Are you a convert to KonMari (that’s the tidying technique from Japanese organising consultant and decluttering whiz Marie Kondo)? Or do you tend to sway more towards Einstein’s mode of thinking when it comes to tidiness (“If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?”)
Either way, the kitchen is one area of the house where, from a health and safety as well as aesthetic perspective, mess is best kept to a minimum. And yet that is, of course, far easier said than done. This is a room where rubbish accumulates fast, and disorder is only a trip to the supermarket or a hastily thrown together meal away.
Although the rental kitchens that many of us occupy in the UAE might not be representative of our dream interiors (be that sleek and shiny modernism or open-plan farmhouse-style), that doesn’t mean we can’t – and indeed shouldn’t – seek to maximise return, in terms of both look and functionality. From mindful habits to expert ideas, the tips that follow will help you to do just that, and should also save you time and money, without demanding that you go full minimalist – although if that’s your bag, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.
Build up
Even if your kitchen errs on the side of poky, you can still create additional space by building up rather than out; for reference, think along the lines of skyscrapers constructed in tight city spots. Group together common items such as cookbooks, utensils, cups and crockery, and artfully stack them up, rather than spreading them out, and you’ll instantly see a saving on surface area.
Make further use of vertical space by adding risers to your cabinets, and collating your most-used items (coffee, tea, spices, olive oil, salt and pepper) and displaying them in tiered layers – on a cake stand, for example.
Get hanging
The best-looking bits and pieces in your kitchen should be the ones on show, which means that pretty pots, pans, plates and platters trump half-empty bags of flour and cereal boxes every time. Create a hanging display out of these items and you’ll instantly free up your cupboards for the less good-looking bits. This can, of course, be as elaborate or budget-friendly as you like. From picture hooks that will happily hold lighter utensils, to oversized peg boards and custom-created racks built to fit the dimensions of a kitchen island, the space-generating end goal is the same.
Along the same lines, you could also suspend an overhead rail in an otherwise unused space (along the length of a window, say, or above the oven), and dangle cups or glasses from it. Purchase a hanging basket for storing room-temperature fruit and veg, and put up a magnetic strip for holding your knives.
Declutter your freezer
If you’re not exactly sure what’s in your freezer, but have a sneaking suspicion that foragers could well find a too-icy-to-eat tub of ice cream, along with a number of half-empty Tupperware boxes, you’re not alone. Spend half an hour installing a little order by way of a few reusable freezer food bags and a permanent marker, and you’ll quickly reap the organisational rewards, free up premium space in the fridge or kitchen cupboards, and save yourself a few dirhams.
Begin your freezer overhaul with a thorough defrost and get rid of anything that’s unidentifiable or past its best. Wrap and stash items such as chicken breasts and fish fillets individually, rather than keeping them in their cumbersome polystyrene trays, and apply the same principal to bread: instead of freezing the loaf whole, separate into easy-to-defrost three or four-slice bundles and slot them into gaps in the freezer, Jenga-style.
Store soups, stews and sauces flat in ziplock bags, rather than plastic containers, to reduce bulk, and get into the habit of labelling them with the contents and date that you made them. When you add those flat-packed items to the freezer, do so with the label facing outwards and employ something of a filing system, working from front to back, so that you’ll see the oldest items in the freezer first and be encouraged to use them.
Get rid of the extras
Shelina Jokhiya, founder of DeCluttr Me, a professional home and office organising service in the UAE, is unsurprisingly passionate about the subject of clutter (and, more specifically, getting rid of it). "My ethos is that you should be able to find everything in your home and office within five seconds," she says. "If you don't, you need to declutter and create a system that allows you to locate what you need, faster." Jokhiya explains that in her experience, the most common clutter offenders in kitchens are niche gadgets, such as milk frothers, unnecessary duplicate utensils (multiple peelers and can openers, for example), and dry stores such as flour and spices that are past their use-by date.
In order to keep things under control, she recommends giving the contents of every single kitchen cupboard and storage spot a full review every three months, and stresses the need to self-monitor. “Every time you open your cupboards give them a quick once-over and if you see something you don’t like or use, put it in a recycling bag,” she instructs. “Once that bag is full, take it to a donation bin or recycling centre. The same method applies to clothes or any other items in your home.”
