It may seem ridiculous that a clutter free space can improve your marriage or relationship however science never lies. For years clutter has been associated with stress and now boffins declare that an untidy, disorganised master bedroom leaves couples sniping and griping when they finally hit the hay.

Our own bedrooms are usually the last area of our house that we pay attention to, especially if there are children in the home. In our list of priorities it is the one room where we believe we can make a compromise, updating and organising communal areas and bathrooms first. However with a little care and attention we can become happier, we can improve our relationships, we can enjoy a great night’s sleep and we can wake feeling fully rested and stress free. All we have to do is realise that our own personal space is important; we deserve a safe haven where we can retreat from the world in order to rejuvenate our minds and bodies ready to be the happy, relaxed person our family and friends deserve.

Here are a couple of tips that have been proven to make you happier and thus enhance your relationship:

Making the Bed

It’s such a little thing but scientific studies show that making the bed every morning not only ensures you can climb straight into it on an evening but also ensures you start the day off doing something for your own happiness. This task is so effective there are even New York Times bestselling books about it, such as The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rueben.

Being Ever Ready

This can be adopted in any room in the house, simply ensure the room is ready for you to return before you leave. In the master bedroom this may mean that your cosmetics are neatly stored and easy to find, your nightwear is ready to wear and your kindle is charged and conveniently placed next to the bed. Having everything in its own place diminishes stress as these scientific shows just searching for a wanted item can raise blood pressure considerably. The studies are detailed in Marilyn Paul’s book, “It’s Hard to Make a Difference When you Can’t Find your Keys”. Wardrobe accessories can ensure you not only have a place to hang up your day clothes on an evening but you save time getting dressed in a morning too thus giving you precious extra minutes.

Being Selfish

Your bedroom is your adult space, the place where you and your partner can inject your own personalities and indulge in some time alone. Although you may enjoy weekends when the children pile into the room or you may occasionally answer your emails from a laptop in bed, your space should be free of any outside influences, this includes references to work and children.

Nothing douses the flames of romance like stepping on a piece of Lego or when a plastic toy sings a lullaby as you try to converse intimately. Even with the laptop in the corner of the room, you will subconsciously think about the work you have to complete the next morning. Your room should be clutter free. If you must have toys for the children, hide them away with clever bedroom storage. Make a space for work items and only have on display items that make you feel truly indulgent and selfish such as your favourite cosmetics and your best silk bedding.

Soon you’ll associate your bedroom with stress, worry, responsibility free time where you can truly relax and unwind and enjoy the finer things in life such as the company of your spouse without any interruptions!

AGAs can be adapted to heat the water or incorporate the central heating making them the main hub of the home for warmth. This being said, cooking on an AGA can seem like an art form!

The more modern AGAs do have temperature control which eliminates much of the guess work but if an AGA runs on oil or coal, the temperature can be hit and miss. Here are some tips from an AGA cook on how to get to grips with this popular oven.

Trust Your Instincts

An old style AGA will never be capable of cooking precision meals that require timings by the minute and precise temperature control to the closest degree. You may have to wave goodbye to the soufflés until you get to know your oven. It’s a good idea to almost start from scratch, to learn to cook in a new way, rather than by precision, by your own instincts.

If it looks cooked it probably is, if it smells cooked it probably is, if you think it’s been in long enough, check on it.

Recipe books are still useful for giving lists of ingredients and ratios but when it comes to timings and temperatures you may have to trust your instincts.

This isn’t so far removed from moving into a new home with a new cooker. You’ve probably already had experience of getting to know a new oven. Despite the numbers on the dials all ovens are different and as cooks, amateur or professional, we do automatically adapt our recipes to suit over time. The difference with an AGA is, that the variations are more obvious. What can take an hour in a normal fan assisted oven can take half that in an AGA and vice versa depending the temperature.

Add a Gadget

You can buy gadgets such as an oven thermometer that will help you get close to the correct temperature. Of course, with an AGA, until you get used to it, it can be guess work knowing how much or how little to turn the dial (or stoke up the fire). Now, there are also disposable pop up timers available for almost any type of meat which can help avoid overcooking too.

