Home Makeovers In The UAE – Kitchen Declutter With The Savvy Space, Dubai
For those of you following my home musings over on Instagram @Homeclubme, you’ve seen my #Movinghome highlight to a new community in Dubai and my slow but productive home rental makeover, one-room-at-a-time.
The heart of the home, the kitchen, is finally done YAY! But before we could tackle the décor, I needed to get the place organised and functional. When we moved in over 6 months ago, we literally chucked everything in cupboards and carried on with our busy lives. There was a rough method to my madness in terms of where things were, but it was still a mess, no real organisation or system.
Queue The Savvy Space! The lovely Celia of the dynamic duo reached out to me on Instagram messenger and suggested a collaboration on one of my rooms – now, who was I to turn down such an offer!? I said yes straight away, mainly because I am a big fan of this small business and their work and secondly because I desperately needed their help. Wow, what an experience, read on as I take you through the process of working with The Savvy Space and my honest opinion regarding their services and the results.
The Method that Saved my Kitchen Madness
Step 1: The first step was to meet both Celia and Joti from The Savvy Space, in my own home, and to show them around my kitchen space. They looked through every nook and cranny auditing the space before working with me to categorize all items into three key boxes: RECYCLE/DONATE, KEEP and THROW. We also had a bonus box called ‘Sentimental’ with items I was unsure of getting rid of. During this process, the ladies really got to the heart of what I wanted to achieve with them to outline my objectives and goals for the kitchen. A no-brainer need was wanting to keep my son’s snacks out of reach, I’d also been dreaming up a stylish, but functional coffee and cocoa corner and I wanted a space dedicated to my vegan diet as it isn’t exclusively shared in the household. The ladies catalogued my kitchen – taking measurements and recording inventory. All in all, this first step took around 4 hours and once done, the ladies also volunteered to take the recycle/throw box to donate to good causes, which was a great touch and a big time saver!
Step 2: After my first session, I coordinated with Celia and Joti to schedule our next and final session to complete the organisation. We had approx. 2 weeks between sessions due to my busy schedule, which worked well for me, giving me time to complete the painting (thank you JOTUN for the gorgeous colours) and kitchen wrap by www.creativewrap.com, so the kitchen was fully cleaned and freshly decorated first. Using the catalogue they’d created from my kitchen, they designed a custom organising blueprint and curated a list of products to buy that fitted my allocated budget, which I’d given to them in advance. This helped the systems they would be putting in place and was sent to me around 4 days post our first session to review and approve. Once approved, the ladies purchased and prepared products, including cleaning them and removing their stickers. They also purchased pretty labels from The Label Souk and consulted with me all the way to ensure I was happy with the fonts, label colours etc. The ladies also coordinated with Viviane Khoury, who helped me with the design and décor of my kitchen to ensure their purchases were in line with the overall décor and style of my kitchen. Every action taken was so thoughtful, with great attention to detail.
Step 3: The day arrived for the final session and I could not contain my excitement. We allocated 4 hours for the session, but the ladies were done and dusted within just 2. They arrived on-site with all the tools and products necessary to put the system they’d planned together to bring my vision to life. I made myself scarce and went to a local café to work for a few hours, while they worked their magic before calling me for the “big reveal”. My awesome designer, Viviane Khoury, also offered to come and put the finishing touches to styling the kitchen after the organising was completed and before I arrived.
Form, Functionality and Great Interior Design
What can I say, I was overwhelmed with the results! Seeing everything so organised and neat felt like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I felt an immediate rush of relief and pure joy! Everything was as I imagined. However, the ladies at Savvy Space had given me a few surprises such as my tea being moved to the coffee and cocoa station, which made way more sense in the long run. I did notice that Kai’s snacks were placed low down and although they could be accessed, the system had been designed in such a way that it was easy to edit and tweak things to suit my everyday needs. This is something the ladies make clear; it’s quite normal for clients to shift things around a little once they know what works with their daily life and routines. But their work creates a clear canvas and refined system for doing so. A good week post their final visit, 90% of what Joti and Celia put in place remains and has made my time in the kitchen so much more enjoyable and easier to navigate.
Step 4: A few weeks after they complete their sessions with you, Savvy Space contact all of their clients to follow up and make sure everything is working smoothly. I’ve not reached this step yet, but I am sure I will be reporting back positively.
Et Voila! I now have an organised, stylish, and functional kitchen that ‘sparks joy’ when I make my coffee in the morning. Both my helper and I both find cooking so much more enjoyable and easier. If money were no object, I would not hesitate to hire Savvy Space to organise my whole darn house, but alas, having them makeover my kitchen has also taught me some valuable tips and given me a framework in which to tackle the rest of the rooms… eventually. I think I am going to do my bathroom and bedroom next so watch this space!
Pricing – The ‘Savvy Space’ service that I have reviewed in this article is called “Full-service organising” and starts from AED 5,500 per room. *Furniture assembly and/or wall installation services are not included and must be arranged by the client. An additional budget is allocated for any products, baskets, etc.
A Note From The Professional Organisers
Rhiannon’s kitchen was a standard tidy kitchen with a lack of system and strategy in place. She had some items decanted, which did not work for her and her lifestyle, so we created a basket/container that was easy and practical to maintain. She also recently started transitioning into a vegan lifestyle, however, her husband and son eat meat, so we had to ensure we created sufficient defined spaces for her and her family’s lifestyle. Our favourite spaces to organise were her glamourous new coffee corner and her pantry. She now has a fantastic system in place, which is practical and sustainable.
To book your very own consultation with Savvy Space, visit their website www.thesavvyspace.ae and don’t forget to quote ‘Home Club ME’ to avail their exclusive reader offer. You can also view their home club me vendor profile here.