Resist the urge to buy more
Of course, the simplest solution to not having a kitchen full of kit is to resist mindlessly purchasing the items in the first place. Jokhiya highlights the importance of showing a little restraint when it comes to shopping: “Don’t just buy that gadget you saw on TV or at Ikea, think about whether you really need it. If a friend has it, test it out first,” she advises.
Be sensible: if you don't cook often, there's no need for your kitchen to be stocked with 10 different saucepans.
“Be sensible: if you don’t cook often, there’s no need for your kitchen to be stocked with 10 different saucepans, and if you have limited space, forgo the 24-piece crockery and cutlery set.” Similarly, if you do acquire something new or opt for an upgrade, make a point of donating or gifting the old piece of equipment; as Jokhiya observes, you simply don’t need two toasters.
Display your wares
While the advice above rings true, there is one item that might be worth purchasing in your quest to streamline: a slim, lightweight trolley or rolling cart that can be moved about the room with ease. Think of the display cart as a mini kitchen, which houses the ingredients, utensils and serve-ware that you use most often, and ensures that they’re always easily accessible. Select a sturdy one with a flat top, so that you can also keep a chopping board there and use the surface as additional prep space. The moveable element is essential here – you want the flexibility to be able to shift it around with you as you work and also to stash it away somewhere else.
Make steady progress
“Tidy as you go” is the mantra that will serve you well on the road to true kitchen zen. Adopt this system, implore anyone who shares your kitchen to do the same and deploy it across all areas: wash dishes or put them in the dishwasher immediately, rather than stacking them up for later; sort the recycling as and when it appears rather than letting it accumulate; and return appliances to cupboards as soon as you’ve finished using them. These incremental actions, coupled with frequent wiping-down of surfaces and quick bits of sorting throughout the day will really make a difference to the look and feel of the place.
Burst or blitz cleaning is another tactic for maintaining overall order. Spend a high-energy 15 to 20 minutes attacking a specific area of the kitchen – the junk drawer that threatens to overflow, for example. Focus on that, and only that, and you'll be surprised by how much you can achieve in such a short time frame.
The view from The National
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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MATCH INFO
Mainz 0
RB Leipzig 5 (Werner 11', 48', 75', Poulsen 23', Sabitzer 36')
Man of the Match: Timo Werner (RB Leipzig)
PROFILE
Name: Enhance Fitness
Year started: 2018
Based: UAE
Employees: 200
Amount raised: $3m
Investors: Global Ventures and angel investors
Four-day collections of TOH
Day Indian Rs (Dh)
Thursday 500.75 million (25.23m)
Friday 280.25m (14.12m)
Saturday 220.75m (11.21m)
Sunday 170.25m (8.58m)
Total 1.19bn (59.15m)
(Figures in millions, approximate)
Afghanistan fixtures
- v Australia, today
- v Sri Lanka, Tuesday
- v New Zealand, Saturday,
- v South Africa, June 15
- v England, June 18
- v India, June 22
- v Bangladesh, June 24
- v Pakistan, June 29
- v West Indies, July 4
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The National in Davos
We are bringing you the inside story from the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, a gathering of hundreds of world leaders, top executives and billionaires.
Mane points for safe home colouring
- Natural and grey hair takes colour differently than chemically treated hair
- Taking hair from a dark to a light colour should involve a slow transition through warmer stages of colour
- When choosing a colour (especially a lighter tone), allow for a natural lift of warmth
- Most modern hair colours are technique-based, in that they require a confident hand and taught skills
- If you decide to be brave and go for it, seek professional advice and use a semi-permanent colour
What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.
But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre 6-cyl turbo
Power: 374hp at 5,500-6,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm from 1,900-5,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.5L/100km
Price: from Dh285,000
On sale: from January 2022
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
The candidates
Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive
Ali Azeem, business leader
Tony Booth, professor of education
Lord Browne, former BP chief executive
Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist
Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist
Dr Mark Mann, scientist
Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner
Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister
Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster
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The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Jeff Buckley: From Hallelujah To The Last Goodbye
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