that is at the top of its game!

Check out our 40 ideas to warm up your winter and indulge in some well-earned Lasoo retail therapy!

Lasoo is always stocked full of great stuff to keep you and your home warm as the cool weather creeps in. Here’s just a few of our 40 winter warming ideas! Check out the rest here.

You’ll need a Sony digital radio/alarm clock for the cold-morning starts, that’s after a warm night’s sleep in your new flannelette sheets from Target.

Then keep cosy after your shower, wrapped up warm in a fleecy gown, plus grab a nice and hot DeLonghi Nespresso for breakfast!

Stay in touch with friends on your new Galaxy Tab or use your Samsung smartphone.

Be nice and warm outdoors in new boots from Myer and a hooded fur-trimmed parka.

And don’t forget to stock up with cold and flu remedies  for when the flu hits! 

All the latest winter catalogues are on Lasoo, so grab a bargain!

Mums are time-poor people, rushing from school pick-up to a big supermarket shop, cooking the family dinner to tackling piles of ironing. This Mother’s Day, show your Mum you care with a pressie that saves her lots of precious minutes.

1. Buy Mum some speed cleaning No need to spend hours vacuuming, get the job done with no effort with an iRobot Roomba robot cleaner 530. Roomba just cleans the house as it silently and slowly sweeps from rugs to carpet, timber floors to tiles. $599 from Harvey Norman.

Time saved for a Mum with a big house and lots of little feet? 30 minutes a day.

2. Give Mum a time saving gadget Get her the best kitchen appliance ever made to cut down on food prep and cooking time - the Breville Favour Maker slow cooker. Throw all the ingredients in together, set the timer, dinner’s on the table with no washing up. Breville Favour Maker from BIG W $148.00.

Time saved for a Mum with a  big hungry family to feed? 40 minutes a day.

3. Sharpen Mum’s shopping search skills Make a present of an Apple iPhone 4 (a smart white model of course, released today) plus download the Lasoo iPhone app! No specialist shopping knowledge required, thousands of products on Lasoo to dream over. 

Time saved for a Mum going shopping from store to store? Immeasurable.

4. Spare Mum lots of ironing hours Double her ironing speed with a new Philips 9140 Pressurized steam generator - 5 bars of steam pressure means ironing is fast, easy and excellent (then everyone can share this chore)! $399 from Myer (after cashback*).

Time saved for a Mum with lots of teens with loads of washing? 60 minutes a day.

5. Save Mum from lots of hours dieting Buy her a Nintendo Wii Fit Plus so that exercise is easy every day and eating is back to being a pleasure. The Wii Fit Plus also lets you discover yoga at home as well, saving time (and dollars) spent at the studio. Wii Fit Plus Bundle with Balance Board from Dick Smith $128.

Time saved for a Mum who is trying to stay fit? 30 minutes of dreary travel time a day.

Everything but the kitchen sink? That’s what goes into most handbags, so why not opt for a satchel!

This super-large Charlie Brown soft satchel with extra-long shoulder strap will fly out of Myer stores. The offer is only until March 20, satchel also comes in beige and black.

Charlie Brown Soft Satchel $99.95 at Myer. Offer ends March 20.

You’ve probably grown up with one tucked away somewhere in the kitchen, ready to be whipped out to make a fresh batch of cookies, cakes and puddings!

Now the iconic, 60-year-old Kenwood is back on the kitchen benchtop but, this time, it’s as the revolutionary Kenwood Cooking Chef . It’s now a 2011 state-of-the-art appliance, designed to do the maximum amount of cooking for time-poor people. The famous Chef has had a design makeover, and now the mixing machine incorporates (as well as all its original features) a heating induction element under the mixing bowl. So the new Cooking Chef now mixes and cooks at the same time! Which means less precious time spent slaving away at the hot and steamy stovetop.

Recognizing that we’re eating different dishes over the decades- the Cooking Chef can make today’s favourite meals - soups, risottos, curries, bolognese, sauces etc. Plus it has a fresh vegetable and dim sum steaming basket, too. The very powerful motor is quiet, plus there’s a glass liquidiser and food processor, and the famous K-beater, whisk and dough hook. So the Cooking Chef still makes your own pizza dough, bread, cakes, pastry etc. There’s even a fresh pasta-making attachment. It’s priced at the very top end of food mixers, but as many housewives of the 50s say, once you own a Kenwood, you have a cooking partner for life!

Save $200 on Kenwood Cooking Chef  $1799.00, until March 20th at Myer.

If you’re thinking of updating your beauty bag to capture these `supercool eyes’ for the autumn months, then drop into Myer!

Myer MyBeauty has a great offer starting March 2nd (until March 20th), which gives you this free Clinique goody bag* (below) valued at $150, when you spend over $60 on Clinique beauty products at any Myer store.

Your fabulous Clinique gift contains long last glosswear SPF 15 in Air Kiss 2.3mL, All About Eyes serum de-puffing eye massage 5mL, Superdefense SPF 25 age defense moisturizer 15mL, Dramatically Different moisturizing lotion 30mL, Deep Comfort body lotion 50mL, Take The Day Off makeup remover for lids, lashes & lips 50mL, High Impact mascara in black 4g, Colour Surge eye shadow duo in beach plum and blushing blush in smouldering plum compact.

See Myer MyBeauty Autum/Winter 2011 catalogue on Lasoo.

Slow cookers are really impressive. Of all the gadgets that end up at the back of your cupboard, it’s not true of a slow cooker once you get the hang of the right ingredients/recipes (curries and lamb shanks are great - so is any soup).

Set the temperature in the morning, eat dinner at night. The Aussie-designed Breville Flavour Maker is the best cooker around - its 7 litre capacity makes it large enough for family gatherings; being rectangular it takes large cuts of meat. Stove-top sear first to caramelise flavours then slow cook to infuse and tenderise - all in the same pan. Some cheaper slow cookers don’t have a removable pan meaning you have to use another saucepan ( more washing up). Flavour Maker also has a stainless steel rack for slow cooking roasts without stock/water. The one feature missing is a timer - if all day cooking is too long, you’ll need to use a timer on your power point.

See more Breville kitchen appliances on Lasoo.

In case you didn’t get the memo, the Myer mid-season sale starts today, and it looks to be another good one.

Yes, I used to do a lot of damage to my bank balance when I worked near a Myer store during these sales, which (un)fortunately I don’t anymore (this is both a good and a bad thing).

I had a quick flick through the catalogue, and from the women’s clothing, I’m loving this Basque shirt dress - reduced to $80 from $129.

It would be perfect for the office during the upcoming summer months.

The sale ends October 17.

By Caroline Warnes