I’m back with the second part of our 3-part series on value-picks from UAE’s home decor stores during this year’s Dubai Shopping Festival.The malls across the Emirates is a shoppers paradise. Amongst the notable ones are the individual shops in Mall of the Emirates, Ibn Batuta Mall, Century Plaza in Jumeirah, Homes r Us in the Mazaya Center, and Mercato.

Unlike the first part, this edition will feature will designer brands stocked in the souqs.  Ready to join me for this visual treat?

When I think of a quirky and retro range, Artikel comes to mind. The decade-old New Zealand-based company has been coming out with an exclusive collection of furniture and accessories that are stylish and intelligent. Once you see the vintage styled product line, I’m sure you’ll agree how cool they are.

Chess Candles

Home candle makers: Any ideas on how to get the moulds for these chess pieces?

Table Mats from Artikel

Can make for some interesting conversation at the dining table? Sights to see, memories of travels, countries to go, and much more.

Banana Bowl

And then, there’s the banana bowl. Honestly, isn’t it spooky? Artikel is in Mall of the Emirates.

Embossed Tumbler

This embossed tumbler is from Genevieve Lethu, a France-based international product company specializing in tableware, kitchen equipment and cookware. With stores all around the world, they retail through Mercato in the Emirates.

Photo Courtesy:

Artikel

Genevieve Lethu

What is it that you look at when you walk into a kitchen - at a friend’s, relatives’, your own or at a store? My eyes advertently scan the space for a clutter-free counter, organized pantry storage, layout, and to my surprise, how the pots and pans are stored.

I spend a considerable amount of time in the kitchen cooking regular food or trying out new recipes and desserts for my son. Though keeping kadais and pans in the open makes for easy access and helps in drying naturally after washing them, I think it is an eyesore. Currently, I store my pans in a stainless steel stand over the sink and kadais in a large pullout drawer like the one below. I’d prefer to stash them away in cabinets but find most Indian modular kitchens ill-equipped in that area.

Pullout Drawer Utensil Storage

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Do you remember your granny’s kitchen with a attached store room adjoining the main cooking area? A room stocked with enough pulses, rice, spices to last a 10+ member joint family for over a year.

Every summer, when we would visit my grandparents’ on vacation, grandmother would have over 500 coconuts plucked from the trees, followed by a rigorous routine of dehusking, breaking the coconuts, separating the water and distributing it to everyone. There have been days when we’ve skipped lunch, thanks to a bucket full of coconut water followed by trips  to you know where Later, the coconuts would be left  to dry  in the hot summer sun for a week. Once it turned into kopra, she would get them processed in the neighborhood machine for extracting coconut oil. The oil would then be filtered and stored in tins - enough to last the family until next summer.

Various kinds of Mango pickles in huge earthen jars, rice obtained from the village fields stored in gunny bags, sun-dried pulses, and turmeric processed into powder after drying and grinding are among a few things which were done once annually. It was very economical to run a huge family this way though it meant a lot of hard work. But with so many ladies and helping kids around, it didn’t seem like a daunting task, something that I can’t even imagine doing/getting done today.

The biggest factor to accomplish this today as I see is space, with restrictions on time and effort aside. We are the processed food and tetra-pack generation. As much as I would love to shop for groceries just once a month, there isn’t enough space in my pigeon-hole metro apartment (alrighty 1,400 sq.ft is not small, but it pales in comparison to those huge bungalows of my grandparents) for a store room. Maybe a cupboard for stocking groceries might help. For now, I buy groceries as and when required which, in turn, means multiple trips to Reliance Fresh/More  through the month. Due to a lack of space for keeping the 10-Kg containers that I have for storing rice or atta, I make do with smaller 5-Kg containers; its another thing that lining up 10-Kg containers will make the kitchen look like a kirana shop.