A Whole New Relationship

Getting to know your AGA is akin to falling in love with a friend. You find out all the quirks and nuances while discovering incredible features that give you a warm fuzzy feeling inside. With an AGA you can boil a kettle on the stove. You always have a slow cooker or plate warmer to hand. You can dry clothes above it as it cools down. Bread will bake beautiful while nothing else crisps crackling quite like the AGA. Roasting is a delight and the hotplate can be used for baking all manner of treats from homemade crumpets to naan breads.

You’ll also find that friends and family gravitate to it, especially on a cold day. There’s something quite comforting about leaning back against an AGA while hugging a hot toddy and having a chat. It’s the place where wet shoes dry out, slippers warm and fresh towels hang, and with a little skill it can even do your ironing for you!

It may be temperamental, difficult to understand at first but the more you get to know your AGA the more rewarding your whole relationship will be. It doesn’t take long to become a convert!

Although it’s a room that usually escapes decoration at Christmas the kitchen is still under a lot of pressure to perform. Added ingredients along with special crockery and extra guests means the kitchen has to hold a lot more than at any other time of the year. This is when storage matters, as you need a clutter free workspace when entertaining guests, while you need extra room for all the festive treats.

There are now very quirky ways to enhance your storage in the kitchen. Even the smallest kitchen can find an extra 20% storage space with a little imagination and some quirky storage solutions.

Here’s how.

Utilise Vertical Space

We often think of storage as shelves, boxes and drawers, storing our items horizontally. This does of course make sense but when the horizontal space runs out, where do you go next? There is a lot of underutilised space vertically in a kitchen, from the backs of unit doors to the walls. You can free up a lot of space by adding shallow shelves or hooks to the insides of the doors, storing smaller items such as herbs or condiments, rolling pins or utensils.

Look Up

Most pans and utensils now have holes so they can be hooked on a wall or from a cleaning. A ceiling rack can free up a lot of space, keeping many items out of the way yet still easily accessible with an outstretched arm. This method of storage doesn’t look untidy either, it adds character to a kitchen and stops you having to bend to rummage through cupboards to find the pans and utensils you need.

Many people forget about the space on top of their kitchen units too. This isn’t the most convenient area to store items (unless you’re very tall) but it can provide space for those kitchen gadgets you rarely use.

Look Down

There’s a place in every modern kitchen that is often overlooked yet is ideal for storage, as long as it’s clean. Behind the kickboards in your kitchen you have oodles of space just waiting to be utilised. Most kickboards are easily removable, they have to be in case of leaks. Before you do utilise this space though make sure you clean it thoroughly as it is one place that generally escapes the mop.

It’s not ideal for storing items you use daily but it is great for those you use rarely. You can store an extra fold up chair or two for when you have guests, cookbooks you rarely read and spare crockery or utensils. It’s not recommended to store food here though as it is directly on the floor and as there are holes in the wall for sink drainage, it could attract pests.

Rods and Bars

Under the sink is a space not often utilised due to the inconvenience of the u bend. There is quite a lot of wasted space in the upper area of this cupboard that can be used easily with an extendable rod. A tension rod will stop extending when it reaches a solid surface and provides a great bar for hanging cleaning products from.

If your budget is a little bigger you can invest in some nifty storage solutions from Blum that make the most of every bit of space your kitchen has.

Keeping a Clutter Free Kitchen with Friends and Family

Unless you live alone you’ll find that no matter how organised you are, it’s others that seem to mess with your system in the kitchen.

We all have our own ways, we know where we like to store our crockery and cutlery but sometimes, the organisation of this can be out of our control.

Some people dislike the thought of others being let loose in their kitchen, while others feel grateful for the help but know it will take time to reorganise everything. Whether it’s a well-meaning friend putting your dishes in the wrong place or a lazy teenager simply shoving clean cutlery in the closest drawer, you can retain control even when you’re not there.

