Now the kitchen is my basically my wife’s domain. I’m in and out pretty quick and stick to using the microwave mostly. Even so I’d like to share the some pointers.

1) Make sure your kitchen window faces the world! I’ve seen a lot of new buildings where the kitchen window faces some dark ventilation shaft. This is a problem for two reasons. Some idiot neighbor will throw garbage down that shaft and if you are on a lower floor, get ready for the stench of a lifetime! Reason two is that if there is a short in the lighting, (and usually kitchens only have one bulb), you will be in total darkness even in the morning. The only downside to a kitchen with a view is that during the sand storms, if you forget to shut the exhaust lid, your food may taste a bit dusty!

2) Every kitchen I’ve seen so far in Kuwait, comes with a steel (or maybe aluminium) sink. The sink basically consits of the sink bowl and the drainer (the flat ribbed surface next the the sink bowl). Some of these fixtures come with two bowls and some with two drainers. A sink with a drainer on either side would be ideal so you could separate food and vessels on either side. Whichever your favorite type of sink is, make sure its got a good seal all around it to prevent the water from leaking into the cabinets below! The best way to test this is to splash water all around the sink area and then look under the sink to make sure nothing leaked.

3) The stove is probably the most important gadget in your kitchen. Make sure there is sufficient space by the exhaust fan for your stove. And if your stove runs on gas, then there should be enough space to store the gas cylinder safely. For those crooked shaped kitchens where the stove will be placed far from the exhaust, consider invensting in a stove top ventilation system. They are pretty common nowdays.

4) It’s pretty rare to find a decent cooking console in flats nowdays. Older flats usually have a small slab of marble next to the sink and most of the newer flats don’t even bother providing one. In any case you should consider getting a proper console like the ones you see in most restaurants. IKEA has an excellent one with flexible options for either a cabinet or rack-type storage below the console and its very easy to clean since its all stainless steel. Just make sure the flat you move into has enough kitchen space to accomodate these rather large console units.

5) Special care needs to be given to the location of electrical outlets in the kitchen. Ideally they should be at a higher level than in the rest of the house. Also, they should be away from the stove and sink. If you plan to use an extension cord for your gadgets, make sure you fasten it below a table or console or shelf so when water splashes, it will be protected.

Just keep in mind, that in any flat, the kitchen is the most stressful place. Add to that the numerous knives lying around there. So this basically boils down to making sure that whoever is in the kitchen the most needs to have the last say on picking the flat. ;) Be sure to take into consideration storage space for food, utensils and the numerous electric gizmos and gadgets for the modern kitchen.