5 Steps to a Tidy Kitchen

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Do you ever look at all the piles of stuff everywhere and feel totally overwhelmed? I used to feel like I could never keep my house clean, even before having kids. Once I started having children, the mess just got worse and I kept excusing it, blaming it on my kids. I realized that I needed to change myself and start creating habits to keep my home in a less chaotic state.
5 Steps to a Tidy Kitchen 1
5 Steps to a Tidy Kitchen 2

Honestly, I didn’t know where to start. I started to survey my house and realized that most of my stuff doesn’t have a home. I had paperwork in four different places and toys in random bins. I decided that I wanted every item in my house to have a designated home. In doing this, I decided that I need to deal with my stuff and choose what needed to stay and what didn’t.

I also knew that a clean and organized home wasn’t enough. I needed to be disciplined in maintaining my home on an everyday basis. After looking at my home, I realized that my biggest frustrations with mess and clutter was my kitchen. So, I started there.

Here are the five steps I took to get my kitchen from being a constant mess to a more tidy and less-cluttered kitchen. I’m not perfect, and I still have those days where it is messy. But my kitchen is SOOO much better than what it used to be.

5 Steps to a Tidy Kitchen

ONE

Keep the Essentials and What You Love

My kitchen is small and my countertop space is limited, so I made it my goal to get rid of enough kitchen supplies to put almost everything out of sight.
I cut down on the super specific kitchen gadgets like my avocado slicer and strawberry huller. Who really needs them anyway?  If the item wasn’t multifunctional it was given away.
Eventually, I was able to pare down to the essentials and man, does it feel wonderful. I can open a drawer without searching endlessly for what I need.

TWO

Become a Detective to Solve Your Problem Areas

The most common countertop space-sucker for me was my clean dishes that were ‘drying’ for days. I needed to find a solution to my problem. And surprisingly, the biggest change for me in my kitchen was getting rid of my drying rack. Read my post 4 Tweaks to a Clutter-Free Home for more details.

 

I now hand-dry my pots and pans and put them directly away instead of letting them dry for days and take up precious counter space. I have room for everything in my kitchen now and my countertops have space.

THREE

Work Smarter not Harder

My sink used to be filled with dirty dishes because my dishwasher was in use, so I had no room to wash any of my dishes. The dishes became so much harder to clean since they were still dirty and the cycle continued. Once I started running my dishwasher at a convenient time, I was able to load my dishes directly into the dishwasher. I have days that I am off schedule, but this has helped me immensely.

FOUR

Clean While You Cook

My husband can attest, that I would not put anything away until I was done cooking. I wish I would have started cleaning as I cooked years ago. Creating new habits takes work and discipline.

I’ve started reciting this mantra in my head “if it takes less than 30 seconds to put it away, put it away.” By reminding myself to put in the little extra effort, it pays dividends later. I try to put items away as I cook because after dinner I don’t want to clean up after cooking, plus put away dishes.

FIVE

Create an Inviting Kitchen

Most of us are in our kitchens often. What if we made our kitchen look and feel more inviting?  I started to diffuse essential oils while I cook and having fresh-cut flowers from my garden. By making my kitchen more of an oasis, it has helped me keep it clean.

Once my kitchen was neater and more organized with what I truly love and use, I have had a much easier time wanting to keep it clean. I struggled and still do with being disciplined in keeping a clean kitchen. When I have an off day and my kitchen looks like a bomb went off, my mood goes sour fast.

Once I have started putting the correlation together, keeping a clean kitchen makes me a better mom and wife. When my kitchen is clean, I cook more and we eat healthier. It really is a domino effect.

What area of your home is the big domino that will affect change in other areas of your life? If you aren’t sure, what area or items always seem out of control? Start paying attention to what areas are the most frustrating to you. Once you start evaluating what you own and being a ruthless editor of what comes in and out, you can find freedom. Make the changes you need so you can be a more available momma and have a more peaceful home.

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