It's the heart of a home – a place where nourishment, love and warmth are in constant supply. It's a place that holds our fondest memories, our favourite aromas and most-loved tastes. Of course, it's also a disaster area where experiments go wrong and guests go hungry. The kitchen is the nerve centre of every home and its management is an art form. In a special feature, Friday offers a few lessons in mastering this art

To the harassed housewife, a kitchen is a complex factory, with her donning the role of an assembly-line worker, churning, chopping and cooking raw materials in machines, producing products expected to pass exacting quality assurance tests in taste and presentation.

To others, it is a creative lab, allowing her to tangibly and emotionally satisfy her household with tempting fare (of course, labs do have their little "accidents").

Everybody, however, wants a super efficient kitchen. And to achieve this what is required is planning and managing the available space in the best possible manner.

"There are two concepts," says Graham Buddle, ME area manager, MFI. "Space management is looking at the whole kitchen, concerned with design, appliances, cabinets, what goes where. Storage is about what you are going to put inside these cabinets to make the best use of space you have."

So what is the fuss all about?
"There are four types of kitchens," explains Jun Villarico, sales representative, Ikea. "Single-line or straight kitchens; Parallel – two straight kitchens with the oven and sink on one side and the workspace on the other; L-shaped; and U-shaped kitchens."

"Different areas have different sizes of kitchens depending on the builder and market positioning," says Ravi Kumar, general manager, Home Centre. "Studio flats and furnished apartments have small kitchens, a few have larger kitchens while villas, like those in Jumeirah, have ample room to fit in a large dining table."

Broadly speaking, there are four elements in an average kitchen:
1. Appliances: Cooker/hob, fridge, food processor, oven, dishwasher, microwave, toaster and others.
2. Sink and worktops
3. Wall cabinets, base cabinets and storage accessories for pots, pans, trays and serving bowls, spices, packaged foods, dishes, glassware, crockery and cutlery
4. Increasingly, the kitchen is being invaded by work-at-home corners that include desk, PC, telephone and even a TV (catch the latest episode of Friends while whipping up a soufflé).

To achieve kitchen bliss, you need to plan according to what best suits your needs, habits and lifestyle. For instance, if you bake cakes frequently, you need easy access to cake tins, processors, etc.

Storage considerations affect the style and appearance of a kitchen, so it is important to devote time to consider the many possibilities before making a decision. "Space sometimes conflicts with storage management. Some customers come into the showroom and say 'Oh that modular kitchen looks wonderful'. Yes, it is wonderful, but it should also be a practical solution for the space you have. You need to combine design elements with what is going to work in your kitchen space," says Buddle.

The crux of the problem is that kitchen cabinets come in standard sizes but utensils and accessories do not. Therefore, it is difficult to determine the exact storage space you require through theorems or formulae. The simplest way to get around this problem is through a logical and sequential process – start by doing an inventory of your current kitchen, take account of those elements that are an eyesore or require easier accessibility, forecast future family changes which will enforce alterations and, finally, group elements and plan their placements according to the utility they serve and the place where they will be required. Remember, your goal is to improve the potential of every inch of space.

Space and storage management is primarily an issue for smaller kitchens. "Small kitchens have the same elements that a large kitchen does – for example, the working triangle (see box on previous page).

"In fact, a lot of the new ideas and accessories are built for smaller kitchens – pull-out tables and ironing boards, racks that go behind doors, trash bins fitted inside doors... However, they may be incorporated into larger kitchens too," says Buddle.

Ravi has sound advice: "You can create a feel-good area in the kitchen by decorating it with some plants.''

Accessories
There are a wide variety of standard kitchen organising accessories available from specialists and supermarkets. An option is to create custom-designed accessories from specialists or the local carpenter.

A third option is to build your own with material from DIY stores. Countertop appliance garages: These provide a spot to keep small appliances such as a toaster or coffee grinder within easy reach, but out of sight while not in use. They can be cleverly placed in a diagonal corner on the countertop (between the wall and base cabinets).

Cutting boards/chopping blocks: Rather than buying the standard plastic ones from your supermarket, buy those that have a groove and fit onto the sink. This saves drawer space or wall space. Built-in and removable ones can be installed between the countertop and drawer for easy use.

Dishes and glassware: "If you have expensive tableware, display them in open or glass-faced wall cabinet units," says Buddle. "However, avoid having display cabinets by the cooker as they require regular cleaning to remove grease spots."

Pots and pans: The trouble with pots and pans is that they come in non-standard shapes and sizes and are the most difficult elements to store.

Storing tips:
* In a drawer beneath the cooker
* On a freestanding pot rack
* Suspended ceiling rack
* Hang lids from backs of cabinet doors
* Add pegboard panels to the back of the cabinet doors to hang the most commonly used pans, then maximise space inside with recessed shelves.
* Build vertical pegboard panels that slide in and out of the cabinet, and hang pots and pans on them. Space the panels so there is plenty of room.

Tall/tower cabinets: Ideal for large families to stock up on frequently used items.

Options: Adjustable shelves, wire-coated baskets and bins that pull out on heavy-duty rollers.

Says Villarico, "Put your tall cabinets on either side of your in-built cooker to serve as larders. Keep wire baskets inside for storage to keep food and canned goods. Vacuum cleaners and ironing boards could also be put away."

Slim-line tower cabinets could also be used for storing unsightly cleaning equipment – mops, brushes, brooms, pails and cleaning liquids. Another option is tilt-outs on the sink base cabinet to store that messy, wet mop.

Spice up your kitchen
"Accessing spices during cooking is more a preference rather than a logical conclusion. Put the spice rack in the place you are most likely to reach out to. Make it as easy as possible," recommends Buddle of MFI.

* Standard spice racks are narrow and can be hung on walls or rails near the cooker.
* Large canisters are required for storing spices i