Kitchens & Pantries
Tips to Keeping the Kitchen Clutter Free!
- Countertops are notorious for collecting items of all sorts. The kitchen is the main hub of many homes. It’s where we entertain, gather with friends, or sit with our family for sometimes hours a day. In order to stay on top of this space, clear countertop surfaces daily. This is the best strategy to staying on top of clutter gathering. If the same type of items keep landing on the counters, step back and assess why. If it’s your purse and keys, pick a different landing spot for your purse and bags. Consider hooks or a bench to plop your things. If it an excess of food and dishes sitting around, that means your cabinets are too full. Get rid of enough stuff inside cabinets to fit what is sitting outside cabinets. Once you’ve managed that, you’ve accomplished a huge achievement If it’s hairbrushes and toothbrushes, perhaps the items need to be moved into a kitchen drawer or first floor bathroom.
- Don’t let paper take over. If mail, magazines, kids’ artwork, pictures or other paperwork is landing in the kitchen, keep it under control and in a paper zone. Mark off a designated area. Don’t let it get strewn about or placed in three or four different areas of the house. Stick to one system and one place to stash mail and paperwork.
- Use your foyer, mudroom or entryway. Avoid coats, purses, bags or sweatshirts on the bag of chairs or in the dining room. Retrain the family to use new hooks you install or a new coat rack. If there is no room in the coat closet, it’s time to clean out the closet and give away some coats.
- Do you shop often or receive a lot of packages from online shopping? If the answer is yes, then get ahead of the game by marking off and planning to have an area where you stash returns. Most clients that are avid shoppers see the importance of making this a convenient place near your exit.
- Phone chargers, tablet cords, and ear buds are a growing concern in kitchens for most families. With several family members charging several things at once, there needs to be a central hub to return chargers or cords. If you have key charging sites in your home, I recommend leaving the cord plugged in at those outlets. If your kids take cords throughout the house, have a place where the whole family knows to return the cords when they’re done being used. Give an incentive or consequence to keeping up the cord system. Teaching family member’s responsibility and training them to keep a system is always a good idea!
- Replace all leftover food storage containers with square or rectangle sizes. Round containers are harder to store and take up more space. I’m a fan of glass. It is easier to wash and get clean without residue or plastic leeching.
- Prevent the kitchen from turning into an office. A junk drawer isn’t always necessary. Get creative what you store and how you store it. Keep the number of pens, pads of paper, and office supplies that are kept in the kitchen to a minimum, and store the rest somewhere else.
