Remember, fire is likely to start near the range. If your extinguisher is in the cabinet next to or under the fire, you won't want to open a door/drawer to get it. Better a bit of distance away from the fire so you can approach the fire at a safe distance. My big red one says stand back 8 feet. My little white one says stand back 6 feet. The little cheapie doesn't give a distance.

Not for me, but I'm sure I'm not "kewl" enough to be in their target market. I have a white, wall-mounted fire extinguisher in my kitchen. I got it at Home Depot. It's only about 10" tall and is pretty unobtrusive. I don't have a picture of my current kitchen but here's my previous house's kitchen - the extinguisher is below the microwave. I left that one for the new owners and got another one for this house. There's also a conventional red one by the back door (for any grill incidents, and the back deck is also where the smokers go to indulge; I need to get a mounting bracket for it for better visibility), and currently there's one on the porch where DH is working with an infrared paint remover. When we had a fireplace, a fire extinguisher about the size of a 2-liter soda bottle stayed in the kindling box, and a large one hung in the garage when we had one of those. I've been lucky enough that I've never had a major fire but I've had some little ones over the years (cooking fires, cigarettes, candles) that without a fire extinguisher could have become major fires. I want any idjit :-) who happens to be in my house to be able to grab the fire extinguisher without having to think "is this a fire extinguisher or what?" while the fire alarms are screaming and maybe they've been imbibing a bit or are half asleep. IMO a fire extinguisher is such an important piece of safety equipment that I don't really care if it's not beautiful, I would never stash it away in a closet or cabinet - I think it defeats the purpose to have it hidden away where you have to go hunting for it. However, white fire extinguishers are becoming widely available, as are residential ones in a brushed stainless finish (I guess to coordinate with those stainless steel kitchen appliances). First Alert makes a silver and black all-purpose extinguisher. "The only other thing that it reminds me of is an oversized seltzer bottle, and you could probably put out a residential fire with that too." Only if it's burning paper, wood, cloth or similar combustible material. Water spreads both oil/grease and electrical fires (and you can also electrocute yourself by putting water on an electrical fire, since water is a wonderful conductor of electricity). It's most sensible to have A-B-C extinguishers, which put out all three kinds of typical home fires, especially since a class C (electrical) fire can spread to become a class A (combustible materials), or a class A can come into contact with combustible liquids (class B).

Another thought on having a fire extinguisher - have you ever actually used one? I worked at a private school where the admin arranged a whole class for the staff on using a fire extinguisher. I couldn't believe it, but what the heck? It turned out to be pretty interesting. One surprising thing was how my fellow teachers managed the kind of extinguisher with a hose: Every single person who used that extinguisher sprayed their shoes before spraying the target, even after watching the person beside them do the exact same thing. So that's probably not the kind to get if you only use it for real once in your life. Using this kind everyone could hit the target first time out. Also, actually take a look at the top of the thing to see where the pull ring is and a take mental walk through what you'd have to do to make it spray. It's not at all difficult (except for the shoe spray thing), but it does require you to figure it out ahead of time. Another thought: if you have small hands (that would be me) or limited strength (arthritis?), be sure that the extinguisher you choose you can actually use. I frequently find that tools and what-all are designed by Godzilla who figures everyone has baseball mitts for hands. If the squeezy parts of the extinguisher are set so far apart that your thumb and baby finger can't get a grip, you might as well not have the thing. Choose one from a more enlightened manufacturer or go for the kind that has a trigger set not too far from the handle. When you really need a fire extinguisher, you probably won't be in your most calm and analytic frame of mind, so be sure that the design of the equipment itself won't add to or even create feelings of panic.

If you are concerned about your mom not being able to use a fire extinguisher, why don't you have her practice with a standard one outside? Yes, it isn't cheap, but it would be worth it if she ever had a fire. Having learned how to use one in a non-emergency might give her the confidence to use one in an emergency. Also refresh her about how to deal with different types of fires - like if she has a fire in the oven, keep the door closed, turn the oven off and let it burn out(being prepared to go to the next step if it doesn't burn out) .. If it's on the stove, put a lid on it to suffocate it(don't move it to the sink!). If it's a grease fire, don't use water! If you can't use a lid, use baking soda. However if your concern is relating to her accidentally leaving the stove on and causing a fire, there are other products that may be helpful, like timed stove shut offs, or automatic range hood fire extinguishers. I apologize if that's not the case, it's just where my brain goes because of my line of work!