Stoves Sterling range cookers and the Stoves Richmond range cooker represent two sides of cooking: the professional and attractive, or the homely and cheerful.

It isn’t just the large kitchen that gets to have a range cooker, you know. While plenty of range cookers are clearly designed for interior spaces that measure their area in acreage rather than square metres, there are some very respectable models that have been built with the normal sized kitchen in mind. The Stoves Richmond range cookers, for example, offer the convenience of large multiple ovens under a more conventional four hob arrangement: meaning that home owners with average sized kitchens have the option to cater for dinner parties or to cook their Sunday roasts with a greater degree of flexibility.

Remember, of course, that any range cooker is by definition a bigger item than a normal "two up, two down" oven and grill combo. The Stoves range cookers in the Richmond family are, on average, 90 cm wide by 60 cm deep: allowing them to fit comfortably into a kitchen with average all round dimensions.

The Stoves Sterling range cookers, on the other hand, take you back into more familiar territory. On average a Stoves Sterling range cooker will measure in with dimensions of 100 cm wide and the normal 60 cm depth. That puts the Sterling back in the range of mid size to larger kitchen areas: and with its eight hobs and neat minimalist styling it fits that job description perfectly.

So Sterling has made range cookers suitable for most types of kitchen space arrangement: the Stoves Richmond range cooker selection, which will do you very nicely in a town house or a normally sized family home; and the Stoves Sterling range cookers, which are better for country style houses or particularly well sized urban dwellings.

The design elements in each range cooker group are noticeably different. Stoves has given a more old school flavour to its Richmond selection – which is also available in an excellent range of cheery colours. The colours and the ways in which the Stoves Richmond range cooker selection has been designed to look – chunky and reliable – combine to make the Richmond range remind one of the country ranges you used to see in your gran’s house: that is, if you were lucky enough to have a gran who lived in a farm house.

The Stoves Sterling range cookers, on the other hand, have been made to look much more modern and slick. A Stoves Sterling presents the user with a smart expanse of brushed steel and minimalist dials and displays. It looks like it should be working in a trendy modern chef’s restaurant: which of course makes it perfect for the modern upmarket home.

The size and functions of the Stoves Sterling cookers make them suitable for semi professional use as well as home cooking. The Stoves Richmond range cooker, on the other hand, is far more suited to home cooking – offering professional functionality but in a smaller and cheerier package.

The size of your cooking area, and the reasons for your cooking, are going to determine which of the Stoves options you go for. Stoves Sterling range cookers will give you a functional and beautiful professional looking kitchen: while the Richmond range will create a warm and friendly cooking environment.