I love going to bed with a clean kitchen each night. But even more, I love waking up to a clean kitchen. There is just something about walking out of my bedroom to a warm cup of coffee and a clean and tidy kitchen space that sets my day off on the right foot. I feel instantly more productive because I’m not being dragged down by all the mess that was left from the night before. But having a clean kitchen doesn’t come easy. It takes effort daily to keep it clean. The most important thing I do to help keep my kitchen clean everyday is to maintain clutter-free countertops.
This is the 1st post in a 4 part series all about simplifying, decluttering, and organizing your kitchen. This 4 part series, called Your Simply Organized Kitchen, will discuss how to maintain clutter-free countertops, the steps to maintaining a simple and organized pantry, how to simplify your kitchen cabinets, and how to setup an organized refrigerator and freezer.
When you step into your kitchen, how do you feel? Ready to make a scrumptious meal? Excited to pull out your baking supplies for a batch of chocolate chip cookies? Or overwhelmed and discouraged by the amount of clutter surrounding you?
I think more often than not, the latter is the case. From food that belongs in the pantry to appliances that belong in the cupboards to even mail and paper clutter, our countertops are overrun by stuff. Stuff that doesn’t belong. Stuff that is cluttering our space and making the process of preparing meals overwhelming and very unenjoyable.
Whether you enjoy cooking or not, we all have to cook. With about three meals a day plus snacks, we could practically live in our kitchens. After all, they are known as the “heart of the home.”
But has your heart of the home succumbed to the clutter bug?
If so, there are a few steps you can take to begin simplifying and organizing your kitchen.
How to Maintain Clutter-Free Countertops
1. Start From Scratch
When organizing any space, it’s easiest to start from scratch. Remove everything from your countertops and give them a good clean. Then slowly start adding back in the things that make sense. Keep it minimal.
2. Utilize Drawer Space
I’m sure you’ve got a junk drawer in your kitchen, but are you using it to its fullest potential? Remove all paper or office related items from your counters and store only the items you use daily in your junk drawer. This might be a planner, papers, pens, stamps, or homework supplies for your kids. These items don’t belong on the counter.
I’ve found that even if you have a semi-0rganized system for these items on your countertops, they still visually look like clutter. And we all know that clutter attracts more clutter. So what might be an organized system of paperwork and office supplies in the beginning will quickly turn into an office-related mess right in the middle of your kitchen.
Purge the unnecessary items and store only the necessary things inside of a drawer.
Related: Minimal Junk Drawer Organization
2. Have a Space for Things You Bring Inside
Purses, diaper bags, wallets, keys, sunglasses, mail…it’s all brought inside on a daily basis. And where do these things almost always land? For most, its the kitchen countertops. Instead, create a specific location for these items to go as soon as you walk through the door.
For example, my purse goes in a basket in our bedroom. We place sunglasses and keys in a drawer in the top of our shoe cabinet. And the toddler tote bag hangs on a hook inside our toddlers bedroom. Everything has a home. This helps to eliminate the daily influx of countertop clutter.
Related: My Entire Paper Organization System
3. Regular Items on the Countertops Should Serve a Purpose
We all have items on our countertops that live there on a more permanent basis. I would encourage you to see how many of these items serve a purpose and how many are merely decorative.
If your counters are filled with decorations, it might be time to purge those that you aren’t loving anymore. In order to create a simple and organized kitchen, you will need to also simplify your decor.
Most of the items on your countertop should serve a purpose. It could be small appliance you use daily, a bowl of fruit, or a container that holds utensils.
Related: 7 Realistic Ways to Keep Your Kitchen Countertops Clutter-Free
4. Eliminate Small Appliances
Small appliances are one of the biggest problems I see people have with maintaining clutter-free countertops. Just because you use it daily, doesn’t mean it deserves the valuable real estate on your countertop. Let me say that again:
Just because you use it daily, doesn’t mean it deserves the valuable real estate on your countertop.
We use our toaster oven daily, but we store it away in a cabinet. It takes 5 seconds to reach down and grab it out of the cabinet each morning and about 10 seconds to put it away. This 15 seconds of my time each day is worth it to keep my countertops free from clutter.
We could all come up with reasons why to keep a dozen different items on our countertops. However, then we wouldn’t have any space to actually prepare food. Instead, I encourage you to pick one or two at most that live on your countertops. The only appliance we keep out is our coffee pot. It gets used every morning and occasionally in the afternoon as well. It’s store on the end of a section of our counters with 2 other small decorative items. It’s out of the way, but easily accessible. My countertop space to the right of my sink is still very much usable.
You might be wondering where to store appliances if your cabinets are already overflowing. We will get to those in the next couple of weeks! I recommend storing appliances in a cabinet near where you generally use it. If it’s an item you only use a few times a year, you might need to reevaluate if it’s worth keeping. If you decide it is, don’t let it take up the valuable real estate in your kitchen. Maybe find a space in your hallway closet, a shelf in your garage, or a spot in the basement for it to live.
If it’s something you really aren’t sure you will use again, but you can’t bear to part with it then write todays date on that item. Use a post-it note and stick it to the front. Then when you come back to use it remove the post-it note. If you don’t come back to use it and 6 months to a year passes, you can feel confident in letting it go.
5. Use Corners and Far Edges of the Countertops
Your kitchen should have plenty of workspace. If your countertops are cluttered with stuff, you won’t have the space to prepare meals. Utilizing the far edges and corners of your countertops will leave you lots of open space.
On our counters, you will find a coffee pot and two small decorative items next to our pantry. Behind our sink is a tray to store our hand and dish soap. We often place a small jar of flowers on the opposite side of our sink. The back corner holds a crock that belonged to my grandmother storing all of our wooden spoons. Next to our refrigerator you will find a bowl of bananas. Our island always holds a candle in the center. The rest of the space in our kitchen is always open to prepare meals.
Keeping your countertops clear from clutter will not only make preparing food easier, but cleaning them easier as well!
Related: 6 Ways to Maintain a Clutter-Free Home
6. Follow Through with Routines
If you aren’t cleaning up after meals or following through with daily home maintenance routines, then your counters will inevitably become cluttered. From dishes to mail, they will hold it all.
Whether you empty your dishwasher every night or every morning, it’s a great habit to get into daily. This leaves you with a place to put any dirty dishes as they come in keeping your countertops free from the mess.
Wash, dry, and put away dinner dishes each night. If done daily, it will only take about 5-10 minutes. And it will save you from the headache of cleaning crusted on food from pots, pans, or platters the next day.
Sort mail as soon as you bring it inside. If you don’t have time to sort through it, wait until you have 2-3 minutes before bringing it inside. Recycle any junk mail, store coupons you plan to use in your purse, and have a designated spot (not your countertops) for items that need filed or bills that need paid.
Keep your morning and evening routines simple so you are sure to stick with them for the long haul!
Related: The Busy Mom’s Guide to Crafting the Perfect Morning Routine
Once you’ve decluttered your kitchen and followed the 6 steps above, it’s time to step back and assess your space. Do you love everything you see? If not, change it. Rearrange things or relocate items to drawers or cabinets. If it still looks cluttered to you, start removing more items. You should walk into your kitchen and love the space you see.