Design Plus Kitchens

Looking after a kitchen in the UAE climate

What humidity, heat and hard water do to a fitted kitchen here, and the short routine that prevents most of it.

27 October 2026

A kitchen here lives through a summer that most kitchens elsewhere never meet: long humidity, air conditioning running against it, and water that leaves a mark when it dries. None of that is a problem on its own. Left alone for years, all three are.

Humidity and the gap behind the units

Moist air does its damage where it sits still. The places that stay damp longest are behind the units, under the sink and inside a cupboard that is never opened. Leaving the sink cupboard open for a while after heavy use does more than any product you can buy.

Hard water

The white marks around a tap and on a counter are minerals left behind when water dries, not dirt. They are easy to remove in the first week and progressively harder afterwards. Drying the area around the sink at the end of the day is the whole technique.

Heat

The two places heat reaches cabinetry are directly beside the hob and directly above a dishwasher when its door is opened at the end of a cycle. A moment of steam every day for years is more wearing than one hot pan ever is.

The routine

• Wipe spills when they happen, not at the end of the week.
• Dry around the sink and the tap daily.
• Open the dishwasher a few minutes after the cycle, not immediately.
• Check hinges and runners once a year and tighten what has loosened.
• Avoid abrasive pads on any surface you cannot afford to scratch.

Design Plus gives a five-year structural warranty on the cabinetry it makes and the installation it carries out, and the yearly check above is the part that keeps a kitchen out of needing it.