The plastic containers for spices is also relatively smaller - 100 gms. Many times, I don’t find smaller packs so I end up buying the 250 gms, which means there are scores of half-filled grocery packs lying around.  Instead of just dumping them in the cabinets, I seal the plastic by showing it in the flame once, and then neatly fold it and store it in a air-tight container.

Half-filled Grocery Bags in an Air Tight Container

What are your tricks? How do you efficiently stock groceries? I’m looking for ideas, go ahead and let your secret out!

Every woman’s kitchen has at least one recipe book - either self-bought or gifted. Mine has over 100 of them. No exaggeration. Seriously. Most of them are small supplements that come with various Tamil monthly magazines. My mom religiously collects them every month and hands them by the dozen or more when we meet, usually after3-4 months. That shows her confidence in my cooking Or she trusts me to get inspired and cook a lot of variety dishes, which I do.

The books cover a wide range. Sample this. The collection consists of 30 Chutney recipes, 30 tomato dishes, 64 pickles, 30 soya recipes, 100 age-old home remedies (those granny ideas!), what to do with leftovers, 64 cakes/cookies/chocolates, 64 juice, 200 Diwali tips, 30 biryani masala, 16  types of sambar, and 10 types of rasam. The list goes on. And believe me, it is really handy at times to break the routine and fix something different for dinner.

A teeny tiny part of the collection

One practical issue I face is stocking these in the kitchen where it’s easily accessible; for, I know, if I lay my hands on the stack, I’ll end up cooking a dish. The block is in reaching out to the stack. Right now, it’s stashed in the farthest cabinet. I’m contemplating of binding them into just 4-5 books categorized by snacks, juices, pickles, desserts, and main course dishes.

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Have you ever in your wildest dreams thought that stainless steel could be made to look so stylish? I was mesmerized by the Art D Inox’s product range - the curves, the elegance, the finish and the glaze is classy. Here are some of favorites.

Cup and Candle Holder

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My kitchen cabinets are made of rubberwood.; the wood work is exactly five years old.  The cabinets haven’t lost much of the shine, but the wooden doors have accumulated dust and grease from cooking. The patches are quite visible now. I was wondering what would be the best way to clean them. One of the suggestions I got is to use a solution of dish washing liquid like Vim or Pril in hot water. The process itself will involve wiping the cabinets with a sponge using this solution, and then immediately rubbing it off with a clean cloth. Since the doors are polished, I believe little amount of moisture should not do much harm.

How do you de-grease your cabinets?

One of the most challenging aspects while designing a house is a kitchen; one that is functional,  within budget, fitted with the required cabinets, tasteful, easy to work in, well-illuminated throughout the day, and has sufficient storage space for your family. Let’s not even get started on how many arguments a couple has to endure while designing this space that a family like ours hangs out in often.

If yours is a small kitchen,  one area that requires utmost attention and cannot be compromised are the corners.  Corners if designed right can be great storage spaces; if fitted with mere shelves, they can be a nightmare -  after all, who wants to dig deep into those dark corners?

Carousels have more or less become the standard today in kitchens equipped with cabinets.

Kitchen Carousel

Drawers in a kitchen corner

A L-Shaped Corner Shelf

Image Courtesy:

Drawers : via AT

Shelf : Flickr

I have two 3/4 circular carousels as part of the cabinetry. The stuff I store in are not-so-often used spices and groceries such as panipuri masala, besan, rajma, chana, sabudana - you get it, don’t you? You can even install pull out drawers (metaboxes) to store appliances such as juicer and their respective jars.

Share pictures of your kitchen on how best you’ve utilized the corners, for the benefit of others. Link it in the comment space or send a e-mail to dressyourhome.in@gmail.com

I’m a big fan of open shelves in kitchen for lining up often used spices.  Easy to handle, cheap to install, quick cleaning and scores high on the look factor…what more can one ask for! And, for renters, nothing is more easier than a open shelving system to add storage space . What do you think of these?

Open shelves in kitchen

More stuff...though a li'l cluttered

Image courtesy:

All images from Home Sweet Home