Before you dish out instructions though, take a look at the functionality of your kitchen. Your cupboards are probably full to the limits but is everything in the right place?

Take a Fresh Look at Your Kitchen

The majority of us choose the homes for our pots and pans within the first few days of moving into a home. Despite small inconveniences, many of us will stick with this layout for decades or until we move. Take a fresh look at your kitchen storage, could anything work a little better?

How far do you travel when emptying plates from the dishwasher? Could you benefit from using a cupboard that’s closer? Do you spend precious minutes rooting around in the back of certain cupboards for pan lids, Tupperware, cake tins?

Is there anything in your “close to hand” cupboards that you only use once a month? If there is, or even on your counter tops, consider moving it out of reach or even out of the room itself.

Consider the triangle too. The triangle involves the sink (or dishwasher), the fridge and the cooker. Most activity happens in this Kitchen Bermuda zone and so the items you use the most should be stored in the cupboards that fall into this space.

Once you’ve organised your kitchen, de-cluttered and made sure there is enough space for all items, you can then put together a plan.

Spell It Out

With a clutter free kitchen, everything should now have a home. You can drive this message home by writing lists to go on the inside of the cupboard doors. If you have children whom you are encouraging to help around the house, the lists can go on the exterior (as long as you’re happy with the aesthetics of it).

Choose where each item will live. This may sound a little like overkill but if you don’t stipulate this, kitchenware will be simply shoved in the cupboard and you’ll soon be wasting time wading through it again.

Maximise the available space with clever magic corner carousels or pull out larder drawers which enable you to see the contents at a glance.

You’ll be amazed at just how much time this method of decluttering frees up. Although you may be met with a little resistance at first from children, or a little teasing from friends, you’ll soon find they adopt the same system in their own kitchens.

The future is bright; the future is tidy with Clutterfree kitchens!

In Britain we live in the smallest spaces per square foot of any other country in the modern world. Our homes are “cosy” and “compact” as many of us trade space for convenience. However, no matter how large your home, whether it’s a one bedroomed apartment or a sprawling manor house, storage will always be a problem.

People assume a very large kitchen never has a problem with storage, however the opposite may be true. Although there may be plenty of space to hide gadgets and paraphernalia, the items are rarely kept close to hand. This year, clutter free innovative design is leading the way for home cooks and those who adore the convenience of being able to find what they need in a second.

A Fusion of Eras brought 2014 into the Future

Last year we saw the return of the vintage eras from Seventies chic to Fifties teak; everyone became a connoisseur of retro as they upcycled their parent’s furniture and sought authentic glass and art from reclamation yards. This year we see the return of the Barberella design, long sleek clutter free counters, futuristic smooth pristine walls and everything hidden but just within reach.

We’re finally stepping into the future that was predicted half a century ago and we love the innovative designs that inventors are creating to allow us to make the most of our cosy homes.

Now with Blum accessories you don’t have to fork out on a completely new kitchen to benefit from organisation and order. The inspirational solutions can fit neatly into any drawer or unit allowing you to maximise your current space while keeping your items clean and safe. Not only do the Orga-line accessories ensure you have a place for everything and everything is in its place, they even make your kitchen quieter…

Silence is Golden

With secure solutions that keep plates stacked firmly and neatly and cutlery ordered and regimented, the Orga-line range reduces chipping of your favourite crockery and scratching of your favourite knives and forks. You will no longer hear a clatter as you pull open drawers or have to empty a cupboard before you find the plates you need. With Blum and Orga-line, every item is considered and taken care of.

Blum has quite literally thought of everything from space for your spices to holders for sharp knivesthat cleverly fit within utensil dividers. They’ve even considered the amateur baker; followng on from the popularity of the “Great British Bake Off”, they’ve designed a solution that allows baking utensils and trays to be stored easily. No more rattling trays and no marks on your kitchen cupboards and drawers.

The starter pack is the ideal place to begin. In just one handy box, you receive plate and knife holders, Cling film and foil holders, and even spice storage. Ensuring you benefit from a clutter free kitchen in an instant has never been easier.